Maternity leave dreaming of sitting in a cafe with a hot cup of coffee, a delicious slice of cake & (hopefully!) a sleeping baby? I am with you! It’s one of my fave ways to spend mat leave, especially having been a lockdown mum first time round, I have absolutely revelled in coffee dates this time and I’m now able to give you my lowdown of the very best spots to hang with your new mum mates (perhaps made from doing a group hypnobirthing course with me). So here goes, my top independent coffee shops in Northants (& surrounding areas)… enjoy!
1.The Boathouse, Earls Barton - this wonderful family owned cafe is a dreamy little coffee spot. Delicious homemade food, beautiful view of the marina, welcome atmosphere, I cannot recommend highly enough. I’ve loved hosting birth base monthly meet ups here in the summer months, underneath their canopy area outside. If you’re dining inside, it’s cute & cosy so I’d recommend bringing babes in a carrier rather than pushchairs.
2. The Workhouse, Brixworth - most famous for ‘that’ cake counter…Plus they do my fave coffee (I’ll take a blonde roast vanilla latte, delish), and iconic avo on toast too.
3. Wythmails, Orlingbury - okay this is HANDS DOWN my favourite foodie spot. The tastiest food, and worth the half hour drive for me. I’d drive for longer to get this quality of brunch, trust me - go hungry!
4. Magee Street Bakery, Northampton - a firm favourite for sandwich specials before/after our fave baby class across the road at Parrots Playground.
5. Ten Hands Cafe Bar, Towcester - a truly wonderful cafe on towcester high street, a lovely place for a mooch about too. You can make a booking at Ten Hands which I highly advise.
6. Smiths Farm Shop, Boughton- gorgeous little cafe, with the added plus of seeing the sheep out the front for your little ones, and a farm food shop afterwards too. Lots of room here so good for bigger groups.
7.Bowden Stores , Great Bowden - yes this is further afield (market harbs), but it is absolutely stunning, food, location, drinks, and gorgeous home shop too - a total vibe. Meet your girlfriends here for a glass of wine and long lunch.
8.The Orangery at Delapre Abbey, Delapre - I love visiting delapre, free parking and lovely little spot for food (you can also grab a takeaway coffee from grounds their smaller takeaway shop nearer to the parking area). Plus delapre is a fantastic space to explore with little ones through their walled garden and woods. A beautiful day out all around. I've hosted some lovely birth base meet ups here too!
9.The Settling Rooms, Market Harborough - I would visit here all the time if it was just a little closer to me! Such a great spot, I spent my early maternity leave here doing some birth base admin whilst my babe snoozed. So so good.
10.The Garden Deli, Nene Court, Wellingborough - nene court is lovely little shopping spot to spend a mat leave day, and the garden deli is just wonderful. So friendly, very tasty food and lots of seating options, even an outside area.
11.Saints Coffee, Northampton - excellent coffee (& cocktails) on St Giles Street which is of course the best street in town centre.
12.Grandbies, Northampton - another solid choice for town centre, Grandbies is nice new coffee spot, beautiful aesthetic and the cakes look tasty too. Also a clothes shop too so you can have a little browse
13. Spread, Northampton - I couldn't do a blog about indie coffee shops without shouting out my absolute fave, Spread! Although there's just a lil bench & two chairs here to perch your bottom on in shop, Spread is ALWAYS worth a trip to grab Amy's delicious sandwiches and coffees. If the weather's good I always team my Spread collection with a walk round Abington Park. We've done loads of birth base meet up's this way and they are a joy.
Other spots I’ve yet to try but are on my list include…
Market Harb way - Farndon fields
Northampton town - Yellow Bourbon; Dreams Coffee Lounge
Milton Keynes - Canal St Coffee
Wellingborough - Ugly Mug
Is there anywhere else you’d add to my list? Please let me know!
PS… if you’ve enjoyed this blog, you may be interested to know that two wonderful friends of mine are launching The Backyard Card very soon. Their mission is to get you to choose local over chains, because of course that’s where the best food is at. The Backyard Card is going to be a discount card exclusively for independent hospitality businesses! Very exciting, right?! I can’t wait to get my hands on one! Keep your eyes peeled & give them a follow over on socials @thebackyardcard to keep up to date.
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