The Touring Tea Room

11/03/2026

Spring is in the air ☀️, Clyne In Bloom just around the corner.

Details below 👇👇

It's nearly that time again 😎

11/03/2026

Walks and talks round Clyne 👇👇

28/02/2026

Say it again for the people at the back !

Small business are the back bones of communities and we know that what we are charging is expensive …. But you aren’t just paying for a “cake” or a “pint”

You”re paying for the electric that heats the milk for your coffee
You”re paying for water that washes the cups
And paying the tax we have to give bloody HmRC !

But you”re also paying for the staffs wages who smile and ask you about your day and have yiur order ready before you get to the counter

You”re paying for my sons new shoes who waves at you every morning and strokes your dog !

You”re paying for the community around you who makes your days feel lighter when the world feels a bit crap !

Right.
Apparently, pubs are “too expensive.” 😬🥵💰

I hear it every day. 🤯

Usually from someone clutching a £6 artisan coffee, scrolling TikTok on a £1,200 phone, while explaining how a pint is daylight robbery. 💎

But sure. The pub is the problem. 👌

Let me explain this slowly…

You’re not paying for “beer”! 🍺

You’re paying for an experience, for a community, for…

💸 The heating being on before you arrive.
💸 The lights staying on after you leave.
💸 The loos being scrubbed (you’re welcome).
💸 The glasses being washed.
💸 The staff being paid.
💸 The licences. The insurance. The rates. The tax.
💸 The little bite the card machine takes every single time you tap.
💸 And the fact that when the cellar floods at 11pm on a Tuesday… it’s me in wellies.

You’re not just buying a drink. 🍷

You’re renting a space to exist in public without being moved on. To socialise. To make friends. To feel welcome. To belong. ❤️

Go and sit in the middle of ASDA for three hours debating VAR and see how long that lasts. Try getting banter from a self-checkout. 😅

Pubs aren’t competing with supermarket booze. 🛒

We’re competing with the idea that community should be free. 🏘️❤️

And here’s the bit I find fascinating…

The same people who mourn “the death of the British pub” are the ones who treat us like overpriced off-licences. 🍾

We don’t sell beer. 🍺

We sell:
👉 First dates that turned into marriages.
👉 Wakes where the real stories came out.
👉 “Ok, just one” that became the best night of the year.
👉 Somewhere to decompress when the world’s had enough of you and you’ve had enough of the world.

We sell a place to not be alone. 🫂

If you want cheap: stay on your sofa with a four-pack of lukewarm cans 🛋️🥵🍻

But PLEASE don’t confuse low cost with value! 🤷‍♂️

Anyway, I’ll be over here - overcharging for heating, chairs, and human interaction. 🔥🪑🤗

03/02/2026

Perfect start to the morning … Coffee by Cuppa Gŵyr with nails by julzcoll 👌

13/01/2026

Happy 2nd birthday to little Em !!

I may say no to tv more often than you like, I may say no to cake occasionally, but I will never say no to puddle jumping, river walking, tree climbing or getting knee high in mud 🥾🌲

Enjoy your birthday you biscute munching, dog loving, puddle stomping, wild thing 🥰

27/11/2025

I see small cafes and businesses shutting regularly because of decisions like this … cafes changing their menus, trying new things and still struggling to make ends meet …. Small business are the back bone of communities and villages but we are under constant pressure from the government and rising cost of bloody EVERYTHING ! and sometimes it’s impossible to make things work …. But sometimes somehow we still do !

Please support any small business you can … it really does mean the WORLD!

Minimum wage to go up in April… tax threshold to stay the same?? So who’s gaining here? Government a way to get more tax!
Who looses? Independent businesses..
Small coffee shop with 2 kitchen staff and 2 FOH £50.80 pr hr in staff wages that’s if they are on minimum wage!
When customers come to our cafe and say it’s too expensive.. guys you don’t have to tell me.. I know..
Regular breakfast £10.85
Cost of the food £4.69
Sausage 40p
Bacon 52p
Beans 28p
Mushroom 37p
Tomatoes 66p
Hash brown 21p
Butter 8p
Bread 38p
Sauce 20p
Egg 17p
Salt 1p
Napkin 3p
Oil to cook in 30p
20% VAT £2.17
£3.99 profit… now make that cover
Electricity £3000pm
Rent £2535 pm
Insurance £350 pm
Music license £175pm
Accountant £200pm
Hr £251pm
Water £150pm
Bin collection £400-£450 pm
WIFI £22pm
Cleaning products £250 pm
Staff wages that’s £50.80pm (that’s if 4 staff were on minimum wage) 65% are not..
let’s not even talk about staff breakages, complaints, discounts, waste, mistakes…

So to break even.. we would need to sell 4700 regular breakfasts in a month 😬🤞
That’s 24 ph…our cafe seats 24 people!

