It’s a cold January day, the sort of morning that is almost mandatory to make you question why you get out of bed to pursue this hobby.
A pleasant drive down a rare quiet M6 and off into the borders of North Wales we entered a flooded track that would make the local Land Rover club try and declare it a national treasure for the use of hard core 4x4s only.
The arena nestles in a small valley as if it’s being cuddled and protected by the Welsh foothills as it slowly decays away ,the outdoor warmup is large flat and sits proud on the top of a hillock so the riders can look down on the indoor arena while awaiting their fate. The very effective ban on hanging around the indoor entrance is refreshing to see at a small venue and this subtle organisational presence was all around this event so the classes whisked through like the changed diet of our new horse.
The cafe sits quietly in the corner of the arena. An arena that has an engaging back drop through it’s far wall of the small hill that shades it from the world a pleasant change from cattle shed decor of norm.
There are many designs of cafe in the donkey world of equine arenas and this one falls into the comfy open plan living room category sporting sofas ,the secretary and a kitchen from your own house , this style is done very well at Netley hall which fails only on it’s lack of any sort of view of an arena, while Maelors doesn’t get the award for the best implementation of the ‘I am at home’ ethos it does have a great comfy place to sit at a clear window and watch the action.
The chat and foot traffic to/from the secretary keeps the ambience at a good level making you feel part of the event and not isolated in a portakabin , like certain arenas at equine colleges north of Wolverhampton have perfected.
All of these charms are easily destroyed by the one staff member working the cafe as the sole destroyer of hope and cheer .The persona of the person serving at any cafe is surely the most important aspect of a café after you have cast your eagle eye over the cooking facilities. You get the trendy bistro cafe staff of Beaver hall in Leak with it’s Menu of Panini’s and it’s staff looking like waiters from a cafe in central Milan to the neat tidy but utility cafe of Southview with it’s ‘we are all someone’s mum’ type staff with there chatty banter either way you put it , the food would have to be good to overcome the sourness poured onto the tiny choice of food at this cafe. In fairness the chap turning the milk sour looked like the boss had asked the local mechanic to put down his tractor tools wipe the axle grease from his face but don’t bother getting out of you oily overalls and help out for a day a look I am more used to when I travel the back waters of some African 3rd world country , I am sure there is no equine cafe that has a Michelin star but a man that could burn a toastie and stick a dollop of weak horsepiss in a polystyrene cup isn’t even going to get a star from a Korean tyre manufacturer .
No wonder the menu looked like it had been ripped in halve he looked like he was stressed out and way past his abilities when I asked for a bacon bap, at least the baps where fresh and the bacon tastie but the one inch layer of margarine he slapped on it drowned any notion of detecting the bacon flavour. I did ask for some chips but the reply summed it up “I may try to do some later, but not while I have such a big queue” ,there was two of us waiting!!!
The trip was nice day out, we picked up some SCOPE qualifiers and I must admit I would like to revisit the place on a warm sunny summer day I reckon it would look right pretty but the boss should let the mechanic serving at the cafe go back to his diesel injectors and get a person who could add 300% to what could be a great cafe to watch horses kick poles down.
p.s we will return the end of January to see if different staff are present and make it any better.
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