This is Haslemere had a great conversation (September 2025) with Andy Godley over a cup of tea in the cafe, The Lion’s Den, which he runs with his wife, Lou.

The Lion’s Den is located at the pivotal road junction of Lion Lane and Wey Hill, just opposite Lion Green. Given its position, it’s not hard to work out how Andy and Lou came up with the name for their Haslemere cafe which opened in 2018.  Pardon the pun but, they do a roaring trade and they truly love the community vibe in and around Lion Lane where they have lived for 20 years.

In May 2024, Andy and Lou also opened The Lion’s Den in North Street, Midhurst. This cafe is a bigger venue than their Haslemere cafe and has a great garden out the back.

Both their cafes were fitted out by Andy and Lou themselves as they also run their premises outfitting business, Silver Fox Design & Build Limited. Through this existing expertise, they have sourced unique fixtures and fittings for their cafes and, where they could not find what they were looking for, they made tables, seating, shelving etc. from scratch.

Andy is a cyclist and at times during our chat he was in Haslemere-Tourist-Guide mode extolling the amazing cycling, running and walking trails on the doorstep. He’s right, we are surrounded by beautiful countryside. He also mentioned that he and Lou have made friends with many of The Macmillan Cancer volunteers who regularly pop into the Lion’s Den in Midhurst and support their business. This love of the outdoors combined with learning about Macmillan’s great work gave him the idea for a charity event Den-To-Den which will take place on Saturday 18th October. 

As Andy explained:

“The Macmillan team in Midhurst have given The Lion’s Den so much support since we opened in Midhurst and we have become friends. In turn, we wanted to do something to support them and their charity.”

Den-To-Den Charity Event

This is a self-guided charity event where you decide which way you’ll walk, run or ride - two legs, two wheels, three wheels, three legged (not advised, but possible…) Andy explained that you’ll set off from The Lion’s Den in Haslemere, where you’ll register and give a donation entry fee to Macmillan Cancer before you head out across the trails to the finish at The Lion’s Den in Midhurst. Hence the name, Den-To-Den. You can plan your own route and avoid the roads and decide if you want to get there as fast as you can or the long way to take in the beauty of The South Downs. 

Andy told us:

“It’s not a race and it’s not supported out in the wild, (if you get stuck, we’ll try and help you, we’re not that mean) obviously someone will come in first in each category and we will have lots of prizes for stand out silly participants.”

As Haslemere resident, Jo Cork, wrote on the Facebook post announcing the Den-To-Den event: “Hike there. Bus back. Winning!” (It's the Number 70 Stagecoach bus, one an hour, at 20 past the hour, from Midhurst Bus Station (Stand B) to Haslemere High Street (Stop A)).

When you arrive in Midhurst ready to share your tales of the trail, there’ll be music covers with local band The Genuine Counterfeits with Den food, drink and prizes.

Read more about Den-To-Den here.

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