Cafe for military veterans opens in Rochdale
Denehurst House will be managed and run by Get Together After Serving and staffed entirely by former armed forces personnel and their families
A 19th Century manor house in Rochdale has been transformed into a café, run solely by ex-military personnel.
Denehurst House, right in the heart of Denehurst Park, will be managed and run by Get Together After Serving (GTAS) and staffed entirely by former armed forces personnel and their families.
Café favourites such as hot and cold sandwiches, cakes, breakfasts and tea and coffee will all be on offer. Rochdale council says that customers can expect ‘generous opening hours’ and ‘honest’ prices.
The team is also hoping to team up with other local businesses to do specials on Fridays, featuring curry, pizza and pies. With plenty of space, the café will also serve as a spot where local veterans can get together.
Denehurst House’s revamp, commissioned by Rochdale council, includes five flats for veterans on the above floors as well as the remodelling of the ground floor for the café.
Local veteran, Adam Trennery, who is one of the directors at GTAS, said: “We’re made up to have the opportunity to open a café in this brilliant space. It means a lot to me personally, as I live round the corner and I’ve always thought having a café in that lovely park would be great.
“It was always a missing link, the food and drink offer, so as soon as we saw that the council was looking for café operators, we put in a bid. We’re really excited that we can use this as a base to further our support for veterans, while also welcoming the wider community.
“We can’t wait to get started and we hope to see lots of local residents popping in to see what we’re all about.”
Denehurst House was originally built between 1893 and 1909 for Alderman Robert Turner, the founder of Turner Brothers Asbestos Company. It was then later gifted to Rochdale by his son Samuel Turner and was used as council offices for many years.
The house and its grounds were donated to the town in 1932 and were later used as council offices, before being left empty for a number of years.
Coun Danny Meredith, cabinet member for housing and regeneration at Rochdale Borough Council, said: “This has been a really important project for us and it’s great to see it coming to fruition. We know that good quality cafes and other facilities are always welcome in our communities, but this one is particularly special.
“Not only was this a derelict old building, which has been lovingly brought back to life, but it will be run by local veterans and their loved ones.”
The new café’s opening hours will be every day, with operating hours from 9am to 6pm between May and October and from 9am to 4pm between November and April.