A new cafe in Harrogate is set to have family at its heart – in more ways than one.
Brood Coffee House will open next month at the bottom of Commercial Street, in a unit previously occupied by Foxy Vintage and Interiors.
It is being converted by Hannah and Frank Pinder to offer space for children to play and enjoy classes, while parents can also enjoy a coffee or light lunch.
Hannah told the Stray Ferret:
“My husband’s passion is coffee. I’m more on the baby development side.
“I run multi-sensory and baby development classes all over the place. This gives me a bit more of a base.
“I’ll be doing a couple of days here, and then renting the space out to other class providers during the week.”
The ground floor coffee shop will be open from 8.30am to 4pm, Monday to Friday, and 9am to 1pm on Saturdays.
As well as café seating, it has toys for youngsters to play with – all selected by Hannah using her expertise.
Dark Woods will be supplying the coffee, pastries will be provided by Manna Bakery, and Hannah is currently speaking to cake suppliers to fill the counter with sweet treats.
Sandwiches will be made in-house by her mum, who has been part of the family effort to get the business ready to open.
Hannah’s dad – an artist and designer who runs classes for students at Henshaws in Knaresborough – came up with the name and branding, and has been hard at work on the DIY with Frank.
He has also designed some colouring sheets for young visitors to use at the tables.
Since setting up the cafe’s website and Instagram account, Hannah said she has been “inundated” with interest from people hoping to use the newly-converted basement to run classes and activities.
If they all sign up, she’s hoping to offer everything from baby yoga and drama classes to pre- and post-natal sessions and a breastfeeding café.
As a class leader herself, Hannah said she has experienced how hard it can be to find a high-quality venue.
“Running my classes in Leeds, I was done with the cold, horrible church halls and mums having to use nasty toilets with nowhere to change their babies.
“A couple of things started popping up that were really nice spaces, but there was nothing in Harrogate like that.
“I’m from a group of six girlfriends with children of similar age and we really struggled with where to go. You can meet at the Valley Gardens for an hour, but where can you go after that’s child-friendly and also a nice place?
“There’s such a lovely mum culture of people wanting to meet friends with children and hang out and do thing for the kids, but also for them.”
While the space will be used every week during term time for regular classes, Hannah is also hoping to run special events during the school holidays.
Her mum is already signed up to run storytime sessions, and there will be crafts and other activities on offer.
The studio is also going to be available for private bookings, mostly on Sundays, to host birthday parties, baby showers, christening celebrations and more.
Hannah and Frank will be test-running the space as a party venue for their own son, Reg, who turns two this month – and has also been in the shop daily checking out the toys in time for the planned launch events on Saturday, September 2.
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Harrogate car club used over 900 times in first year
Harrogate Borough Council‘s car hire club has been used 927 times over the past year, with 100 members clocking up 38,590 miles.
The council launched the initiative in August last year in partnership with car club operator Co-Wheels. It aims to improve air quality and reduce carbon emissions.
The fleet of nine hybrid cars in Harrogate town centre offers pay-as-you-go hire ranging from 30 minutes to a week.
Hybrid cars combine petrol or diesel engine with electric motors. Electric power can be activated in urban areas to reduce air pollution.
The council said in a statement the scheme has removed 2.9 tonnes of CO2 compared to driving personal cars.
Each car is based in a designated zone and comes with a parking permit that allows parking anywhere in Harrogate.
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Conservative councillor Phil Ireland, cabinet member for carbon reduction and sustainability, said:
“Despite a difficult 18 months for everyone, the figures from the past 12 months are encouraging to see and show people have a desire to help reduce carbon emission across the Harrogate district.
“I hope more people utilise this scheme moving forward and reduce the number of cars in their household as well as the dependency of owning a car.”
Richard Falconer, managing director of Co Wheels, added:
“There’s a lot of great work going on to reduce carbon emissions in Harrogate and we are pleased to see membership increasing and usage of the vehicles start so strongly during the first 12 months.”