Time for Tea: Woody's at The Bay Tree Cafe, Reigate Garden Centre, Sandcross Lane, South Park, Reigate.

It was one of those rare winter weekdays in England when normal life was suspended due to snow. A heavy fall had disrupted the commuter trains, buses couldn't get up hills and schools announced they would be closed.

Exhilarated children filled the parks and sledged down hillsides to their hearts' content.

Having been housebound with a heavy cold for a while, I couldn't resist venturing out to take a look at how East Surrey was coping with the big freeze. But my main aim on this perishingly cold day was to try out a garden centre cafe which has just been taken over by a family who already run a successful coffee shop in Reigate.

Andy and Karen Wood have run Woody's in Church Street, Reigate, for almost four years and recently acquired the business at the Bay Tree Cafe in Reigate Garden Centre, Sandcross Lane, South Park, Reigate.

Leaving the motor close to the town, I continued by journey on foot, trudging through deep squeaky snow along the footpaths leading out of town to the south. The scenery was magnificent with boughs of evergreen trees weighed down with masses of snow. Every branch of every tree was lined with a white icy mantle and against the background of a cold blue sky they looked quite magnificent.

Every so often, a chill north-easterly breeze sprang up and jostled the trees on Cockshot Hill, causing a mist of powdery snow to become dislodged. Sometimes I was in the firing line of these silent explosions of snow dust and had to brush the masses of crystals from my thick black coat.

The streets were soft and silent. Few had been brave enough to take out the car and risk slipping and sliding their way down narrow Victorian side streets.

I reached the shopping parades at Woodhatch and popped into a newsagent's for a paper to read how the rest of the country was bearing up in the inclement weather – the snowiest in the Reigate area since January 1987.

Inside the shop, cardboard had been laid across the floor to soak up the melt-water from snow traipsed in by patrons on their boots. The newsagent was on the telephone. A frustrated customer was demanding to know why the newspaper boy had not turned up. The shopkeeper tried to explain he could not force children to do rounds when the weather was so bad but the caller didn't seem to understand.

I tramped down Prices Lane, pausing to exchange the time of the day with a young lady trying to dig her car out of a driveway. "Are you winning?" I enquired. She smiled and replied: "Not really. it's hard work!"

Happily, a few hundred yards further on, past Henrietta's stores, I reached the garden centre and was warmed by the sign welcoming visitors to Woody's at the Bay Tree Cafe.

I stepped in and fleetingly glanced at the half-price sale of Christmas decorations. And just round the corner was the cafe. I was the only customer. A member of staff said very few people had been out and about owing to the ice and snow.

I enquired about having a hearty full-English breakfast and was gladdened to hear that my wish would be granted.

Hunger prompted me to go for "the works" – bacon, sausages, beans, mushrooms, hash browns, two eggs. You name it. I also ordered a mug of creamy hot chocolate to ward off the winter chill.

New proprietor Andy Wood said he had been generally busy – until the morning after the snow. Then, perhaps expectedly, all fell quiet. However, as I sat at one of the tables reading the Surrey Mirror, a jolly family arrived and placed an order for a special of the day – a hot jacket potato with baked beans.

Dionne Warwick's 1960s' hit Walk On By played in the background as I tucked into my mammoth brunch. I had to admit my eyes were bigger tan my stomach and I couldn't manage all the trimmings.

Mr Wood had just taken delivery of a brand new dishwasher so if I had forgotten my wallet I don't know what job he would have found for me.

The next song was Tom Jones' It's Not Unusual. The weather certainly was.

I glanced up at the blackboard. Sunday roast specials were being advertised for just £4.95 during January and February.

I soon realised the cafe caters for all the needs of the day – morning coffees, elevenses, lunchtime meals and snacks and afternoon teas. Mr Wood is a workaholic, according to his wife, and seems unfazed by a seven-day week. Indeed, their new concern will be open seven days a week.

"I'm planning to redecorate and replace the tables and chairs," he told me as he took a seat nearby for a well-deserved break from the kitchen.

Their son, Baz, helps out at both establishments.

"What do you recommend for afternoon tea or morning coffee?" I asked.

"We've a range of cakes and Danish pastries. There's our home-made lemon cake, Victoria sponge, butterscotch tarts and carrot cake," he said, glancing at the display cabinet.

"We do a Woody's Rarebit" made from a family recipe. That's popular."

I had definitely had ample so refrained from a sweet and vowed to have a brisk walk back into Reigate.

I wished Mr Wood luck in his new venture and pulling my coat together, braced myself for the frosty air outside and gingerly picked my way along the icy streets to get back to town.

Two snowmen in Sandcross Lane stood side by side silently in the chill air. I almost said "Good Afternoon" to them.

Mark Davison