Independent Pedaler opens at new site in Manston after forced closure
16:45, 24 July 2023
updated: 07:03, 25 July 2023
A cafe popular with cyclists and hikers has re-launched inside a new venue based in Thanet – a year after being forced to close 15 miles away.
Aaron Hudson-Tyreman ran the Independent Pedaler from Highland Court Farm in Bridge, near Canterbury, before it shut following a dispute with his landlord.
He subsequently launched a new but smaller cafe called Pedaler on the Port in an 1893 lifeboat house on Clock Tower Square at Dover's Marina Curve.
But Dr Hudson-Tyreman hoped to find a site equivalent in size to the Canterbury branch.
And recently the owners of Manston’s Cattle Yard contacted him and said they were building a purpose-built structure, which they believed would be perfect for a cafe.
The new branch, called Pedaler in the Yard, finally launched today and will be open every day between 8.30am and 3.30pm.
Dr Hudson-Tyreman explained: “We were invited by the Montgomery family to help develop their cafe offering in a purpose-built new hospitality venue at The Cattle Yard, an independent business park in Manston village.
“We are extremely delighted and excited to be opening a second venue in such a beautiful space.
“Manston village is a perfect setting for our Pedaler People community to evolve and we hope to become a focal point within the area and bring our ethos of quality first to the area.”
It is hoped it will form part of a triangle-shaped cycling route linking the Dover branch and hopefully a new site in the Bridge or Barham area.
The cafe in Bridge - favoured by cyclists, runners, walkers and families - closed last June.
Dr Hudson-Tyreman said he invested thousands of pounds into the building but had no choice but to leave following a dispute with the landlord.
He has also competed in bike races and triathlons around the world with the British army and created an Independent Pedaler cycling team, which has won 21 individual national titles and seven team titles.
“This new venue is equivalent in size but I have double the amount of parking and we have a bigger garden space,” he previously told KentOnline.
“We now have a venue which is much more compatible with the volume of support we have in the community of runners, roamers and riders.
“Ironically, we’ve managed to attract so many more people who don’t align themselves with the cycling USP we have.
“It is a passion project and I do feel it to my core. This is not a fly-by-night enterprise.”