Time for Tea: Mark Davison visits Costa Coffee in Reigate

Time for Tea: Mark Davison visits Costa Coffee in Reigate

Motoring west out of Redhill the other afternoon, I encountered a particularly heavy April shower.

The windows steamed up and I was forced to turn on the windscreen fan to clear the mist. Overhead, a peel of thunder rumbled across the black perturbed sky. However, within a mile, there were blue skies, the spring sun was shining and everywhere looked fresh and glorious.

After weeks of dry weather the gardens needed a soak, so at least there was a silver lining to those menacing clouds.

I glanced up at the old windmill on Wray Common, appearing resplendent in the sunshine. For decades it had no sails but after its restoration work in recent years, "dummy" sweeps were fitted.

I gathered that the luxury home inside the mill is rented out. The mill went up for sale a couple of years ago but a buyer could not be found.

All around, buds on bushes and trees were bursting open into new, yellow-green leaves.

I decided to call into Reigate town centre and try out the new Costa coffee café which opened recently in Cage Yard.

Leaving the motor near Reigate Station, I strolled down into the town, passing firstly the tattoo and body-piercing studio in Holmesdale Road and then the statue of ballerina Margaret Fonteyn. (Fonteyn was born Margaret Hookham on May 18th 1919 in Reigate to an English father and an Irish and Brazilian mother – her mother's father was the industrialist Antonio Fontes of Brazil).

At the London Road "roundabout" a beautiful fragrance emerged from the dazzling display of tulips and other spring flowers under the Rotary club clock.

I sauntered through the tunnel and noticed a poster on the brick wall, advertising a public open day in the caves nearby on May 12. Under the town centre is a network of sandstone caves.

As I emerged into the High Street by the Market Hotel, a floppy-haired youth carrying a skateboard vanished into Caffe Nero, which now occupies the Old Town Hall.

I crossed the road and walked down the steps to the Cage Yard.

Costa opened in February in the former Parador tapas bar which closed last summer.

There was a Mediterranean feel about this spot with its cobbled street, red-tiled buildings and people sitting in the sun outside the Cage Bar.

Inside the café, more than a dozen customers were sipping coffee and eating cakes or sandwiches.

I wandered up to the counter and surveyed the tasty-looking cakes but felt I needed something savoury – at least to start with.

There was a modest selection of sandwiches, baguettes and pastas to choose from. I opted for a large tub of tomato and feta pasta salad and a packet of mature Cheddar and chive crisps. The packet displayed a black and white picture of three mature ladies in 1930s' attire, including cloche hats. There was a printed suggestion of how the crisps may be enjoyed: "Tremendous with a cheeky pickled onion".

The restaurant was bright and breezy and although open plan, gave the appearance of having two sections. The décor involved the usual Costa colours – a type of burgundy red. Large monochrome pictures of Italian street scenes hung from the wall near the servery.

For afters I couldn't resist sampling a couple of the Costa cakes. I chose the raspberry and almond slice and the Belgian tiffin.

Both were delicious and went well with my large mug of hot chocolate. I hadn't realised just how large the cup would be when I placed my order. It had two handles to help avoid spillages.

Two mums and a little girl arrived. The toddler attempted to climb into the display cabinet in order to reach her favourite drink – a bottle of Robinson's blackcurrant fruit shoot.

"Get down now! Now!" beseeched mum. But the girl had already grasped the bottle from the back of the display and had extricated it with remarkable dexterity given her age.

The mothers ordered coffees and took a seat.

The sun streamed through the spacious restaurant onto the wood floor. Gentle Latin music played – the singer delivering her song in a foreign language.

Outside, mothers with push-chairs headed towards Morrisons for their weekly supermarket shop.

The chrome chairs outside the Cage Bar gleamed in the sun.

The arrival of Costa probably completes the arrival of all the major café chains into the town, which has certainly become the coffee capital of East Surrey in the last couple of years or so.

It was time to head home before the rush-hour traffic built up. But firstly, I decided to take a stroll in Priory Park just a few hundred yards away.

I admired the white blossom on the avenue of trees, cast my eyes skywards and noticed a deathly black horizon. Another of those thundery showers was brewing up.