Peak District cafe and restaurant on Chatsworth Estate set to open its doors again after 10 months – with new team at the helm

The Old Smithy at Beeley will be reopening this month - after being taken on by Casper Nicholson and Izzy Howitt.

Casper said the couple had plenty of experience in the hospitality industry across Chesterfield and the Peak District - adding that they felt the cafe had great potential.

He said: “We’ve had a good response online, which is nice to see. It’s Chatsworth, so obviously it’s a popular place - people are always searching for things to do near Chatsworth.

“We’re a relatively young couple, we’re both 21. I’ve managed the Bulls Head at Ashford in the Water, and my partner Izzy has worked at cafes throughout growing up, in Chesterfield and latterly at the Edensor Tea Rooms.

“We’ve constantly been on the lookout for the best opportunity to take on a cafe. We know Beeley very well, we’re big fans of the village and we know some of the residents there, and how missed the cafe was when it shut down.

“We thought it was the perfect opportunity - there’s a lot of cyclists and walkers nearby, and Chatsworth gets hundreds of thousands of visitors every year.

It was just the perfect, traditional little cafe - the whole feel about the building felt great and we think there’s enormous potential there to make a success of everything.”

Discussing the menu, Casper said that there would be a range of traditional options, along with some more contemporary dishes - as well as alcolholc drinks from local suppliers.

He said: “We’re a licensed cafe, so we can sell alcohol as well. Izzy has got enormous experience in coffee training, so there’ll be quite an extensive coffee menu.

“It’s going to be a traditional cafe setting, with a modern twist implemented - you’ll see that through the food and drinks menus.

“On the menu, we’re going to have traditional cafe options such as a full English breakfast and eggs benedict. Our idea is for the special menu to be where we can really showcase what we’re about and what we’re going to bring to the cafe - sea bass, lime and ginger fish cakes and stuff along that line.

“We want to draw people in and show them that we’re doing something contemporary - but the feel will be very traditional and Chatsworth-esque, with fresh produce and food from the land. That’s what we’ll be pushing and promoting throughout the building. There’ll be a Chatsworth theme throughout, with artwork on the walls of both Beeley and Chatsworth.

“We’ll have special spritzers and cocktails on the menu in terms of alcoholic beverages, we’ll source our wines locally from Hattersley Wines, we’ll have Chatsworth Gold from Peak Ales and bottles from Thornbridge too.”

The couple are hoping to reopen the cafe at some point from June 18 onwards - but the finalised relaunch date will be shared on their social media channels in the coming days.

Casper added: “We want to add a new breath of life into the building, but celebrate the timeless tradition throughout - that’s really important to us.

“The cafe has been closed since last August. It’s been 10 months or so, and then Beeley flooded, so a lot of the residents had to move out of the village. We see now as a prime time to push on and capitalise on the village coming back together.

“I know that, for the residents I know, it’s only been in the last couple of months that they’ve been able to move back into their homes. We’re hoping to work with the Devonshire Arms in Beeley as well and help each other out.

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“The amount of applications we’ve had from younger staff living in Beeley is fantastic. It gives them an opportunity to earn some money. It’s been really promising to see, and we’ll be proud to employ these people and have families from the village working at the Old Smithy - that’s exactly what we want.”

For more information, head to the Old Smithy’s Facebook page here.