Our story begins in 1987 with the first generation of our family becoming cafe owners. Paula Brett moved from Oxfordshire after pursuing a life long ambition to own a seaside cafe. After a prolonged nationwide search she finally found “the place of her dreams” here in Clacton on Sea. The present owners felt it was time for them to move on, partially due to the nearby Butlins Holiday Camp closing, so Paula grasp the chance to own "Greensward Cafe".

It was her ambition to improve the cafe from it’s ‘greasy spoon’ image with poor hygiene standards in a run-down building which required considerable re-decorating. She introduced hygiene records with regular cleaning routines, replaced the plastic table cloths, chipped plastic condiments and ashtrays, banning smoking inside the cafe - a bold move back in the 80's!

In 1989 an overnight fire destroyed the cafe, but Paula was not daunted and arranged for a temporary kiosk to carry on serving her band of loyal customers for the rest of the season. The cafe was rebuilt during the winter and re-opened again for the following year. The cafe’s popularity greatly improved so it became necessary to extend the kitchen and seating area. An added boost to trade also came with the introduction of Clacton Air Show in 1991 as the static display was on the adjacent greensward and the flying display over the sea directly in front of the cafe. Paula made many friends during the 14 years she worked at the cafe and built a following of regular customers. She decided to retire in 1999 at the age of 73 and sold the business to her daughter and son-in-law Carol and Ray, who also moved from Oxfordshire the following year.

Although having owned and run a business for the preceding 27 years, they had no knowledge of catering so their first few months of managing the cafe became a steep learning curve! They soon realised, with the increase in customers, the cooking procedure required a more streamline approach. This was achieved by placing the fish frying, breakfast grilling and food preparation in their own designated areas. Storage for the relevant crockery and required utensils was provided close to hand. New, modern equipment was installed to reduce cooking times and dishwashing. The cafe counter was rebuilt with an up-to-date cash register and the introduction of an espresso coffee machine. A redundant side counter was removed to provide more room for seating and a purpose built unit was erected within the cafe for the selling of ice-cream and beach items.

In 2009 they also retired and their son Mark took over the reigns in 2010 to carry on with the Greensward legacy. The most significant change was the decision to open all year round which proved to be a great success. He bought the crazy golf adjacent to the cafe which was owned by his uncle and transformed it into a challenging, landscaped, nine-hole adventure golf course. Mark has continued modernising the cafe, updating menus, tables and chairs. The largest project so far being the installation of solar panels, creating a ‘green’ cafe.

Although Greensward Cafe is small structure, it is large character. It has become a well-known, established part of the Clacton sea-front, attracting customers from far and wide and hopefully will continue to do so for many years to come.