Benvenuto a Bella Coffee!

(that's "Welcome to Bella Coffee", if you don't speak Italian…)

Time: 10:30 to 2:00

Cost: 8/- per mug (first mug free to over 65s)

Do you remember Moscardini's? Saporiti's? Pontone's? Chriscoppolis? (I've got no idea whether I'm spelling those right.) In the Horden of the Fifties and Sixties, these Italian-run businesses were highly popular. There's a wonderful quote from the book "Horden — the first 100 years": 'Coffee bars…opened with juke boxes and pinball machines to attract young customers, selling Pepsi, Coke and Coffee made with Milk!'

The more mature people of Horden can now relive their teenage years every Thursday in the Margaret Robinson Dining Room, by visiting "Bella Coffee" – a fifties-style coffee bar that magically pops up for only a few hours a week. It is named in memory of a stalwart member of the Luncheon and FAB Clubs (although we've Italianised her name to suit the nostalgic theme) and, between 11:30 and 3:00, visitors can drink frothy coffee and reminisce about the days when Moscardini's and Saporiti's were the places to meet your friends.

Everyone is welcome, no matter what their age, but over 65s — the age group who might best remember Horden's coffee bars in their heyday — get the first drink at "Bella's" free.

The thinking behind the coffee bar is that we feel too many things for over-60s seem to focus on the War years, and younger generations forget that people who turn 65 this year were actually born in 1949. Their early memories are much more likely to be of Buddy Holly and Elvis Presley than Vera Lynn or Gracie Fields. So when we applied to Durham County Council for a Community Chest Grant, which targets activities for older people, we thought that the coffee bar — with a menu in shillings, a mini jukebox and checked tablecloths — was one of our better ideas.

We are also asking local people to share any memories or, better still, photographs of Horden's meeting places of yesteryear, so if you have anything that might help, we would love to see them and perhaps display a few in the coffee bar.

And yes! We WILL be serving Coffee — made with Milk!