I’m even half tempted to start up a sermon
Adam is a senior What’s On and LGBTQ+ reporter for the Manchester Evening News, covering new restaurant and bar openings, food reviews, gig reviews, and issues that matter to the LGBTQ+ community. Adam joined the M.E.N in 2019 as a Facebook Community Reporter and also runs the LGBTQ+ Bulletin newsletter.
A church organ, boasting a neon sign saying ‘Good Vibes Only’, and a pulpit set the scene for a very uniquely located cafe
For the residents of Worsley village, one of the big topics of discussion in the last few years has been how to solve a problem like Worsley Methodist chapel.
Dating back over 220 years, the building, on Barton Road, had lain dormant for around ten years – having not served as a church since 2011. Whilst part of the building has been used for a period of time as a nursery, wider plans for its future came and went.
Then, a few years ago, the idea came about to turn it into a coffee shop. About £600,000 and a whole lot of renovations later, Worsley Coffee Co opened up inside the church at the end of last year.
Walking into the venue for the first time, I’m kind of amazed how subtle the whole thing is. Considering the fact that if it weren’t for the dining tables and the kitchen counters selling home-baked cakes, you could still be convinced it’s a church. The original organ, pulpit and balcony all remain intact and, quite literally, take centre stage of the café.
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The café is situated in the former Worsley Methodist chapel, which was first built in 1801
It’s so inviting that I’m half tempted to start a sermon in front of the steady stream of diners inside. But as I contemplate what my sermon would be on (perhaps the life and times of US drag legend Jinkx Monsoon), my server arrives to take my order and my train of thought is – perhaps thankfully – gone.
The cafe’s menu is pretty much what you would expect from any well-respected café: there’s an assortment of coffees, brunch dishes, and granolas, but there’s some surprises too. Like hummus on toast, chicken schnitzel, and tuna nicoise. It’s as if your local greasy spoon made one big giant level-up and also happened to take over a church. And I mean that in the best way possible.
But, on this occasion, I can’t opt for one of the fancier options. I have my eyes on a Full English as I feel that’s the ultimate debut visit feast – to see how it fares with the many others up and down the country doing the same. Priced at £13, the breakfast item features two bacon rashers, a sausage, hash brown, slow-roasted tomatoes, chestnut mushrooms, baked beans, sourdough toast and an egg (fried or poached).
A perfect cup of coffee can be found at this cafe
There are certainly cheaper options out there, but if it’s done right then £13 isn’t to be sniffed at. I order an oat milk latte to go with it and take in more of the venue’s unique proceedings. There’s a map of Worsley painted on the wall, and I wonder what the church’s founders would make of the sweet sounds of Busta Rhymes and Groove Armada playing out from the pew. I think they would like it, I decide.
My breakfast arrives pretty swiftly – which is always an exciting yet ominous position to be in. Thankfully, both its contents and the plate arrive steaming hot. It looks very well presented, there’s hardly any room left on the plate and there’s even a little jug of beans to pour as I wish, which I appreciate. It’s the small details.
Considering I don’t really ‘do’ mushrooms, I tackle them first but actually don’t resent them as much as I was expecting to. There’s a peppery taste to them which does a good job of masking the taste, but I don’t end up finishing them. Having asked for my egg to be fried but not runny, it arrives perfectly as asked. Perhaps not to everybody’s taste, but it ticks the box for me and showed that the request was noted.
The Full English, priced at £13, was fulfilling and pleasing
The English sausage, supplied by Grandad’s Sausages, have a lovely flavour to them. There’s a herby taste to it that sets it apart from your plain old banger. Just a shame there was only one as I could have quite happily lapped up a second. The bacon, unsmoked, is also nice and adds a saltiness to proceedings.
Having poured the beans all over the sourdough, it’s a delightfully top-notch version of beans on toast, and the hash brown has a perfect crispy crunch to it that is incredibly satisfying. The slow-roasted tomato, covered in a lovely blend of herbs, salt and pepper, are delightful and fresh. It’s a very good breakfast, to be fair.
Added with the top notch coffee, it could be one of my new favourite places to visit. Attracting a wealth of customers – from families, to couples, to builders popping in for a takeaway brew – it has taken on a new life and it’s lovely to see that this beautiful, historic building can be put to use.
It’s lovely to see that, despite changing its use to the community, the building has been able to stay true to its roots
It’s like when you go for a rave at Victoria Baths, and midway through an evening of dancing, you stop and think that, oh, maybe this is the exact spot where Olympic champion Cecilia Wolstenholme decided to take her passion for swimming seriously before competing in 1930.
In that sense, visiting Worlsey Coffee Co is sort of a religious experience. Sure, I just had a full English, but the venue is steeped in history and significance. As I’m making my way through my hash brown, it’s hard not to imagine what this used to be like when it opened in 1801.
I hope the founding fathers of Worsley Methodist chapel can appreciate the new life it’s taken on. There might not be any sermons taking place anymore, but it certainly features some holy hash browns and a cup of coffee that I’d argue is more than worth praying for.
Worsley Coffee Co is on 61 Barton Road, Worsley, M28 2GX.
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