In the beginning...

“This place needs a coffee shop”

The Johnstons moved into West Horsley as a family of four (plus two cats) on September the 11th, 2001. A date many of us will never forget. A lovely, semi-rural location, with great schools, plenty of green space, less traffic etc etc - the reasons to move here were many, but the place had no centre, no heart, no coffee shop.

We settled as soon as we moved in. The people here are SO friendly aren’t they? Countless welcomes, offers of practical help, the best neighbours in Christendom. We were soon caught up in village life and then, four months later we found St Mary;s church: a place for us to become part of a church family and bring the girls up. Life was busy & life was good.

It took Robin almost ten years to secure the right location for Quaich. We looked at the old supermarket (now Lloyds the Chemist), the Video shop (now a hairdressers) but we knew the minute we walked into the grocers that this was the right spot. We won’t bore you here with the tale of planning problems etc., Let’s just say it took another eighteen months to secure all the right permissions.

We hope you like it - we have plans to expand and plans to do this and that, but the main aim of the place is to be somewhere you want to be, and we thank you for your custom.

Quaich set out to be at the heart of the village and our wonderful community. A place you could meet friends, or work. A place you can come to on your own, where you can meet your neighbours and where the sound of laughter is as frequently heard as the sound of the coffee grinder and knock-out drawer is use. That was Robin’s vision and the people of East & West Horsley, as well as many more from further afield, have brought that to life.

The place needed a coffee shop!