It was a thoroughly miserable afternoon as I set off for my weekly "tea" excursion into the Surrey countryside. Rain was teeming down and the sky was leaden. All the rural side roads were awash with muddy water flowing through the hedgerows from the fields.

Undeterred, I headed off in search of an afternoon cake and a cuppa and decided to investigate a suggestion from a villager at Wotton, who informed me that The Shop at Strood Green, near Brockham, had a small tearoom I could try.

I motored along the A25 towards Dorking, trying to avoid the plethora of potholes, and turned off at Brockham Lane.

I paused at the village green. Here, every November, tens of thousands flock to the famous fireworks celebrations.

Today, only the occasional school child was out and about. Christ Church stood in the gloom as the rain pattered down.

About three-quarters of a mile along the road, just past where the Spotted Cow public house used to stand, is the Strood Green Stores.

It was on March 21 last year that the former provisions store re-opened as a "community shop", run by villagers, after being empty for a time.

I was intrigued to see how it was getting on and avail myself of its facilities.

There was a warm welcome from the lady shopkeeper as I wandered in and took a peek at the cakes cabinet near the counter. At the back of the shop I saw an entrance to a small teashop in which was a farmhouse table covered with a green and yellow checked tablecloth on which had been placed vases of crimson chrysanthemums and roses. At the far end were a couple of computers for internet use and wi-fi connections.

I perused the cakes: lovely homemade types including coffee and walnut. A plate of caramel slices sat next to the cakes.

I asked if hot chocolate was available, and was pleased to learn it was. This late winter's day needed something to cheer it up.

I selected some four-cheese sandwiches, too, which were placed on a dainty teaplate decorated with pictures of honeysuckle and wild roses.

"Take a seat and I'll bring everything over," said the jovial lady.

I sat down and gazed at the rows of groceries for sale.

A woman in a rain-soaked red coat came in and picked up a packet of Penguins and Maryland cookies.

In the shop area, a mother and her offspring had called in for some provisions.

When the shopkeeper enquired how she was, she sighed and complained: "I've been all the way to Dorking Station to get some tickets for tomorrow 'cause we're going to see 'Oliver' tomorrow and, would you believe it, the ticket office was shut – at half past three in the afternoon!"

A small boy exclaimed: "I've seen Oliver. Mr Bean was in it."

An off-duty shop assistant called in and remarked to the shopkeeper: "The lettuce and celery is going down."

Her colleague replied: "I sold three lots of celery today."

After a few minutes, the hot chocolate and sandwiches were brought to my seat, along with the cake.

I asked the shopkeeper how things were going and how the store worked.

"It's run by the community for the community," she explained.

"There's 440 people who have all invested in shares and when profits are produced, they go back into community projects. It's non-profit making."

She told me that there are two full-time salaried staff and eight part-timers. In addition, there is a bunch of volunteers who can be called in as and when.

It all sounded a splendid idea.

She said that a popular line in the store is penny sweets.

"Everyone used to say how popular these were in the days when it was Copley's so we decided to maintain them," she said.

Above the penny sweets was a rack containing Sherbert Fountain tubes. I was intrigued. They brought back memories. They were the same colour as in the days of my childhood but today, they were yellow plastic tubes.

"Until the other day, they were still paper," said the shopkeeper. "Must be something to do with health and safety, sadly."

I noticed the shop sold newspapers and many of those people popping in were picking up a Dorking Advertiser.

A little girl and her friend called in and one was humming a tune.

"That's a lovely song you're singing," smiled the lady behind the counter.

I gleaned that when the store first opened it was predicted that in the first year, a loss could be expected but it has more than broken even.

"Many of those working here are from the village and we have customers from Betchworth, Buckland, Strood Green and the new Brockham Park development. "We were wondering if the newcomers at Brockham Park would get involved but they are among our best customers."

A young man came in with a packet he wanted posting to Hertfordshire. I was amazed to see that the store offers a postal service, too. The shopkeeper took the mail, issued a printed postage strip and affixed it.

"We have an arrangement with Royal Mail for them to call in every day at 4.15 and 12 o'clock on Saturdays," she said.

Mark Davison