The high street tea rooms, known to many as The Mariners, closed its doors at the beginning of the pandemic and will not now be re-opening. Its owners the Canterbury Oast Trust have had a presence in Rye for more than 30 years, but the service had been loss- making for a number of years and it was not viable to continue subsidising it with charity funds into the long term, according to Joanne Creighton, the trust’s CEO.
She said: “It was a great sadness to us to have to close the tea rooms, as it provided a hugely useful window onto the work of our charity. It is so important for our service users to have meaningful opportunities to be part of the local community and the wonderful location of the café offered just that. It has always been our hope and intention that the space will reopen in another guise, but work to explore potential new ventures has been stalled by the ongoing pandemic.”
Customers will remember the cheerful service provided by the staff of the Canterbury Oast Trust, some of whom lived above the shop and others at the trust’s formerly owned property in Watchbell Street, which has now been sold.
The trust is a charity supporting people with learning disabilities in Kent and East Sussex. It runs a number of enterprises that support its work including the Rare Breeds Centre at Woodchurch near Ashford. The centre is a 100 acre visitor farm set in the beautiful countryside of Kent and attracts almost 80,000 people each year and offers a family day out with a difference.
Image Credits: Kenneth Bird .