Inside incredible time-warp café transporting customers back to 1940s Britain – and it even has an OUTDOOR toilet
INSIDE the incredible time-warp café that is transporting customers back to 1940s Britain and offering many unconventional places to eat your lunch.
The spirit of war-time England is alive and well in a quaint corner of a Buckinghamshire town.
Chris Miller is the owner of a quirky, 1940s themed café in High Wycombe.
He re-opened at a new location in September 2023 and has solidified the café as an eccentric and nostalgic destination where customers can dive into an experience of war-time England.
An authentic village hall features a weekly singer who performs warm vintage classics, aiming to replicate traditional tea dances where so many couples met.
You can enjoy your Tommy’s All-Day Breakfast in the period train carriage, overlooking the model railway, or treat yourself to Afternoon Tea in an Anderson Shelter.
Chris emphasises his endeavour to preserve the history of 1940s England, respecting the hard-working, generous qualities of that generation.
He said: “I spent a lot of time with my grandparents growing up and I just love that generation.
“My grandparents weren’t proud of fighting in the war – it was just something that they had to do.
“It made them more compassionate, funnily enough, they are actually very compassionate about human life, so I wanted to honour that generation.”
Educating visitors about the history of World War Two is essential for Chris, so that a modern-day community can “reconnect” with Britain’s war-time past.
He added: “People do really seem to like the realism, they like the different areas.
“What people find really funny is the khazi which is an outdoor toilet – we’re waiting to find that someone’s done an accident in there, but so far, not yet.
“We have an Anderson shelter. We have a replica but it’s the exact same size, so it’s so interesting just explaining to children that some people used to sleep 6 people in there and then go to work.”
Underneath the array of individual creativity on display, the Air Raid Shelter Café and Tea Room centres itself around “community spirit” and bringing people together, to hark back to a time when helping your neighbour was vital.
The army, navy and RAF sections, at the front, features a myriad of early twentieth century memorabilia, donated from the local residents.
Customers are often inspired to recall cherished memories of their younger years.
A visiting 98 year old spitfire pilot with Alzheimer’s was still able to sing along to the tunes of the Andrews Sisters, ringing out across the café.
Chris has also dabbled in the music industry, releasing a bid for Christmas number one in 2021.
Collaborating with café staff, regular customers and a veteran RAF radio operator, John Pearce, his charity single Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) by The 1945 set out to compete with the likes of Ed Sheeran and Elton John.
Chris said: “We came up with a great idea to do something for the café to involve all the staff and the customers.
“We did a cover version of a Christmas song and it did really well – it was the 46th most bought single in the whole country for one day, which was amazing.
Chris’ next exciting project will see a collaboration with the 40s swing trio, The Polka Dots, to produce ‘Forever Dancing In Our Hearts’, commemorating 80 years since the D-Day landings.
His ultimate aim with the café is to make it “the best destination café in the country” and continue to create interactive, “amazing spaces” for people to enjoy.
Other places in the UK are also experimenting with quirkier locations to draw in curious customers.
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