Owner of Coffee Craft ‘N’ Moore, in Needham Market High Street, appears on BBC One show Escape to the Country
The owner of a pottery painting coffee shop in a town has shared what it was like to appear on a popular BBC One show.
Lesley Moore, 66, has owned Coffee Craft ‘N’ Moore, in Needham Market High Street, for more than eight years and was shocked when the BBC reached out to her at the start of the year.
Fast forward several months and now her family-run independent shop has finally featured in an episode of Escape to the Country which aired on Monday.
In the episode, presenter Briony May Williams helps a young couple find a family home in rural Suffolk with space for their two children to enjoy after outgrowing their flat in London.
The couple, Lucy and Charlie, were introduced to houses in Pilsingford, Woolpit and Coddenham, near Needham Market.
Lesley, who lives in Bedfield, near Framlingham, agreed to answer the couple’s questions about what the community can offer a young family moving into the area.
She said there were lots of playgroups and play areas and spoke about how friendly people in the county were.
After the episode aired on Monday, Lesley said to SuffolkNews: “We’ve been waiting for a while to see when it would be on. When I watched it this week it did feel a bit weird.
“I was dreading it to be honest, but I must admit but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be and I actually felt quite excited about being on television.
“The production company was very good and nice to us, so I definitely did enjoy it in the end. I do feel quite proud that they chose us.”
Lesley, who also co-owns the Post Office in the town. used to work full-time at Coffee Craft ‘N’ Moore but now only works there one day a week.
Her son Steven and his wife Chloe run the coffee shop, which also offers pottery painting, decopatch, bear stuffing and slime making.
The name of the business is inspired by the names in the family. ‘Coffee’ – after Lesley’s eldest grandson Callum, ‘Craft’ – after her middle grandson Connor – ‘N’ after granddaughter Neeve, and Moore – the family’s surname.
“With Steven and Chloe running the shop it’s gone from strength to strength and I’m very grateful to them both,” Lesley said.
“I hope we do get a little bit of a boost now from being on television and it may help to bring people into the town.
“I have got some good feedback from my appearance on the show and have had quite a few people message me saying I’m famous now.
“I used to do a weekly book read on BBC Radio Suffolk from when I used to own a book shop in Woodbridge, so that was my first time on television and it was definitely a great experience.”
