South Shields man fulfills late mother's dream as he opens Cafe Obscura in Hebburn in her memory

A man has fulfilled his late mother’s dream by opening a cafe in her memory.
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Karl Bourdiec, 32, from South Shields, said his mother Lynn had always dreamed of opening a coffee shop, in the days before big-name chains became all the rage.

But sadly she passed away when Karl was 15 and never got the chance to fulfill her dream.

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The idea always stuck with Karl, though, and after taking redundancy from a photography training job at Currys two years ago, he finally had the money and time to make his mother’s dream come true.

Karl Bourdiec outside Cafe ObscuraKarl Bourdiec outside Cafe Obscura
Karl Bourdiec outside Cafe Obscura

Karl opened Cafe Obscura in Hebburn’s Mountbatten Shopping Centre, opposite Hebburn Helps, and said he has already received a lot of positive comments from from people in the area:

"I’ve had a lot of customers popping in and saying they’re glad to see a good coffee shop back here as there aren’t too many nearby,” he said.

"Once the customers know we are here they tend to come back again.

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“People like they have now somewhere to come in and grab a coffee and a slice of cake.”

Karl also explained meaning behind the cafe’s unusual name.

The 32-year-old is a fan of film and photography and does photography work.

It was a trip to Camera Obscura in Edinburgh which gave him inspiration for the name and theme of the coffee shop.

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He said: “It’s all camera themed inside, there’s cameras and camera cases on the walls which I’m looking to add to as I go along.”

Karl said he has spent thousands renovating the cafe, with some help from his dad Colin who is a music teacher, and spent three months preparing the cafe ready for the public, which opened at the end of March.

The cafe specialises in a range of hot and cold drinks, cakes and biscuits and is open Monday to Saturday, from 8am to 2pm.

Karl said he would welcome anyone who would like to display any of their artwork, prints, photographs or old pictures of Hebburn in the coffee shop and invited them to get in touch by visiting the shop or emailing [email protected]