LETTER: Happy to be stuck in 1950s time warp

It’s the only restaurant you can have a good English meal for good value, the owners and staff have always been helpful and friendly, it has brought back happy memories over the years, the first when my mother and I came down to Horsham from London back in the 1940s. I worked for Boots the Chemist, when it used to be in West Street which is now The Works shop. After all these years I can still remember my Boots branch number 1024. In our break time which was 15 minutes - mine was from 9.45am till 10am - all my shift would go down to the Merrythought for coffee and a rock cake which were out of this world. If you were unlucky not to get there before 10am they would be sold out.

The Merrythought was always that, in the 40s it was owned by two very sweet old sisters who wore little chintz pinafores, the front was much the same except the sisters had little chintz curtains up the first panel of the window, over the years they have always been helpful and friendly with the same high standard of food.

Along with my daughter I run a Cliff Richard fan club and over the years have made friends all over the country with Cliff fans. Those that have come for the first time always insist when they came down we go to the Merrythought, so we book that restaurant. I have been a customer for 70 years, we think it should have a much higher rating than 2.5 stars it’s part of our heritage. Places like the Merrythought are very few and far between.

There seems to be far too many fast food restaurants in Horsham serving what can only be described as plastic food. What with the Old Kings Head Hotel, where you once could get a lovely meal is now an Italian restaurant - as if we don’t have enough. If that’s not bad enough, our Town Hall given to the people of Horsham by the Duke of Norfolk has now become the last casualty to the fast food chain.

All that’s left to say is thank God and long live restaurants like the Merrythought.

RAY & COLETTE WILLIAMS

Orchard Road, Horsham