So when prices go up and you complain… please tell us how we can do it? Genuinely if you have a solution let us know… if you want to see us here for Christmas 2026 support us please now more than ever!

This government does not want small family run businesses…sad sad times!

05/09/2025

Great to see the new shelter in clyne being put up on a wonderful sunny day !! Can’t wait to see it finished 🥰☀️

07/07/2025

Just a little update on “storytime” and whats happening with it !

I wrote a piece for about my top tips for storytelling and I thought it would be the best time to let you guys know where my head has been with “storytime” and why I haven’t started it back.

I hope you guys can understand why I am having a break from it at the moment 🥰❤️

But for now … here are a few of my tips for your own “storytelling adventures” 🙌🏻

01/07/2025

I’m redoing this post because I did the last one in a rush ….

On Friday Teifion retired after 40 years working in clyne gardens, many people couldnt belive he was retiering
Mostly because he looks so bloody young ! He barely looks 40 !
But also because many people who know Teifion know how dedicated he is to the gardens and can’t quiet imagine the place without him.

If you have any love for gardening, mushrooms, moths or moss you will probably know Teifion.
He’s most peooles go to guy when it comes to identification of something or when you need to pick someone’s brain about a plant that won’t flower.

Tei has such a rich knowlage on all things plant and nature related it’s hard not to get sucked into his enthusiasm and a quick 2 mins question turns into an hour long conversation about the history of the plant you first asked about.

I class tei as a really close friend of mine, from day one of me being in clyne gardens he made me feel like part of the team and helped me whenever he could ! And shared his knowledge as much as he could .
And I know that that kindness isn’t just shown to me, he’s everyone’s friend in the park, everyone’s go to guy !

Im gunna miss seeing his face everyday and annoying him about plant facts and mushroom id !

But don’t stress guys, he will still be doing his walks and talks each month in clyne and will be sharing his wealth of knowledge with many other parks around Swansea so keep a close eye on him.

27/06/2025

Today is a bittersweet day as we are saying goodbye to Teifion the head Gardener in clyne ! He’s retiring after 40 years of hard work in the gardens and inspiring many many people with his infinite knowledge of plants, fungi and history of the gardens and I know many of us are going to be a bit lost without him !

Teifion has always made me feel welcome from day 1 and made me feel like part of the team ! And he was always available for mushroom I.D and plant chats and I know many of us are going to find it very odd not seeing him in the gardens everyday day ! (Although I know he will visit often)


Such a lovely turn out for him today so thank you everyone who turned up, brought some cake and a gift for Teifion 🥰❤️

Tree stump and mushroom cake by the lovely Hollie from

18/06/2025

Around 4% of new businesses have ceased trading by the end of the first year. This rises to 50% within three years and 80% in five years.

Yesterday was officially 5 years of the touring tea room.
I consider myself incredibly lucky that my job consists of dwelling in a battered caravan serving tea and coffee to many wonderful people while getting harassed by a tiny biscuit fiend of a robin, all while my son runs in and out of the rhododendron trees. It’s a pretty sweet job.

But social media is a highlight reel and many small business like my own are struggling to stay afloat.
I have not shared the rather bleak moments of owning your own business.
The rising cost of raw products like cake and milk that eats into your tiny profit margins and the crippling taxes that just keep rising and rising while you’re trying to balance everything to keep going.
The months where you have zero time off and still have no money to show for it and it’s rained non stop for weeks so you’re raiding the piggy bank to try and pay wages.

Small business are the back bone of communities and I’m truly grateful for everyone who comes and supports my business which means I can keep dwelling in this battered caravan for a living.
And please whenever you can support a small business, share a post, grab a coffee, buy a book, and keep small business like mine going.

Thank you for making The touring tea room part of that small 20% that is still going 🥰🥰

03/05/2025