You may wonder why we decided to open an English tea room and museum in the heart of the French Normandy country side. Well, the reason being, that whilst on holiday after visiting the British War Cemetery at St Charles de Percy, we couldn’t find anywhere nearby to have a cup of tea. It was such an emotional experience to see how young all these British troops were who had been killed and reading some of the inscriptions on the gravestones, we felt we needed time to sit and reflect and talk through what we had just seen. We drove into St Charles and then into the neighbouring village of Montchamp, but couldn’t find anywhere - there were a couple of French bars in Montchamp serving coffee, but us British like a cup of tea, accompanied by a nice piece of cake or a scone !!

We have both visited France many times in the past, both on holiday and business trips and at heart, we are real Francophile's. Also, we have a very strong historical interest in the Second World War and therefore, we started thinking of moving to France and working in one of the DDay museums - better quality of life scenario. Something had been triggered by our visit to the cemetery at St Charles de Percy that had actually captured our hearts and after we had re-visited a few more times, the seeds had been sown !!

We felt we wanted to keep the memory of these young chaps alive, by telling their stories for our and future generations to appreciate. We wanted to be able to say “thank you” for the freedom they had sacrificed their lives for. We had also, been so moved by a poem on the grave of JW Opie of Nantwich, Cheshire, put there by his wife :

Will some kind hand, in this far off land, place a flower for me, Loving wife Nellie

We felt destiny was calling !! So finding for sale, an old agricultural school with small house to one side and which had a large class room downstairs and upstairs a dormitory plus a barn in the grounds, which had been empty for 12 years and needed lots of renovation - our dream had begun !!

When we then started our research into the area, we realised just how many battles took place in and around Montchamp during July and August 1944 and we found a great appreciation from the village towards their liberators, The Welsh Guards. Each year the village hosts visits, both official and unofficial, from Welsh Guards, even entertaining them in their own homes, as a way of showing thanks and appreciation for their liberation. In the UK we had lived on the Wirral and it was an amazing coincidence to find out that one of these frequent visitors to be a Welsh Guard who had been involved in the battle for Montchamp and who, at the age of 92, lived just a few miles from our old house !! We have since become very well acquainted with Bill Mapp and his wife Hilda, and he has been kind enough to share with us his battle of Montchamp experiences for our museum.

We would also, like to share some of the village’s history with you too, for example it’s connection with William the Conqueror in 1066 and the subsequent English connection to the Percy family in Northumberland. We hope Poppys Tea Room, Museum and Battlefield Tours experience will give you that opportunity to peacefully appreciate the sacrifices of our young men from a former generation and at the same time to enjoy a lovely cup of tea and piece of cake as we searched for some months ago !!

And why Poppys ? Because it is known as the flower for soldiers and for remembrance and our minds were truly made up, when we heard the story of a group of widows of French ex-servicemen who called at the British Legion Headquarters in 1921 to see Field Marshall Haig. They brought with them from France, some fabric poppies they had made and suggested that they might be sold as a means of raising money to aid the distressed among those who were incapacitated as a result of the First World War.


David & Jeanette