Double decker Chorley cafe on the canal

A lot of people enjoy a coffee on a bus, but not many will have bought a flat white from the vehicle itself.
Co-owners Lucien Burkhardt (right) and Adam Pope with Denise Le Marinel at The Boatyard Bus Cafe which has opened on the Leeds and Liverpool canal in ChorleyCo-owners Lucien Burkhardt (right) and Adam Pope with Denise Le Marinel at The Boatyard Bus Cafe which has opened on the Leeds and Liverpool canal in Chorley
Co-owners Lucien Burkhardt (right) and Adam Pope with Denise Le Marinel at The Boatyard Bus Cafe which has opened on the Leeds and Liverpool canal in Chorley

But in Chorley a new canal side cafe has opened its doors – inside of a historic Leyland double-decker bus.

The brainchild of the project is Lucien Burkhardt and Adam Pope, who run canal tours from Ellerbeck Narrowboats in Heath Charnock.

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“We are making the most of the space on the boat yard that we have here,” Lucien explained.

Co-owners Lucien Burkhardt (right) and Adam Pope with Denise Le Marinel at The Boatyard Bus Cafe which has opened on the Leeds and Liverpool canal in ChorleyCo-owners Lucien Burkhardt (right) and Adam Pope with Denise Le Marinel at The Boatyard Bus Cafe which has opened on the Leeds and Liverpool canal in Chorley
Co-owners Lucien Burkhardt (right) and Adam Pope with Denise Le Marinel at The Boatyard Bus Cafe which has opened on the Leeds and Liverpool canal in Chorley

“We first looked at bringing a railway carriage but finding something reasonably priced was hard.”

The duo then came across a Leyland Olympian for sale last year that had already been partly turned into a cafe of sorts.

Lucien explained: “We drove it back up in December through all the snow that we had, which was a bit of a tough drive! We’ve kept the bus as original as we can with the same seating and cream and red paint.”

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The cafe, called The Boatyard Bus Cafe, opened yesterday – and Lucien is keen to let people know they’re serious about the business venture and it’s not just a gimmick.

“We’ve invested more than £5,000 on a coffee machine and we’ve had barista training,” he explained.

“We’re also getting our own branded coffee soon which is exciting.”

Most of the ground floor is taken up by the kitchen and staff area, but some 30 seats are available upstairs.

It is open from 8.30am to 3pm, Wednesday to Saturday, and 9.30am to 3pm on Sunday.

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