By Deirdre Huston
Many of you may already know Rachael at Proper. She is that sort of person, very community-minded, and determined to support others and make a success of things, however difficult the circumstances. Born in Crawley Hospital, Rachael grew up in Horsham. She has since managed a variety of cafes, pubs and music venues across Sussex, spending time in places such as Uckfield, Brighton and Chichester, before settling in Hassocks.
The Bridge House was an early venture for Rachael. Located at Copsale, on The Downs Link cycle trail, the pub hummed with activity in summer, but its rural position meant it attracted little custom in colder weather. As a lover of the music scene, Rachael organised gigs, and the pub took off as a music venue.
“We went for it!” remembers Rachael “There was music seven nights a week and we held mini-festivals in the garden. It was really good fun.” They attracted some renowned artists like Frank Turner and, as the venue developed a reputation for being a friendly home-from home, some bands came from a long way away. “I was like a mother figure to these touring bands. I’d come down in the morning and there would be people sleeping everywhere.”
Around this time, Rachael first met her business partner. He had noticed The Bridge House listed as a music venue on a poster, and, hoping to arrange a gig for a band he was managing, he popped into the pub. He and Rachael hit it off and have been friends ever since. “He had a very successful recording studio in Uckfield,” explains Rachael, “and we worked in a similar way,”
Wanting new challenges, Rachael moved on from The Bridge House. “At one point, I had two pubs, a coffee shop and a music venue,” she recalls, “it was mad.” After a while, she fancied trying something different. “I got out of the pub and coffee shop business,” she explains, “and did the nine-to-five thing for six years. I loved being in an office, but I was hankering after having my own place again, because that’s my real buzz, music and coffee shops.”
One day, Ross called, and asked how she felt about opening a cycle café. “Sometimes you have to trust your gut and straight away, I knew it was the right thing to do,” recalls Rachael. The business partners undertook a year of careful planning. They were looking for three factors when choosing location: it had to be somewhere a lot of cyclists rode past, near a school and a train station. A shop in Hassocks became available.
To find out what happened next, how Rachel grew within the community and what connection could Ross have to a cycling club, pick up a May issue of Hassocks life today.
