Family-run business based in Daventry nominated for an award

The Windsor Lodge Tea Room's afternoon teas, daily sweet treats, and savoury snacks have been enjoyed by the community.

The business was nominated for the Northants Life Awards 2023 under the Best Cafe or Tearooms category.

People can reminisce on 1940s vintage-style afternoon tea events at Windsor Lodge Tea Room.

The family-run business can be found on New Street, in Daventry.

The Windsor Lodge was built as a school in 1600. Before being turned into a restaurant, the building used to be a church.

Melissa Wolfenden, 40, has been running the business with her family for over a year.

“It’s going really well. We have got lots of regular customers now,” said Melissa.

Windsor Lodge Tea Room officially opened on Saturday, June 4, 2022.

“We are a back-to-basics vintage tea room,” said Melissa.

For their one-year anniversary, the family decorated and offered a week of special offers.

“We loved it. We loved the first year. A lot of our customers have now become friends. Everyone talks to everyone. It’s a nice friendly place to go to,” said Melissa.

Windsor Lodge Tea Room received an email in May from Northants Life (NL). The family was nominated for the NL Awards 2023 under the Best Cafe or Tearooms category.

On Tuesday, June 13, NL announced that the business was a finalist in the top six nominees for its category.

The online publication has been running the awards events for over six years.

Over 10,500 businesses were nominated in May for the 20 NL Awards categories.

The NL Awards run over a three-month period with nominations and votes gathered from the community until Tuesday, July 4, at 11pm.

The winners and runners-up are set to be announced at the NL Awards Evening on Thursday, July 20.

The event is being held at the Chester House Estate, in Wellingborough.

Windsor Lodge Tea Room offers pre-bookable vintage afternoon teas, daily sweet treats and savoury snacks with a variety of cakes and tray bakes, crumpets, teacakes, soups, and sandwiches.

“We’ve got quite a range now of sweet and savoury,” said Melissa.

The business holds different events throughout the week, including a Scrabble club and a club for board games on Thursday, from 6pm until 8pm.

The family is planning to host a coffee morning event for people who are hard of hearing. Starting on July 7, the events are set to take place every Friday at 10 a.m. The music levels will be turned down for everyone to socialise.

“There’s a lot of people that are hard of hearing so we thought we’d do a special morning reserved for them,” said Melissa.

People can enjoy group sing-along evenings and musicians playing at the Windsor Lodge Tea Room’s piano in the future.

“We’re trying to be like a community hub,” said Melissa.

The Windsor Lodge Tea Room is open from 10am to 3pm, Tuesday through Friday, and from 10am to 2pm on Saturday.

The business is available for private hire.

People can vote for the Windsor Lodge Tea Room on the Northants Life website.