From January 12th-23rd, Upton Park tea rooms are closing for two weeks for deep cleaning and essential maintenance. The Gallery Upstairs is also closed for redecoration until early February.
The tea rooms is located at Upton country park, around a glorious 160-acre woodland and park featuring a Georgian Manor House. It offers a selection of hot and cold drinks, sandwiches, cakes and other light snacks.
Three year employee Alona Korniyenko says this closure has been happening each year while working in the tea rooms. This does affect her and many others by not having as many shifts as usual.
However during this time Alona and other staff members are given a chance to have shifts in the welcome centre area instead of the usual tea room to give them a chance to still earn.
Alona explained “It has been great. It’s quite calm in the welcome centre, as from previous experience the tea rooms have been very busy, so it’s nice to be relaxed. Here we are able to chat more and have longer conversations with the customers that come through.” She acknowledged this does help a lot with time off from the tea room in January.
Following the closure many staff and members of the public are really eager to come back to their go-to community space, to see what has been done with the tea room. But also what The Gallery Upstairs will look like and how it will enhance the already cosy welcoming space at Upton Country Park.
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