Derbyshire tourist attraction looks to renovate and expand tea room

Crich Tramway Museum has applied to Amber Valley Borough Council for a modern renovation of its current tea room facility. It hopes to construct a larger building to connect the existing tea room site to the Red Lion pub, which was moved from Stoke to the site in the 1980s.

Plans submitted by the museum detail that there is not currently adequate disabled access to the pub, with an existing non-compliant ramp from the tea room being used.

It details: “The Tea Rooms serves as a place for visitors to get food and drinks while at the village. “However, it is the client’s view that the current cafe has a number of defects, and its dated design hinders its purpose, therefore it is in desperate need of renewal.”

Previous plans for a larger tea room and a link building between the facility and the pub were approved in 2019 but have been abandoned, the museum says.

The new plans would only retain the frame of the existing tea room and demolish all outbuildings, extending the facility up to the pub, with a larger overall footprint and outdoor seating area.

If approved, the new modern design would include larger amounts of glazing and black aluminium frame, with burnt larch cladding (blackened wood) and a zinc roof.

The development would see a lift installed to ensure disabled access to both the tea rooms and pub, and its upper floor, while toilets for disabled visitors would also be built in the tea rooms. Application documents detail that the customer capacity would increase through the proposed development.

The agent for the museum’s application, Guy Taylor Associates, wrote in a report: “Guy Taylor Associates believe that the proposal takes advantage of the opportunity for significant improvement and enhancement to the functionality of both the Red Lion and Tea Rooms.

“The designer believes the proposed building would have a negligible to slight positive impact to the setting of this unlisted building, the Red Lion pub.

“Overall the proposed development looks to enhance and give new life to the Tramway Village.”