A BRAND new tearoom has opened in a Hampshire market town.

The much-anticipated Woodies in Wickham welcomed its first customers on Friday April 4 in perfect sunny weather in the same building where landmark restaurant Greens operated for almost four decades.

Owners Nicola Lang, from Bishop's Waltham, and Mike Woods, from Wickham, decided to open the business due to their love of the area.

"We've totally renovated the whole place," said Nicola, who spoke to the Chronicle on opening day. "We had our eyes on doing something like this, but when we knew the lease was coming up here, we thought this would be amazing because we're local."

READ MORE: Restaurant in Wickham to reopen as tearoom

The interior of Woodies, Wickham (Image: NQ) The only feature of the inside of the building which has stayed the same is the bar, the interior having been refurbished in a light and breezy style.

Woodies' kitchen serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as its own in-house lager.

Nicola said: "We went to a brewery that actually is hosting a lot of our drinks for us, and we just chose one that they wanted to host for us. So yeah, it was really quite easy.

"It's a really nice touch because it's just a bit more personal for us."

Part of the reason Nicola and Mike decided to open in Wickham is down to the market town's unique charm.

SEE ALSO: Closed Wickham restaurant to reopen as bar and bistro

The bar (Image: NQ) "The square is so beautiful; there are no tea rooms, but there are little, beautiful, little coffee places. We had Lilly's at the end of square, and it was just such a hit, and everyone missed it, and that's all you could ever hear people say, 'Oh, Lilly's', or they go, 'Oh, that Lilly's was amazing', and you're like, 'Oh, it's not there anymore'. They'd be so disappointed. So we thought, well, actually, there's a window there, so maybe we could do a tea room."

Speaking about her and Mike's backgrounds, Nicola said: "My degree is in photography, and I've worked as a photographer since university, but I also taught GCSE photography in secondary school. 

"Mike's in the hospitality industry: he does event catering, so it's something that we wanted to do together one day."