How do you explain the Merrie England to someone who’s not from Huddersfield? Well, it’s a bit like Costa, but with suits of armour and Henry VIII vibes. As our iconic chain of coffee shops changes ownership, JENNY GIBSON gets romantic about egg custard and apple pie.

In 1980, Madness and The Police were topping the charts, steelworkers were on strike, Alton Towers opened its doors for the first time, and Huddersfield got its first ever drive-thru – the Merrie England at New Hey Road, Salendine Nook.

These days we routinely bark into intercoms for burgers and chips down Leeds Road, but back then picking up a turkey club sandwich and a milky coffee without getting out of your Vauxhall Cavalier would have been a thrillingly novel experience.

You have to admire the vision – Tudor, of course, but don’t mock it. An ordinary petrol station was transformed into the sort of place a passing 16th century monarch and their entourage might dismount for a tankard lime squash and a platter of almond slices.

However, the Merrie story with all its innovation started long before 1980. Founders Keith and Anita Hanselman brought their unique take on the swinging 60s coffee shop scene to town late in that decade.

Inspired by the concept of pastoral, pre-Industrial Revolution life – the perfect setting for their signature roast meats – the Hanselmans had old iron cartwheels made into light fittings.

They installed many trees’ worth of wood panelling and beams, then rolled out the fleur de lis and tartan soft furnishings. They accessorised with suits of armour and pictures of hunting scenes and stately mediaeval ladies.

 

Even a rainy day at Salendine Nook doesn’t spoil the Merrie England vibe

Members of the lively Huddersfield Then And Now group on Facebook remember the excitement of this brand-new destination well – which was reportedly the first place in town that you could get a latte.

Louise Bulloch loved the stainless-steel ice cream dishes and hissing coffee machine. “Prawn or cheese special on granary for my mum and turkey and stuffing teacake for me,” she says. “I loved the ‘exotic’ touch of the cranberry sauce. Delicious cheesecake and apple pie was a real treat.”

Karen Ramsden tells me: “When they were making beef sandwiches you could have butter or dripping, and they used to weigh the meat.”

So many of the Merrie menu items have become legendary. If you know, you know. Hot beef and gravy, cold beef and pickle, a whole pig’s worth of ham, lemon meringue pie, vanilla slice and rum truffles … the list goes on.

Many people in the town, as well as those who have frequented the Brighouse and Halifax branches, have lovely memories of family times there.

Jean Wright said: “It was my mum’s favourite place to go for lunch, it didn’t make any difference if I suggested we try somewhere else. The staff were always so efficient and friendly. I still go with friends.”

Amy Steel recounts how three generations of women in her family found love, tradition and comfort over prawn salad sandwiches.

“I’ve lived abroad and I’ve lived down south, and I’ve missed the Merrie England. The penny didn’t drop till I moved that it wasn’t a national chain,” she adds.

Other people told me about coming over from Lancashire especially or loading up on Merrie goodies before driving to Blackpool and eating them for tea on the seafront.

 

 

Sally Clarke remembers visiting with her nanna and the clanking of teacups and saucers along with the chatter of shoppers, showing off their purchases to each other.

If the Merrie has a core market, it’s mums and grandmas. I took my 10-year-old son in this week. “Old people place, this,” he said, before demolishing a tuna and cucumber bap.

Yes, love, you’re right. There’s a reason you see a sea of grey heads when you step inside. Thanks to their life experience and common sense, Huddersfield matriarchs know a good lunch option when they see one – and pass this useful insight down. Note this well, my boy.

My old friend Ned Netherwood says: “I would go all the time with my mum and my auntie when I was little. When I got my first job in Brighouse, I’d go and get an egg sandwich for lunch. I vividly remember the transparent red bag they’d wrap it in.”

Ned, who now lives in the US, continues: “There’s not a lot left from my childhood but it’s comforting that the Merrie England is still there, like an anchor into the past.

“The last time I went in, in 2021, every other customer was an old lady, and that felt so nice having recently lost my mum.”

Another friend, Julian Pratt, reminisces about the chewy cheesecake, as bold as a train track sleeper. He says, quite wistfully: “If they say you feel old when the world changes faster than you, then Merrie England is the fountain of youth and I am always seven.”

No-one ever got so emotional about Caffe Nero. The poet laureate Simon Armitage famously wrote a poem To the women of The Merrie England coffee houses, Huddersfield and those ladies too are often as fond of the place as their customers.

One 1990s Saturday girl describes her sheer pride at having the “biggest gob” and therefore the job of shouting “Hot beef ready!” when necessary. Another worker, Julie Harding, recalls: “I loved working there, making up the sandwiches and serving at the counter.”

Let’s not pretend that no-one’s ever had a bad experience in a Merrie England, though. Social media chat this week has included gripes about old cakes, stale bread and rubbery bacon, and there’s some work to be done to keep all those sometimes tired interiors spick and span for a Merrie old future ahead.

That said, if I were new owner Gary Conway and his investors, I would be feeling the responsibility of over 50 years of egg custard love bearing down on me right now and the refrain of: “Don’t bloody well change anything!” ringing in my ears.

Good luck Gary, lad, our beloved heritage is in your hands. As long as you fill your cabinets with apple pie, leaving the recipe AS IT IS, the town will support you ever more.