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Blaze-hit cafe's owner aims to rebuild business

Charles Heslett
BBC News, Yorkshire•@CharlesHeslett
Reporting fromBradford
BBC The charred remains of the inside of a stone barn BBC
Head chef Rosie Bell (left) and Jilly Pittendreigh look at the charred remains of The Joyful Deli

The owner of a cafe which was destroyed by fire on her 59th birthday has vowed the business will reopen.

Jilly Pittendreigh said she was asleep in her home next to the Joyful Deli in Addingham in the early hours of Monday when she was woken by noises and discovered the blaze.

Mrs Pittendreigh, her husband and their two sons fled the building and called 999, but the barn housing the cafe's main service and seating area was destroyed in the fire.

An online fundraiser has already raised over £2,000 towards replacing catering equipment, and Mrs Pittendreigh said: "We're just going to get cleared up and try to get back to normal as quickly as we possibly can."

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said the fire at the Joyful Deli was being treated as accidental.

A woman with blond hair and wearing a black jumper hugging another woman with a scraped-back hairstyle and a blue sweatshirt with white lettering.
Jilly Pittendreigh, left, who runs the business with husband Mike, pictured with the cafe's head chef Rosie Bell following the blaze

Mrs Pittendreigh said she had been due to fly out to Spain for a few days to celebrate her birthday, but was now having to rebuild her business from scratch.

"I was woken up around half past one in the morning with what I thought was a rather noisy milkman leaving his milk at the door," she said.

"To my surprise it was the barn that was on fire and I could actually see the flames coming through the barn roof.

"The fire has then spread across to the house, taken the roof off the bathroom and one of the bedrooms.

"So, now we're in a situation needing to find somewhere else to stay while we get on top of all this work."

Red and white fire brigade tape cordons off an old stone barn and farmhouse while a couple with a child on the man's shoulders chat to cafe owner.
The cafe's owners said it was hoped the stone walls of the barn, believed to be hundreds of years old, could be saved

Mrs Pittendreigh said the cafe's buildings were insured, but the contents were not covered due to a clause related to it being on a flood plain.

She explained that she had started the cafe during the Covid lockdowns, with husband Mike, 57, originally offering plants for sale along with hot drinks.

It grew into a bar and eventually a restaurant, although it took until earlier this year for Bradford Council to grant retrospective planning permission.

Mrs Pittendreigh said the blaze had left her "in a bit of shock".

"We've had quite a lot of customers crying, bringing flowers and food for us", she said.

Blackened wood roof trusses visible on top of an old stone barn.
A fire investigator has recorded the cause the blaze, which destroyed the interior of the barn, as accidental

Head chef Rosie Bell, 29, said she had set up the online fundraiser hoping to help get the business back on track as soon as possible.

"I think what made me do it was feeling helpless, to be honest," Ms Bell explained.

"I was expecting to come into my shift and instead you're coming into a burnt-down room.

"You just feel completely beside yourself and think, 'what can I do?'

"It's not just a restaurant. It's the home to Jilly, to her horses, to all the animals that are here, and it's also a place of respite for a lot of our customers.

"We have people coming in every day and they've been coming here, a lot of them, for the past five years."

Meanwhile, Mrs Pittendreigh said she and everyone else involved were bracing themselves for the rebuilding challenge ahead.

"We're just going to get cleared up and hopefully get on with it and try to get back to normal as quickly as we possibly can," she said.

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