CAFÉ customers in Middleton-in-Teesdale have their fingers crossed that new buyers will come forward for their popular business.
For the past nine years Julie and Cliff Hartill have been the proprietors of Rumours Cafe in Middleton-in-Teesdale. Ill-health forced the tough decision to sell the business earlier in the year.
The popular couple, who relocated to the dale from Middlesbrough 15 years ago, thought they had secured its sale, but the deal fell through three weeks ago.
Mrs Hartill said: “I’ve got back problems. Even though it’s bad, the consultants say it’s not severe enough to operate yet so I just have to live with it, but some days I can’t move. We didn’t want to sell the business, but it’s getting difficult to get around some days.”
The couple bought Rumours cafe as a retirement business, but when Mrs Hartill’s health worsened, they made the decision to sell up.
She added: “I’ve now got bulging discs in my back and find it difficult to stay on my feet all the time. Walking sometimes is a struggle and customers wonder how I do it when I’m hobbling about.”
Her health took a turn for the worse in July when she fell, breaking her ankle and femur. She said: “I was in hospital for two weeks and had to have a plate put in. I had a pot on for two weeks and then a moon boot for another three months. I still get a lot of pain from that and it doesn’t help my back.”
The cafe, popular with locals and visitors alike, was marketed earlier in the year and a buyer found. The couple were waiting for contracts to exchange when they heard the buyer had pulled out.
Mrs Hartill said: “From April we thought it was going through. But three weeks ago, we got an email saying it wasn’t going ahead. The buyer had been unable to sell her house.”
After receiving the news, they decided to place an advertisement in the Teesdale Mercury offering the business for sale.
She said: “All our customers have got their fingers crossed for us. We have so many loyal customers that come in regularly. After we put the advert in the paper we did have someone get in touch and we are still in talks with them, so hopefully it will go through.
“I’ll really miss the customers though when we do sell, but as long as it stays as a cafe I will come in and enjoy being on the other side of the counter.”
![A COUNTY councillor is backing a campaign to get a pedestrian crossing in Staindrop. Frustrated parish councillors in the village summoned their county council representative Cllr George Richardson to their latest meeting to discuss several issues, including the call for a safe way to cross the A688. Earlier this year their request for a crossing was turned down by the county council’s highways officers. Parish council chairman Jonothan Raper described the reasons for the refusal as “spurious” and called on Cllr Richardson to support their campaign. He added: “One of the arguments they made was there is no clear line of desire when they studied the village – well this isn’t a clear line of desire because there isn’t a crossing, people cross whenever they can. “When the lollipop person was there, one of the things I noticed was people would walk all the way down to the lollipop person to cross the road to go to the shop or to go to the school.” He added a problem of parking at the primary school is exacerbated because people are too afraid to walk their children across the road. Cllr Richardson said he had supported previous attempts for a crossing point with the first being made about 15 years ago. He added: “We went fairly well down the road with that and they looked into it. The only recommended place was where the bus stop is and to get the visibility splays, people on the other side of the road would lose their parking. “That didn’t go down well so it just died a death.” Cllr Raper said he suspected the real reason for the officers’ refusal was the cost of installing a crossing. He added that much of the cost could be recovered from savings made on not having to employ a lollipop patrol. Cllr Raper said: “A lollipop person only provides a benefit of crossing for three hours of the day. You are getting 21 extra hours of crossing time [with a pedestrian crossing].” Cllr Richardson said he would raise the issue with the county council’s cabinet member for highways, Cllr John Shuttleworth.](https://teesdalemercury.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/georgeR-120x86.jpg)
