Village hub offers warm welcome – and cake!

A community cafe residents wanted as a local meeting hub has thrived since it opened last summer.

The owner of Dottie About Cake, Helena Winter-Brown has partnered with the Home Ground Community Café, and her team of staff and volunteers include several young people from the area.

Tring Rural Parish Council established a working party of residents and councillors to work on the project, resulting in unused changing rooms at the recreation ground behind Victory Hall being transformed into the café.

Its name honours the building’s sporting history, as it was once the changing rooms for Long Marston Football Club, and the recreation ground was its official home ground.

Cake fans will know Dottie About Cake from its five years at Little Heath Farm Nursery in Potten End. where it became very popular for its homemade cakes, scones and afternoon teas.

The Long Marston café is decorated with local artists’ work that visitors can view – and buy – while enjoying home-made food such as quiches, hot soups, cheese scones, sausage rolls, sandwiches, toasties, jacket potatoes and cakes.

Afternoon tea is also offered (advance booking is needed), and bacon and sausage baps are on offer on Friday and weekend mornings,

The community café welcomes everyone – mums and dads on the school run, friends catching up, dogs inside (on the lead), walkers and cyclists (even wet lycra is allowed inside ).

In November, Home Ground provided hot food and drinks at the firework display on the recreation ground, organised by the Long Marston Horticultural Society. Money from the food sales was donated back to the horticultural society to support future events.

Home Ground café is open Tuesday-Friday 8.30am-4.30pm, Saturday 9.30am-4pm, Sunday 10am-3pm.

If you are interested in volunteering, email Helena at dottieaboutcake@gmail.com.