A family-run cafe which was meant to be a tearoom but thanks to the success of its steak pies became a cafe is celebrating its 30th anniversary.

The Coastal Park Garden Cafe in Leysdown, Sheppey, has been a hotspot for holiday-making crowds since opening its doors on August 31, 1994.

The white building with green signage is run by Steve and Bub Howe and their family and is known for its traditional cafe food including full English breakfasts, roast dinners and homemade pies and lasagne.

But the married couple, who have also celebrated Bub’s 70th birthday and their 50th wedding anniversary this year, had originally hoped to open a tearoom.

The grandparents of five had married in 1974 after knowing each other from hanging out in a pub called the Merry Manners in Langley, Berkshire.

Her parents had run a pub themselves but had decided to sell up in 1985 and move to Leysdown after holidaying there since Bub was a little girl.

She wanted to make the move as well as she says she wanted to be with her mum who was her “best friend” and they “did everything together” and of course, Steve followed.

Bub started working at Nuts Farm Shop in the late 1980s where they made and sold what would become the iconic pies that are still served in the cafe today.

But she wanted to open her own tearoom and spotted a former shower block nextdoor which was no longer being used.

So Steve was put to work to renovate the building into a cafe.

It took him six months of hard graft and involved pulling out pipes, removing the showers as well as painting and redecorating.

When the now 71 and 70-year-olds opened on Saturday, August 31, they intended to sell cakes and tea but customers wanted the handmade pies.

“Within weeks we decided to become a cafe,” joked Bub. “People just kept on coming in and asking for the steak pies.

“People used to come in and tell us when they would want the pie and we would make them to order so they were fresh out of the oven.

“Those pies are really are the backbone of our business, as well as our other traditional cafe dishes, and we have people come from across Kent to eat them.

“It’s also partly because people came to Leysdown as children and then grew and now bring their children here and remember coming to the cafe so we get generations of customers.”

Of course, things were a lot cheaper back then, with a breakfast costing £1.99 and a pie with trimmings setting you back £2.99.

Because of rising costs and inflation the same items are priced at £7.79 and £10.99.

But the price increase does not stop the hungry people from coming far and wide to the cafe, with Steve telling KentOnline that they have had someone from Wales travel down for Bub’s homemade lasagne.

Another customer has been coming to the cafe since it opened.

George Eales, aged 87, had been visiting the holiday destination for more than 40 years and got to know Steve who is usually at the front counter.

The grandad of seven then moved from Brothley, near Lewisham in London, to Musellwell Manor, Shellness Road, eight years ago and continues to be a regular customer.

The former post office security provider said: “I love coming here and come almost every day because the family are so nice and the food is delicious.

“I normally have a roast dinner because the cabbage is just done amazingly. I just can’t cook it like they do.”

Meanwhile Sue Eyers, from the Kings Farm area in Gravesend, travels to the cafe at least once a week, often taking one of her six grandchildren with her.

The 59-year-old first started going to the cafe around 10 years ago after her partner had discovered the eatery on a motorcycle ride.

The care worker was with her 10-year-old grandson Lenny when she spoke to KentOnline.

She said: “One day my partner came back from one of his rides and told me that I had to go down and try the food at the cafe.

“So he took me back down here and the food was just amazing, particularly the roast dinner and the ploughman's salad.

“The area is really friendly because the residents are always up for a chat as are the staff.”

Celebrities have also visited the cafe, including Jamie and Harry Redknapp and Micheal Barrymore.

The family also got to meet the former Take That singer, Robbie Williams, who had been filming in the area.

During his shoot, he had rushed to the aid of one excited fan who had crashed her car.

But while the cafe continues to be popular, dwindling visitor numbers and rising costs make the business harder to run, Steve said.

“We used to have two types of people who come to Leysdown the ‘six-weekers’ and the ‘eight monthers’.

“The shorter-term stays are your people who are holidaymakers whereas the people who used to stay for a longer period were the older generation.

“We have lost the latter group so the summer months are really important to us when we used to have people here most of the year.

“The cost of electricity and insurance have gone up, and have been particularly hard to deal with.

“It means we take less ourselves to keep the place running which does take a lot of hard work, especially the cooking that Bub does.”

But the couple, who have only shut the cafe for more than five days once since opening for a family holiday, are not stepping away yet.

However, they are preparing their daughter 45-year-old Sarah Howe who is already the manager, to take over the business.

Their other daughters Paula, 48, and Julie, 43, are also set to be on hand to help out around the cafe.