The new venture combines a children’s play centre and 40-seater cafe
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14:34, 29 MAR 2026
Updated15:23, 29 MAR 2026
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A new children’s play centre resembling a miniature town where the sky is always blue has moved into the former home of a much-loved restaurant.
Family-run Ashmores, a place for dining, parties, business meetings, weddings and christening celebrations, closed down last year after nearly three decades.
The prominent building, in Bingham Road, Radcliffe-on-Trent, has since been transformed into Little Town, complete with a 40-seater cafe — and there’s still a very strong family ethos surrounding the business in Bingham Road.
Little Town boasts a shop, fire and police stations, a hairdressing salon, vets, doctors, a dentist, and a builders’ yard. And in a nod to its predecessor its very own miniature version of Ashmores restaurant.
Founder Racheal Buxton, a local resident who owns a chain of private day nurseries around Nottinghamshire, had the idea but not the location until she spotted Nottinghamshire Live’s story about Ashmores closing down.
She got in touch with the owners and eventually turned her plans into reality with the help of her husband, Calvin, who built the buildings.
As the mum of a five-year-old, she said it was something the village badly needed, as the only alternatives were playgroups and local cafes — and she didn’t like taking her energetic son into cafes for fear of disturbing other customers.
In addition to pre-bookable and walk-in play sessions, the centre hosts an after-school club and birthday parties. Adding to the fun, the Easter bunny will be popping in on Saturday, April 4, and Little Town is to have its own mascot, most likely a teddy bear, in the near future.
Staff hit the ground running when it first opened, and the cafe’s initial menu was designed to test the water to see what worked and what didn’t. As a result, a new menu comes into effect this week.
Adults can enjoy sandwiches, cakes and coffee, while their youngsters are at play. At breakfast, there are bacon sandwiches, eggs on toast and pancakes with blueberries and bananas. Similar scaled-down versions appear on the children’s menu.
The range of sandwiches includes mozzarella, pesto and tomato, and tuna crunch, or, for a warming snack, toasties are filled with bacon and brie, sausage and cheddar, or mushrooms, and for youngsters, ham, cheese or jam.
As for the cakes and cookies, there’s no distinction between kids and adults. Sweet treats include Malteser brownies, lemon tarts, school cake and chocolate muffins. Kids visiting after school can have their dinner there between 3.45pm to 4.45pm.
Racheal said: “On the booking system, you see parents coming back to us so clearly, we’re doing something right. During the last school holidays, it was full every day.”
Manager Bella Bilyk is bursting with ideas for the business, including turning the reception into a takeaway cake sales area and introducing a group for new mums to meet.
Bella will be a familiar face to former customers of Chocks Away! where she previously worked. The cafe at Tollerton Airfield was forced to close last May due to plans to build thousands of new homes.
Her mum, Alison Holt, who ran the cafe, has joined her at Little Town, but this time their roles are reversed. Alison said: “Bella was practically running Chocks towards the end anyway, so she’s the manager now, and I’m just loving being here because I’m getting all the best bits now.
“I’m getting all the fun of dealing with customers and helping with cakes, but I haven’t got the headache of having to deal with things like payroll.”
Former members of the Chocks Away! team, Sarah Walker and Millie Blyton, have joined them at Little Town, along with Izzy Kimberley and Jason Govier.
Alison said: “I do miss Chocks. It’s really sad. You have to go with the flow and just believe the universe will put you where you’re supposed to be.
“I love this. We’ve had a lot of Chocks’ people come in, which has been brilliant. At Chocks, it was always about the customers; it was never about the money. I’d feed off the enjoyment they would get. You’d see people sat outside for hours on end watching the planes.
“I have nothing but happy memories. I’m glad we had it, and I’m really grateful to be part of this. We still get that sense of excitement here from seeing the kids having so much fun. My grandchildren come here, they love it.”
Little Town is open six days a week (closed Tuesdays) during term-time and seven days during the school holidays.
(L- R) Racheal Buxton, Izzy Kimberley, Bella Bilyk and Alison Holt (Image: Joseph Raynor/ Reach PLC)1 of 7Share
(L- R) Racheal Buxton, Izzy Kimberley, Bella Bilyk and Alison Holt
The doctors surgery (Image: Joseph Raynor/ Reach PLC)2 of 7Share
The doctors surgery
The supermarket (Image: Joseph Raynor/ Reach PLC)3 of 7Share
The supermarket
Little Town where the sky is always bright blue (Image: Joseph Raynor/ Reach PLC)4 of 7Share
Little Town where the sky is always bright blue
The 40-seater cafe overlooks the play area (Image: Joseph Raynor/ Reach PLC)5 of 7Share
The 40-seater cafe overlooks the play area
A nod to Ashmores restaurant (Image: Joseph Raynor/ Reach PLC)6 of 7Share
A nod to Ashmores restaurant
The home of Little Town (Image: Joseph Raynor/ Reach PLC)7 of 7Share
The home of Little Town
food&drink
Family
Radcliffe-on-Trent
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