The Rake Mediterranean Tapas Restaurant

By Margaret Brecknell

The Rake, a family-run tapas restaurant, bar and boutique hotel in Littleborough, enjoys an excellent reputation for its fine food and wine, as well as the warmth of its welcome and its friendly efficient service.

Owner, Mark Wickham, has been in charge at The Rake, together with his wife Dawn, for nearly two decades now. The couple started out at the Littleborough Coach House Café, where their weekly tapas night became a popular feature. They then moved on to The Rake when it came up for sale in the early 2000s and turned it into a tapas restaurant.

Today, The Rake offers a varied menu of Mediterranean dishes including some innovative vegetarian options, all using the freshest of ingredients from local producers. All the dishes are freshly made from scratch on the premises including the desserts. The specials are changed on a regular basis, which means that even for regular customers there is always something new to try. There are also two well-stocked bars and the drinks menu includes an interesting selection of Mediterranean wines and local ales.

The choice of specials on the menu will typically feature dishes inspired by a wide range of different cuisines. As well as Spanish tapas favourites as chorizo in red wine, patatas bravas and Spanish omelette, Mark and his team like to combine classic Spanish ingredients with flavours inspired by other Mediterranean cuisines such as pimentos with feta cheese, scallops wrapped in parma ham with pesto and toulouse sausage stuffed with manchego cheese. Other customer favourites include the beef ribs in bourbon sauce, spicy jumbo chicken wings and mushrooms served in a white wine and garlic sauce.

The Rake is located in a historic 17th-century former coaching inn on Blackstone Edge Old Road, about half a mile from Littleborough Town Centre. It is now possible to stay on the premises in one of four luxurious boutique-style rooms, which combine some of the historic building’s original features with contemporary furniture and stylish fittings. Each individually

designed room comes with ensuite facilities (either a shower or bath), tea/ coffee making facilities, flat screen TV, hairdryer and complementary toiletries. Free wi-fi is also included. A private outside area is provided exclusively for the use of staying guests. Breakfast is also available and, according to many guest reviews, is clearly not to be missed.

The rooms were created as a result of a large-scale renovation programme. “It had originally been the living quarters for The Rake’s landlord”, explains Mark, “but it was a complete wreck and it took me the best part of three years to renovate it”. In designing the four new rooms, Mark was very mindful of The Rake’s past. “It was very important to have respect for that and to create something in keeping with the place’s history”, he says.

Mark uncovered some interesting features relating to the Grade-II listed building’s past whilst carrying out the renovation such as the original mullioned windows which had remained hidden for centuries. He also made another fascinating discovery relating to a more recent part of The Rake’s history. During World War II, the building was used as a base for the local unit of the Home Guard. When a young German fighter pilot, whose plane had crashed in a nearby field, was captured, he was detained at The Rake until the military police arrived to deal with him. During the renovation project, six pre-war German coins were discovered in the remains of an old window box, which may well confirm the local story that the unfortunate German was held in that part of the building until he was taken away.

The road leading up to Blackstone Edge, on which The Rake Tapas now stands, has been in use for many centuries. Windy Bank, which is said to be one of the oldest houses in Lancashire, is situated just up the hill. As regards The Rake itself, its history dates back over four hundred years. Mark believes that the original building may have served as a toll house before becoming a meeting place for local farmers, from which it then developed into a coaching inn. As long ago as 1855, Edwin Waugh described the building in his Sketches of Lancashire Life as “the old public house at the right hand of the road, called Th’ Wet Rake or Weet Rake”.

The origins of the building’s name remain unclear. It has been suggested that it may derive its name from a farmer’s hay rake, but Mark is more inclined to believe that it comes from a local dialect word for a nearby track to the moors.

As with many old buildings, various stories exist about The Rake being haunted. Most famously, the Rochdale Observer reported in 1967 that the pub’s then landlady, Annie Turton, had seen an apparition whom she described as “a big fellow with a big round face and his cavalier’s hat held in front of him and wearing a lovely amber brooch”. The paper’s report also includes the rather odd additional detail that the ghost of the laughing cavalier only appeared to anyone called Anne who lived at The Rake, which, if true, would certainly restrict the number of potential sightings.

Intriguingly, the local area is known to have seen action during the English Civil War when, in opposition to the Cavaliers, the Parliamentarians sent a force of eight hundred men to fortify Blackstone Edge. It is not impossible, therefore, that Cavalier soldiers may have been in the area and may have visited The Rake.

With its unique character and relaxed, but stylish, ambience, The Rake has become a popular venue for intimate private functions including wedding receptions. Guests are assured a warm welcome at The Rake. “Most of the staff have been here nearly as long as I have,” explains Mark. “Chris, the Head Chef, has been with us from the very beginning. He started here as a young boy of 16 and over the years has gained extensive knowledge and invaluable experience.”

Over the last two years, life has been far from easy for those involved in the hospitality business, as throughout the Covid-19 epidemic the sector has been one of the worst affected by lockdowns and government restrictions. Mark used the enforced time away from the restaurant during the first lockdown in the spring of 2020 to work on a new project, which involved a good deal of renovation work to the building’s former cellar.

The Cueva Delicatessen is now open on Friday and Saturday each week from 9am to 5pm and offers a tempting selection of fresh fish, fruit and vegetables, straight from the market, a fine range of speciality cheeses and much more besides.

Mark then turned his attention to a new project. “During lockdown nobody could go to the seaside”, he explains, “and so I decided to build a fish and chip shop from scratch.” The Quay Side opened in late 2020, located in a small building next-door to The Rake. Complete with a vintage

cooking range from the 1970s, it was purposely designed to recreate the atmosphere of a traditional old-style seaside chippy. Mark takes great joy in the fact that the Quay Side offers customers the opportunity to enjoy top-notch fish and chips, “all done in the old fashioned, traditional way”, but there is also a thoroughly modern twist. As well as the old much-loved favourites like cod and haddock, the range of fish on offer can include anything from tuna and sea bass to tiger prawns and salt & pepper squid, all freshly bought and cooked to order. “There’s nowhere else quite like it”, Mark proudly boasts.

The Quay Side is currently open every Friday and Saturday from 12 noon onwards and, Mark says, attracts customers from all over the county.

Mark is grateful for all the support he has received over the last two difficult years. “I just want to say thank you to all our customers who have helped us over this period”, he says, adding, “We appreciate all the comments and support we’ve had during the difficult and uncertain times.”

He is also appreciative of the help he has received closer to home. Paying tribute to his wife of thirty years, he says, “I would like to thank Dawn for supporting me over the years. It hasn’t always been easy, but she has always been there and has helped to see me through the difficult times.” Dawn’s contribution to the business is all the more remarkable, bearing in mind that for much of that time she has also worked full-time as a nurse at a local medical practice.

The Rake’s owner is not one to rest on his laurels and at present is working on a further project. Mark is currently restoring an old horsebox, which he rescued as it was about to be sent to the scrapyard. He plans to convert it into an outdoors pizzeria and hopes that by the late spring customers will be able look forward to the tantalising prospect of enjoying delicious homemade pizza and chips in the open air.

With the ever-resourceful Mark at the helm, plus such a solid support team behind him, this historic venue appears set to go from strength to strength in the future and is well worth a visit.

Blackstone Edge Old Road, Littleborough OL15 0JX. N 01706 379689 D theraketapas.co.uk F @theraketapas