Tom Foolery: the end
One final visit to Shoreham’s third wave coffee shop, before it closes for good.
“Dad, can we go to Tom Foolery?”
That’s the question that’s almost inevitable any time we cross the bridge as a family, and head into Shoreham town centre. And often, the answer was “yes”. Most Saturdays we could be found lounging on the sofas in the rear (when we could get them), after extended negotiations over the acceptability of both a cake and a hot chocolate.
It’s all a far cry from my first visit, back in 2014, when they opened. I’d dropped my elder daughter off at nursery, and the younger, well, she was still a twinkle in my eye. I wrote it up, and was apparently the first to review Tom Foolery. I learned recently that my review brought a tear to the eye of Bob McCulloch, the co-owner with his wife Vanessa. And for the right reasons.
Adam
Back then, it was an early-in-the-day work hangout for me. I was fairly newly self-employed, and chilling in Tom Foolery got me out of the house and into company. I was a twice weekly (or more) visitor for years, first dropping one daughter at nursery, and then the next. When my youngest was a baby, I’d often sit drinking coffee while she slept in the pram next to me.
The double-whammy of the pandemic and my youngest starting school giving me less reason to come into town, somewhat curtailed my visits, and I was never quite as regular there again. But Tom Foolery has remained part of the dynamic of our lives ever since. Be it stealing away for a coffee and a quiet read in the afternoon, a meeting with the vicar, or a family treat on a weekend afternoon, Tom Foolery was nearly as integral to my daughters' sense of belonging in Shoreham as home itself.
And so, on Tom Foolery’s last day, we had to be there. And so we were.
It was definitely bittersweet. So familiar, so many happy memories – but the acute consciousness that this was the last time. My eldest, in particular, was quite upset. To her, it felt like part of her home being ripped away.
One last time, we enjoyed what made it special for us: the sofa, the drinks, the mermaid on the bicycle. Bob’s hospitality. The lampshades made of old milk bottles.
And so, we’re done. We’ve left the sofa behind for the last time.
Thank you, Bob & Vanessa, for all you did for Shoreham. Good luck with your next adventure.
