A STROUD town centre business is reopening and extending its opening hours. 

The Georgian Tea Rooms closed temporarily in September but it has now reopened. 

This weekend it will be open on Saturday and Sunday, and from the following weekend it will be open on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays, between 11am and 7pm. 

Owner Varese Ferrao said: "The primary reason (for the closure) was osteoarthritis in my hand making the pain too great to cook- my final injections were done in January and I’m hoping to manage.

"However during the time we’ve been doing renovations. 

"Redoing electrics and replacing like for like boilers was a massive undertaking if you consider it had to be done over three floors.

"The original floorboards were taken up and replaced with as many of the original handmade nails from 1803 that survived.  

"The boards were hand sanded and treated again with linseed oil. Three empty packs of Wild Woodbine cigarettes were found.  

"Manufacturing of these cigarettes started in 1888 past 1945.

"They were very popular as a cheap and unfiltered brand for soldiers.  

"As part of a paper from 1918 was found, the cigarettes may match the date.

"We guess they were from tradesmen as we are not sure a soldier would have placed them under the floorboards.  

"A Players packet was also found and manufacturing of these started in 1901

"Our menu has changed, including more of the cuisine eaten during George 1V reign.  

"Many of the favourite afternoon tea items still remain on the menu-although the Georgians ate all day a mix of savoury and sweet items, hence our mix.  

"The “meat sandwich” is actually now identified as a hamburger as many customers have asked for this."