It was a dreich day one Sunday in September and Stuart, myself and the kids were enjoying some family time on Canty Bay.

It was one of those lightbulb moments when I asked Stuart what lay behind the sea buckthorn at the top of the hill. It was a piece of land which had previously been grazed by sheep but it now lay unused.

Quickly, I could see the cogs in his brain working, because mine were too. It has been three years but we still hadn’t given up on our diversification dream.

Dressed in fully waterproof clothing, we trudged our way through the long grass to reach the top of the hill - to the kids, we were going on a bear hunt. When we reached the top, it was obvious that the journey had been worth it.

Stretched out before us was the breathtaking Firth of Forth with the Bass Rock standing proudly before us and the Fife coastline meandering on the other side. Not even the weather could ruin this moment.

Bass Rock, East Lothian in the mist, the view from Drift

North Berwick is only a couple of miles down the road, buses passed regularly every day and there was always a stream of cars passing through which led us to believe that we had found the location.

The big question that had to be answered was what would we build and what would get planning approval?

Christmas 2015 took us to Bristol for a family celebration. It was there that we stumbled upon a shipping container clad on the inside from which the owner service tea and cake, again the clogs were turning…

Upon returning home, Stuart spent hours upon hours researching buildings constructed from shipping containers. Each of our previous ideas were hindered due to cost but this didn’t seem to be an issue.

Converting containers meant that we wouldn’t have to dig founds or alter the landscape, and there truly was nothing quite like this in East Lothian. It would be, not only a talking point but a destination for locals and those further afield to enjoy.

Drift in the making with the view to Quarrel Sands

We easily spent every day for the next three years on the clifftop, invested in bringing our dream to life. It all started with a 20ft shipping container until we decided that in fact we would need a total of six.

The next step was thinking of what we would offer. Previously we had discussed a farm shop and cafe but in the end we didn’t think it was authentic enough. We are an arable farm growing winter wheat for gin and vodka, spring barley for whisky and beer and oil seed rape for rapeseed oil.

We wouldn’t be able to offer other products from our own farm for the shop like fruit and vegetables or beef, pork or lamb. Looking back at our research we both agreed that we had to work within our own means, skills set and capabilities.

Thus our vision for coffee and cake was born. We would offer homemade, quality baking with a hint of tradition but always with a point of difference and where we could, we would use Scottish produce. This was the starting point and we knew, when the time was right, we would grow.

We were fortunate enough to receive confirmation that we had obtained LEADER Tyne and Esk funding which gave us a real boost as it was much needed financial support.

Planning was the final hurdle and to make sure we did it right, we worked with Tony Thomas of APT Planning to gauge his opinion and approval of the idea. Thankfully, he love it! We spent hours on planning and finally submitted an application in 2017.

After months of waiting, we received news we didn’t want to hear - it hadn’t been approved. Not all was lost as a Ward Councillor did like the idea and asked for it to be heard at the local planning meeting in Haddington.

This was our final chance. We felt like we had the support of the community and we were positive in the lead up to the meeting. We were last on the list, but waiting seemed worth it. An overwhelming vote of confidence from all councillors in the room meant we had succeeded and our application was granted.

Of course, there was plenty more work to be carried out in terms of branding, how the inside was to look, the fit out and hiring of staff but on the 21st June 2018, we finally opened our doors to welcome our very first visitors.