Penistone Cafés

Penistone offers an interesting range in cafés, all with their own particular personalities and features. They are an important focus for the community and can be a very welcome respite from walking around the shops. They might also draw a few supermarket shoppers into Penistone who would otherwise not explore our town. Penistone Church also has coffee mornings on Market Days and most Saturday mornings. See also 'The Yel' listing of cafés in our area.

Café Changes
Going way back into the 1960s, there was a milk bar in what is now Green Kleens and, further down Sheffield Road, there was presumably a good reason for a red-brick building to be called 'the coffee shop'. That has been demolished now. In more recent times, Saddler's café (Ward's chip shop) opened in the 1980s. Greggs/Hagenbachs had a café in the 1990s but it did not last long. The old Fieldsend's greengrocer became another café. It changed hands something like three times in the 1990s before its last incarnation as Carolina's Italian café and delicatessen. It is now the 'Cinnamon Spice' Indian restaurant and take-away. The Vicarage Tea Rooms was very popular until it closed around 2008-9, when its breakfast trade went mostly to the Rose & Crown almost next door. They have both gone now.

Later cafés came along almost in a bunch. SK's Café was first in 2009, followed by The Loft in 2010 and The Arthouse in 2011. The newest arrival was the Trans-pennine café, which opened in September 2011 near St Mary's Street roundabout. It had an earlier incarnation as Julie's caravan in nearly the same location.

SK's Café
Lee Mellor's place started in 2009 and has become a key component of the Penistone community. You might even say that it is 'the heart of the community' (an insider's joke). It is always friendly and a good place for visitors to mingle with real down-to-earth Penistonians and find out what is happening around town. If you drop lucky, Lee might even fire a few General Knowledge questions at customers as he rushes around. In March 2012, SK's has had a make-over, with a new colour scheme, logo and pictures on the walls (fourth picture).

Sk's café provides sandwiches for early morning schoolies and can deliver meals around the Penistone area. SK's can also provide catering for local events they and are licenced to run a bar if needed. Opens every day but Sunday, although they have been known to open Sundays in the warmer months. 9 High St., Penistone, S36 6BR. Tel 76 6118.

The Arthouse
This café opened in July 2011 and these photos were taken soon after. It is the 'ArtHouse' café next door to Hackett's florist on Church Street, with delicatessen and a display of works by local artists. The pictures on display are all for sale, with details on their accompanying labels. As a family-run business, service is friendly and pleasant and free from riff-raff, although they let me in. Their Twitter says: 'An Art-Cafe in Penistone, Proud to promote Handmade, Artisan, Unique and Delicious Products. Laid Back and friendly- come and see us!'

The room is spacious, clean and bright and, although it is quite modern, there is a slightly old-world 'Tea Room' feel to it. It might be relatively new but it is already very popular. Wi-fi is available to customers. This café and its proprietor Frances Barkworth have been mentioned in Yorkshire Life magazine, January 2012.

The café provides 'Delicious home-baked scones and cakes, light lunches, a full range of coffee and locally-made ice-cream (by the yummy scoop)'. The highly acclaimed Yummy Yorkshire Ice-cream Co. provides the ices. A range of jams and marmalades are available and some buns and cakes are baked on the premises. The menu has some beggie choices and can be found on their website. Upon request, they will make a decent mug of builder's tea and their toast and marmalade is well up to standard. Their mugs are about the right size for a lad who likes his tea although actual builders might be a rare sight here. Their Veggie breakfasts and Greek salads are also very good. With an eye on healthy eating, my current favourite is poached eggs on brown bread toast. There are always some interesting ice-cream flavours available and I can recommend their Yummy Yorkshire liquorice flavour.

The second picture above shows Frances smiling pleasantly whilst perhaps trying to avoid the camera. Paul, the gentleman in the third picture, says that he looks like he's in a Lowry picture in this shot (you know the song 'Matchstick Men'). Well, they do say that the camera never lies. Unless it's mine, of course. The glass cabinet normally has a range of specialist cheeses and other foods but it was about to be re-stocked at the time of the picture.

Opening times: Monday to Saturday 9am to 5pm and Sunday 11am to 4pm. Breakfasts are served before noon. They also do a range of take-aways, which they will probably be flexible about, such as: Hot/cold drinks, sandwiches, paninis, soup. Also breakfast sandwiches before noon.
Snailmail: 3a Church Street, Penistone, S36 6AR. Tel: 01226 805122, Website: www.arthousepenistone.co.uk, Twitter: twitter.com/@ArtHousecafé Email: café@arthousepenistone.co.uk

Julie's café
Julie French's catering caravan has now blossomed out into a proper café and explains the occasional waft of bacon butty that a keen nose might detect. It is a new build and it opened in September 2011. It has plenty of parking space and is located right next to the Trans-Pennine Trail near 'It's For Hire'. It is only a short walk from Tesco or St Mary's St roundabout. They do English breakfasts and a range of hot and cold food to sit in or to take out. Going through the door, the take-out and kitchen side is on the left and the café proper is on the right. The café is light and not quite as cramped for space as some of the other local cafés.

Julie's daughter is very pleasant and is shown in the picture above. A further delight is home-made scones with jam and clotted cream, which they do for a very cheap £1 along with a nice mug of tea or coffee. This café should gain some passing trade from walkers, cyclists and horse-riders but it already has its regular customers from its caravan days. In fact it is very busy during the morning and it wasn't easy to take the outside picture because of parked vehicles at the time. Hopefully, they will put some tables out in the warmer months.

The Loft Coffee Shop
This coffee shop opened in 2010 on Back Lane near the market place. Their facebook says: 'A modern, friendly coffee experience in the heart of Penistone where you can relax and unwind in comfortable surroundings and sample all the delights we have to offer.' They also have free wifi for those who cannot be separated from their gadgets. There are two sides; with padded armchairs and low tables at one side and high tables with 'Christine Keeler' chairs at the other side. Who over a certain age will ever forget a certain picture with one of those chairs?

This café is a treat for the nose, with the smell of fresh coffee along with the hint of interesting scents from the ladies' hairdresser below. They have a range of coffees or you can try their Chai Latte, which isn't a coffee at all - it's cinnamon tea. they also have a nice selection of home-made buns. If you ask nicely you might get beans on toast even though it isn't on the menu. The Old Stables, Back Lane, S36 6BZ. facebook Tel 01226 379196

Ward's café
Right in the middle of Penistone, this café has been running since the days of Edrick (actually Cedrick) Foster in the 1980s, when he named it the 'Saddlers café'. Edrick built up the business then left to take over the Stanhope Arms (now closed) at Dunford Bridge. Of course the speciality has always been the great British delight of Fish & Chips, although some might say 'Egg, Chips & Peas with Bread & Butter'. That might give away who is writing this. This café is very handy for the bus shelter around the corner and nearby public toilets. Tel 76 6026.