The Secret Garden opens a permanent space in Stalybridge

The Secret Garden, a mobile bar which many people in Tameside and beyond will recognise from festivals in the area, now has a permanent base in Stalybridge town centre.

The owner of The Secret Garden, Sarah-Jane Parsons, has opened the permanent base on Melbourne Street in Stalybridge, opposite Boult’s Butchers and a couple of doors up from Gregg’s. 

The space used to be a cafe, but has now been reimagined as a cafe-bar, open during the day and then into the evening. As it only opened this week, food service is currently limited, but there’s a working kitchen space, with plans to serve more hot and cold food in the coming months.

Right now, as they’re settling into the space and the demands of their customers, they’re offering a range of hot and cold drinks, including tea and coffee, soft drinks, and beers, ciders, and spirits. Plus a limited range of sandwiches and cakes.

The Secret Garden has been a mobile bar since 2022, and a permanent fixture at Streetfest over the last two years. The permanent premises are a stone’s throw away from where the mobile bar is based during the monthly Streetfest. And they’re planning on keeping the mobile bar going, with bookings through 2027.

Parsons told The Tameside Reporter that she and her husband were inspired to buy and run the mobile bar by a visit to a festival where they waited ages to get served drinks. This prompted her to think she could do a better job. So they bought a horse box and duly turned it into a mobile bar.

Several successful years later, the premises in Stalybridge became free. This coincided with Sarah-Jane’s husband having a medical scare which was originally believed to be a heart attack but turned out to be acute pancreatitis. While he has since recovered, the incident prompted Parsons to take the plunge and the challenge of running a permanent cafe-bar in Stalybridge.

The premises have been fully refurbished over the last few months since Sarah-Jane got the keys in May. The current plans are for The Secret Garden to open every day of the week, with opening times listed on their socials.

Stalybridge has seen a host of new bars and restaurants over the last few years, but with a more relaxed vibe than many people experienced during the StalyVegas days. The Secret Garden is the latest addition to the town, helping to make Stalybridge a destination people want to visit once again.