Bring Mike and Cath back to Totland Pier Café!

If you are reading this you will probably know that Totland Pier Café (now re-named Bay Café) used to be run by local couple, Mike and Cath. A huge amount of effort on their part had turned the café into a real social hub, much loved by locals and visitors alike, as well as being a thriving, viable business, all year round.

It was a hugely popular drop-in destination for locals, passing walkers, holiday makers, and many, many more. Mike and Cath provided wholesome, no nonsense, home cooked food, and whether you stopped for a meal, or simply a coffee, or hot chocolate, and cake, you were always guaranteed a genuinely warm welcome.

There were no rigid meal times, and plan-ahead booking systems were only used for special occasions (e.g. Christmas Lunch), or especially busy periods, so true ‘beach style’ relaxation was easy – no rushing to get in before the kitchen closed!

Requests for menu changes were accommodated without fuss, and if you were too poorly to venture out, some customers even found their meals delivered to their front door. Now, that’s real service!

The cafe was open all year round, and even on the roughest, windiest days of winter, the place was buzzing. Warm and snug inside, Cath provided endless hot meals (hands up everyone who misses Cath’s Sunday roasts!) and beverages to everyone, while Mike waited the tables. OK - maybe you had to endure an impromptu singalong from Mike(!) – or even one of his dubious tales on Totland’s history(!) but whatever your experience, you doubtless enjoyed a friendly welcome, and likely came back for more!

Sadly those days are now gone. When the new café owners closed the café for re-build Mike and Cath were ‘let go’. They never wanted to leave the pier, but had no choice, and as we all now know, early promises of re-employment never materialised.

The (newly named) Bay Café is now shut for the winter.

There is no doubt Mike and Cath had a genuine interest in providing a real service to the community, and they are very much missed. By presenting this petition to the current owners/management of the Bay Café, we hope to persuade them to re-consider their earlier decision, and invite Mike and Cath back to run the café again, 52 weeks per year. If that happens, Totland will be happy, and the owners will be happy with a profitable venture. Everyone's a winner!

If you sign this petition you may help to bring Mike and Cath back to the pier café. No guarantees, but if you don’t sign, you definitely won’t help to bring them back.