The Elleray Centre

Next Wednesday, not this Wednesday, but next Wednesday, the 17th Dec, we will be going to the new Elleray Centre in Teddington for elevenses. The managers there , Sam and David, kindly invited me to have a tour of the new Centre and to discuss the arrangements for our visit. This took place this morning, so I cycled over to Teddington on what turned out to be a pleasantly warm winter’s morning.

The Elleray Centre

• Where is it? It is not 50 yards from the Elleray Hall so you will have no trouble finding it. Here it is in Google Maps.
• When you arrive. Please do not use the main entrance. Instead, take yourself and your bike through the gate to the right hand side of the building (see the photo below). Follow the path around the building until you come to a rather pleasant courtyard garden. Here you can leave your bike. You will pass through a couple of security gates to get to the garden. These should be left open for us. Do not close any gates on your way, or else those following will not be able to get through.
• Where are the cakes, and coffee and other goodies? The new cafe is accessed directly from the courtyard garden, has plenty of seating and will offer all you may desire: cake, cappuccino, flat white, sausage rolls (I am assured these will be just as good as the ones dished up at the Elleray Hall), bacon rolls… plus snacks that you may want to buy and consume later. There will also be a trolley on which will be jugs of instant type coffee and tea priced at £1. The trolley is self-service, all other refreshments will be available from the new cafe.
• How do I pay for my cake and other goodies? Pay at the cafe counter. This applies even if you want a bargain £1 coffee or tea from the trolley. They would much rather you paid by card as opposed to cash. So, if you can, please use your debit/credit card.
• Where are the toilets? On the ground floor, off the main lobby area.
• Anything else? Yes. They have some very nice and very new wooden flooring in the cafe, which they are quite precious about. Their words not mine. Therefore, if your cycling shoes have prominent cleats, please cover them up or take them off so they don’t scratch the flooring. They haven’t confirmed next year’s dates yet so please be careful about this.