Blagraves!

Driver Jatt

Right. Blagraves! A drive from Birmingham to Manchester this morning and somehow I ended up here. Job done, targets met, so I had a mooch.

Walked through Barnard Castle. Saw an antique shop. The wife’s orders were clear: “don’t buy anymore junk.” Spoilsport. Some people have no appreciation for nostalgia. Whatever.

Went in anyway. Just to look. The owner was a good bloke, knew his stuff. We got talking about the items, how fragile some of it was. He mentioned the hassle of sending pieces to buyers, the worry about things getting knocked about. Told him what I do. We had a proper chat about it—the possibility of handling some of his logistics needs. I was paying attention, stressing the importance of secure packing, careful handling. These items are fragile. You can’t just chuck them in the back. You need to know they’re safe, that they’re handled right. It’s about more than just getting it there; it’s about it arriving in one piece. He seemed keen, took a card. Good to talk shop sometimes, even if you’re not allowed to buy anything. Let’s see if anything happens with it.

After that, he’s the one who told me to go over the road. “You might find it interesting,” he said, with a bit of a smile. He even pointed the building out. So I went.

Had to crouch to get through the front door. First thing: an open wood fire. Then I looked around. OMG. This place is a timewarp.

Everything’s from yesteryear. And it works. There’s a garden. A room behind it. Two more floors upstairs, all with bits and bobs and places to sit. It’s something else. A real treat for the senses. Even the coffee was decent, which was a surprise.

The staff were spot on. Polite, extremely well-spoken, and very knowledgeable about the building and its contents. We had a fantastic natter about the history, about Cromwell holing up here, about how they’ve kept the place feeling right. It wasn’t a rehearsed spiel; they just knew their stuff. Makes a difference, that. You can tell when people actually care about a place, rather than just work there.

It’s a restaurant, bar, coffee place and shop, all in one. Or rather, the building is all those things. Oh, and apparently Oliver Cromwell stayed here during the Civil War. Mid-1600s. They’ll tell you all about it.

Anyway, that’s the website: https://blagraves.com/

Found it because I had a delivery that finished early. That’s the job. You go places, you talk to people. Sometimes you deliver a package in Manchester, sometimes you discuss how to move a fragile vase without breaking it with an antique dealer, and sometimes you end up having a brilliant chat about history in a 400-year-old timewarp with good coffee. It all gets where it needs to go. Safely.