THE café in the Durham Dales Centre, Stanhope, is to close down.
Owned and managed by Durham County Council’s business arm – Business Durham, the centre opened in the late 1980s and has a range of unit shops as well as it’s own visitor information centre and shop. The tea room was a popular attraction with bus loads of visitors arriving regularly as well as a focal point for Dalefolk.
Christian Pape, business property director at Business Durham, said: “We are currently in the process of letting the former tea room unit at the Durham Dales Centre on a commercial basis, and are working with a business hoping to occupy it. It was no longer financially viable for us to run a tea room facility, but we are hopeful a new tenant will be able to run a commercially successful business in the unit.”
The tearoom is situated in the tranquil setting of the Durham Dales Centre courtyard. There is seating inside for up to 75 people, as well as picnic tables outside at both the front and rear of the tearoom, for those sunnier days. The rumour in the Dale, which may or may not be true, is that a local Italian Restaurant is interested in taking over the space.
Stanhope has other tea rooms in the town but the lack of an evening restaurant venue is a downside for both visitors and Dalefolk.
We await further developments with interest.
