History of Eureka Cyclists Cafe
The Eureka Cafe's history dates back to 1929 when George and Maud Longman moved into a house locally
known as 'The House that Jack built'.
However, it was not long before it became known as the Eureka
Tearooms after the front rooms of the house were converted into a cafe. The cafe opened at weekends
serving tea and cakes to cyclists and motorists. Addie, the daughter of George and Maud, grew up
helping out in the cafe at weekends. Later she married Harry Yarrington and moved out of the house to
the local village of Puddington and but continued to help out at weekends.
During the war years when
her husband was posted abroad Addie returned to live at the Eureka. When Harry returned from the war a
new building was constructed for the tearooms beside the house out of dismantled Army hut
(from Clatterbridge camp). The hut was reassembled on the site by German prisoners of war.
After the birth of their sons the Yarringtons left the Eureka but ultimately returned in 1954, one year
after the death of Addie's parents. The Eureka began trading as a cafe again and army hut was soon
replaced by a seaside chalet that still forms part of the building today. Further extensions were
built in 1960 and 1981 as it become more and
more popular with cyclists. Harry Yarrington sadly died in 1977 but Addie continued the tradition and
kept the cafe open to cyclists until 1986 when she sold the property to Neil and Ann Chapman.
Neil, a keen cyclist, had been sold the property in preference to a local builder in order to keep the
tradition alive.
The Chapmans made a number of improvements most notably being the construction of a new
toilet block that replaced the smelly Elsan and 'sentry box'. The rear gardens were also opened to
customers which allowed more space for cyclist to relax after a hard days cycling.
The cafe also
featured in the BBC2 programme 40 minutes entitled 'Me and My Bike'. This was also the era when Chris
Boardman, a regular at the cafe, burst onto the scene with numerous cycling records and the Olympic Gold
medal at the 1992 Olympics at Barcelona.
Later riding for Credit Agricole professional teams and adding
several Tour de France Yellow jerseys to his tally.