Recently I took a trip to High Wycombe after seeing online that there is a Second World War tearoom there.
The social media posts from the Air Raid Shelter Cafe and Tea Room intrigued me and it became somewhere I had to visit as I love quirky things like this.
On a Saturday recently my mum and I took a road trip and found the tearoom conveniently located in the town centre.
The Air Raid Shelter Cafe and Tea Room is a converted pub and from the moment you walk in past the signage and sandbags set up in the doorway it feels like you are stepping back in time.
There is wartime music playing and the whole place is kitted out with memorabilia and retro furniture, much of which local people have donated. The walls are full of posters and signs from the era.
The tearoom itself is a treasure trove of little hideaways to sit and enjoy afternoon tea. There’s a village hall with singers singing wartime songs. You can even sit in a 1940s-themed railway carriage.
The most magical thing about the Air Raid Shelter Cafe and Tea Room was how it sparks conversation. I was sitting next to a lady who remembers the pub from her childhood, and this was her first time back in the building in 70 years.
She had many stories to tell and this really brings history to life hearing first-hand accounts of what it was like to go into the air raid shelters and general life through the war. The other brilliant thing is this pub has been given a new lease of life and not bulldozed like so many other pubs.
Well worth an afternoon out and taking the 45-minute drive from Woking. Parking in the shopping centre there seemed very cheap compared with what we pay in Woking.
It is open Tuesday to Friday from 9.30am to 4pm, Saturday 9.30am to 5.30pm and Sunday 10.30am to 4.30pm. The cafe and tearoom has a Facebook page, or you can call 07400 966968 or email [email protected]
Listen to Sunny Sessions, the inclusive radio show from The Sunnybank Trust, on Surrey Hills Community Radio on Mondays and Thursdays, 11am. Sunny Sessions is also on Radio Woking every Wednesday at 9am. My other Radio Woking shows are Wednesday breakfast 7am to 9am and Sunday 9am to noon.
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