Coffee and sweet treats in a new peaceful pitstop on the edge of Preston

Offering breath-taking views of Beacon Fell a new coffee experience has arrived in Goosnargh.

The Fellside Coffee trailer served its first cup last weekend, operating from a cleverly converted horse trailer, adding another reason to visit this beloved local spot.

Rick Swarbrick owns Fellside coffee and has always dreamed of owning a coffee shop.

He said: “I’ve always been passionate about good food, good drink and really quality coffee and then this sort of just all fell into place.”

During a visit to Mrs Kirkham’s Cheese, Rick spoke to Kelly Kirkham about them getting a coffee shop near the farm shop.

He said: “We got chatting and I said you’re just missing something up here and I was hypothetically saying, ‘could I come here’ and she was like ‘yeah of course you can’.”

Rick came up with the name Fellside Coffee when visiting Mrs Kirkham’s, he said: “One day I was stood there looking up at Beacon Fell and I’m like, I’ve got to sort of incorporate that. So I looked at Beacon Coffee and Fellside Coffee, you know, because it’s literally on the side of the fell, it couldn’t have been more perfect.”

Rick converted a vintage rice horse trailer himself which has now transformed into a charming little coffee shop.

Rick said: “I went and got the trailer and then tried to map out how I was going to make the space work for myself and where stuff is going to go and then it was just a matter of doing a lot of research finding where I could get certain products.”

Rick visited local farmers markets to decide what produce he wanted. He now sells Field and Fire Coffee from Longridge, his milk is from a dairy a mile away in Goosnargh and his cakes are by Martin Frickel.

Fellside Coffee’s commitment to local authenticity extends to supporting fellow emerging businesses. Field and Fire Coffee have only been open just about a year and Martin Frickel has been running his cake business since 2021. Rick said: “We’re all really young businesses just helping each other out.”

Rick is the first person outside of Cumbria to be selling Sweet Treats by Martin Frickel which has attracted many customers.

He said: “I had people come on Saturday just for his [Martin’s] cakes so they didn’t have to travel to the Lakes just to get it.”

Despite only opening up last weekend, Rick has no future plans to move anywhere any time soon. He said: “In all honesty I don’t want to take away from the customer. If one of my customers turn up on a Friday and I’m not there because I’m elsewhere I’m quite happy to be that so you always know where I am.”

Rick looks forward to opening on more days during the upcoming summer months, he added: “I’m looking forward to summer, opening more days catching people you know families out and about.

“There’s so much around us and we’re so lucky to be where we are and to live where we live, there’s so much on your doorstep.”

Fellside Coffee is open 9am-4pm Thursdays to Mondays at Mrs Kirkham’s Cheese on Mill Lane.

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