Dogs are welcome everywhere here

Heather Farm Café sits on Horsell Common, so plenty of our customers arrive with a dog on the end of a lead. Dogs are welcome everywhere here: the main café, the extension, the pods and every bit of outdoor seating.

Water bowls and treats are free and always available, and there's a full Dog Menu if your dog would like something more substantial while you eat. There's a paid dog wash at Heather Farm too, which earns its keep after a wet lap of the common.

Every part of Heather Farm Café is dog-friendly. That covers the café itself, the extension, all of the outdoor seating and the floors of all six heated, covered pods. You can pick your table for the weather rather than for the dog.

Outside there's seating for around 120 customers, with bench tables, umbrellas over some of them, and a spacious grass area with a wooden crocodile climbing toy for children. Muddy paws are expected, and so are wet ones.

The outdoor seating suits a stop mid-walk, and you're just as welcome to bring your dog inside and warm up.

Water bowls and treats are free of charge, so just ask at the counter and we'll sort your dog out. There's always something waiting for four-legged customers.

Beyond that, we have a full Dog Menu: food bowls, Canine Menu dog chews and other treats, so your dog can order something at the same time you order your brunch.

After a long walk on the common, there's a dog wash at Heather Farm with hair-drying facilities, so your dog can go home clean and dry rather than sandy.

It's a paid facility, owned and run by The Horsell Common Preservation Society, so they're the people to ask about how it works and what it costs.

Horsell Common is right at the door, and the walking here is all of it: heath tracks, woodland paths and the wetlands the café looks out over. Set off in any direction and you can loop back to us for a coffee, a cake or a full brunch if you've been out since first light.

The wetlands themselves were a mushroom factory before The Horsell Common Preservation Society took the site on, which makes the view a fair bit of local history as well as a nice place to sit.

You're very welcome to come back muddy, because that's rather the point of a morning on the common.

Coco is our coffee trailer, parked just down the pathway from the main café. Hot drinks, cold drinks, snacks and dog treats, all without stepping away from your walk.

Coco opens from 9am at weekends, on bank holidays and through the school holidays, so there's a coffee for you and a treat for the dog at either end of the walk.

Please observe these rules when visiting Heather Farm Café with your dog:

1. Dogs are welcome in the café. However, we ask dog owners to use the outside seating whenever possible as this is safer and more comfortable for everyone, especially when the café is busy.
2. Dogs must be kept on a lead whether inside or outside the café.
3. Please do not allow dogs to lie in the aisles, as staff and customers need to be able to move around the café freely and will often be carrying hot food and drinks.
4. Please respect the fact that not all customers are dog lovers.
5. If your dog is having a noisy day, i.e. barking a lot, please take him or her outside so as not to disturb other users of the café.
6. For hygiene reasons, please keep doggy paws and faces away from table tops.

We're open 9am to 5pm every day. Brunch runs from 9am until midday, lunch follows from midday, and the kitchen closes at 4.30pm. Afternoon tea is served from 2pm for at least two people to share.

Tables are first come, first served, so you can walk straight in. Order at the counter, or scan the QR code on your table if you'd rather stay put with a dog asleep on your foot.

Parking is free in the car park run by The Horsell Common Preservation Society, with three disabled spaces very close to the café. If you want to check anything before you set off, give us a ring on 01483 726556.