Ellis's tea room officially re-opens in January

Visitors to the Great Central Railway's Rothley station in January can sample the award winning tourist attraction's latest completed project. The popular Ellis's Tea Room at Rothley station has been extended to cope with demand and will be officially re-opened on Saturday 14th January at 10.30 a.m.

The tea room only opened three years ago in a building converted from a former grain store at the station. Since then it has become a 'must visit' destination for travellers on the GCR's steam trains, and during weekdays a valuable village meeting point. However, with only 26 seats it quickly became full during busy gala events - a victim of its own success.

"As soon as the doors opened at Ellis's Tea Room we knew we had a hit on our hands," said Kate Tilley, GCR's Marketing Manager. "So much so, we had to start thinking about an extension quite early on. We're delighted to have been able to put thirty five thousand pounds of funding in place to improve this already popular facility. The extension will almost double the length of the building giving us an additional 20 seats."

The majority of the funding for the thirty five thousand pound project has been provided by generous supporters of the Great Central Railway through its dedicated charity, The David Clarke Railway Trust. However ten thousand pounds was provided through a Leicestershire County Council 'Inspire' Visitor Development grant after a successful application. Kate added, "The grant made a tremendous difference to us, enabling us to take it from a plan to reality. We are very grateful to the County Council.''

With the original conversion of the building three years ago great care was taken to preserve the character of the building. This time it has been important to extend it sensitively without detracting from its heritage. It isn't listed, but the station buildings at Rothley, right alongside, are. The finishing details reflect the original structure, but a stepped design indicates where the old building finishes and the extension starts.