TL;DR A must try when driving through the lovely village of Stiffkey.
It's not necessarily easy to access, but whatever headache you may get from driving through the one lane village of Stiffkey and then parking on the side of that one lane road will be mitigated by the soothing and intriguing atmosphere that Stiffkey Stores has.
As you walk into the walled property there is a stall of locally grown flowers and herbs for sale. This also has a blackboard hanging off of it denoting whether the shop is open or not.
On my visit, seeing that the sign clearly read "We are Open" I parked and walked around to the coffee shop. The coffee shop looks like something straight out of Instagram. It is immaculately designed and decorated. The wares are amazingly sourced- and I found many books and knick-knacks that were unique. The staff was friendly and welcoming and I ordered a flat white and a slice of carrot cake and then began to explore the store.
Walking left past the coffee counter you'll arrive in the town's small grocer. The selection isn't great so don't expect to do all your shopping here, but for milk, eggs, or a bag of crisps, etc. you'll be fine.
Walking back out of the grocer and back through the front door, head around to the right and you'll make it to the "garden shop." In here you'll find a selection of fragrant candles, and housewares. Similar to the coffee shop the wares are finely crafted and from unique sources.
My party sat in one of their renovated sheds that have mirrors to make them seem larger and a drop down table to save leg space. Being a group of five it was certainly snug but not uncomfortable. We had a selection of cakes and pastries, my favorite being the carrot cake and fudge brownie. My coffee was excellently crafted and delicious and I heard similar comments from the rest of my party.
After enjoying the coffee and sweet treats we shopped around a bit and walked out fearing for the state of our car. Fortunately it had not been smashed by a lorry and so we went on our way. read more