Little Plumstead – Walled Garden Community Shop and Cafe

I hadn’t heard of this community project before, but it’s based at what was once the walled garden of Plumstead Hall and is marked as 173 in the above map (click to make it larger). This was a large residential property built in 1889 on the site of an earlier hall, with the building later being turned into a mental hospital. It was used in this manner from the 1930s until it was closed in the 1990s, with the site being partly used for a new residential development. Sadly, although the building didn’t have great architectural interest, what was Plumstead Hall was destroyed by fire in 2016. It was a common visiting site for urban explorers and there are numerous accounts on-line, including this one from 2010.

Anyway, a community project has been unveiled for this site and there is now a cafe, shop and gardens that have been opened up. There are two primary parts of Plumstead, the villages of Great Plumstead and Little Plumstead, and they lost their only shop in 2016. It’s fair to say that this wasn’t entirely ideal for local residents as although it might only have been a small Happy Shopper that closed, it was the last retail premises left. But, this community project has changed that.

This is the entrance to the gardens, suitable for those in wheelchairs.

Current restrictions mean that the cafe can only be opened as a takeaway and I’m pleased to say that someone with some sense has been involved in this arrangement. There are clear menus before ordering, the prices are reasonable, the ordering process is simple, they accept cards, the staff member was friendly, it felt welcoming and nothing confused, annoyed or puzzled me. All really well managed. There’s a central counter which is used for the shop on the other side, and the cafe on this side, with everything being clean.

Isn’t this all rather lovely? Customers can usually sit in these gardens to enjoy their cafe purchases, although that’s limited at the moment because of national restrictions. But there was a really friendly vibe going on here, with the volunteer gardeners performing various different tasks. This is a community project that I can see local residents would want to get involved with, something to make them feel included and to meet people. This is a wonderful opportunity for inclusivity, for people to feel they’re part of something and to get them out of the house. What a perfect way of helping people with mental health issues, and how quite apt that this was the site of a hospital which tried to improve the mental health of its residents.

I got the last sausage roll, which was a relief, as I was quite in the mood for such a delicious pastry product. It was served cold, but it tasted fine with the meat having a richness of flavour and the pastry was light. For £2, I thought it was all entirely acceptable.

95p for a can of Fanta, all quite reasonable. Looking at online reviews, it seems that others have also found their visits to be positive as well. What’s interesting for the future is that this is still all quite early stage, so there are lots of plans for what new facilities they can offer over the next few years.

I really like this place, not just because there was a friendly welcome, but because of the concept and the community work that is going on here. And, this is run professionally, I can see their social media channels, their communications, their web-site and their operations are all slick and well managed. I shall positively endeavour to bring LDWA walkers here (and maybe some Ramblers if they’re well behaved) as projects like this should definitely be encouraged.