Nostalgic Jackie O’Beirne has decided it’s wartime for tea – and opened a 1940’s-style cafe.
She has filled it with 1940s inspired sideboards, tables and chairs and decorated it with old crockery, flags and war pictures.
The staff wear tea dresses from the era and style their hair up with head-scarves on.
And the background is filled with the music of the 40s with hits from the likes of Glenn Miller, Vera Lynn, George Formby and Gracie Fields playing through the day.
Jackie, 44, has modelled the tea shop on the living room of her late grandmother Gladys Parkes where she remembers being treated with cakes and biscuits and a child.
Mum-of-four Jackie, a former hairdresser and beauty therapist, said: “I’ve always wanted to open a tea room.
“When I was a kid I used to go to my nana’s with all my cousins every Sunday afternoon and she would have all the cakes out and other nice things to eat.
“I just thought, I’d like to make a tea room in the style of my nana’s, and that’s exactly what I’ve done. The tea room is just like walking into my nana’s.”
Jackie, from Seaton, Hartlepool, added: “All of my family have been a huge help to me and have been really supportive.
“Even my aunties have been making 1940’s-style pinnies for me and the staff to wear.”
Jackie’s cafe is called Gladys’ Tea Room in memory of her nan who died over two decades ago aged 73.
