TBK travels - Charlies Café Bar, Worcester , UK

The A3 numbered print from Jilly ( details at bottom of blog) in the UK of Charlies Café Bar, framed by Fakawari frames

The thing I hate about computers is they take you too literally. After an hour typing this blog for the first time it said "Do you want to save this" and I clicked on no and it deleted it! So, second time lucky.

Fran, just before Christmas, around 1995

For Christmas 2019 I received a calendar from my long term friend, Fran, in the UK telling me at 72 years old she was finally selling her business and retiring. One of her customers had commissioned an artist to paint the restaurant she ran and I was a regular customer at for 10 years. She wondered if I wanted to buy a limited edition print. With my 60th birthday approaching I paid 60 gbp for the print and another 60 gbp ( 28 bd) to have it framed by my good friends at Fakawari frames here in Bahrain. It will hang proudly next to my bed in Palawan one day!

I thought the story behind it would be a good one to share.... hence this blog:

Having lunch at Charlies around 1990

I moved to Worcester with work in 1986 and started looking around for places to eat out. I called in at what was then called Rivels one night and was given a warm welcome and had a pleasant vegetarian meal. A week later , I returned, and they immediately recognised me and welcomed me back and I had another vegetarian meal.

How it looked back then

Some time later they were all really shocked when I ordered Fran's amazing steak Stilton , containing my two favourite things, Steak and Stilton cheese!

A few years later , when trade was bad, Fran decided to rename it Charlies Café Bar and open for breakfast and lunch , which suited me better as I am an early riser rather than a late owl. I became a Saturday regular for her legendary Execcy Brekky.

They had some wonderful staff like Sarah, Julie, Glen, June and of course her daughter Becky. Then there was Clancy, Jihya, Deborah the Nurse plus Fran's son Richard and assorted dogs, friends and kids. Often, if they were quiet, I would stand in the kitchen and chat as my food was made.

A young Becky and Bailey Cley

Worcester was a beautiful city to live in and I was there for 10 years. They had a Cathedral, river, racecourse and cricket pitch and I used to love walking around the old city . One of my favourite places to walk was down by the canal that ran past the Commandery just down the road from Charlies. Even after I moved to Birmingham in 1996 I still returned often for Sunday lunch at Fran's , or to go to the Beer festival by the river.