by
Aurelia de Rocha
There’s a pub down Oxford Street that doesn’t just serve drinks. It serves belonging. The Coach and Horses, now run by Sarah and Maddie, has become one of the warmest, most generous corners of Whitstable.
two London hearts, one Whitstable home
They came here from London in 2020, both a little weary of city life. Sarah already had family in Whitstable, so the pull was there. Back in London, they’d been running pubs just streets apart, technically rivals, but both buzzing with music, people and heart. So when the Coach and Horses became available, they didn’t think twice. “We gave it a lick of paint and got stuck in,” Sarah says. (It was more than a lick of paint.)
where music took root
At first, food wasn’t even on the cards, so they leaned into what they knew best: music. Saturday nights became CoHo Collective, now with over 25 DJs on rotation. There are garage nights, Prince tributes, even Bluefinger neon parties where they black out the pub and everything glows. On Fridays, CoHo Live takes over, with musicians from Whitstable, Herne Bay and Canterbury filling the room with sound. Some travel in from London or Bristol, but most are proudly local. It all began with open mic nights run by Rick West and Barbara Antonino, and now it’s a whole scene.
a team on the brink of backing
Maddie and Sarah are currently in talks to sponsor the Crazy Horses women’s roller derby team, after a brilliantly chaotic conversation with team member Charlie. The partnership is about to be confirmed, and the energy is already infectious. It’s a perfect fit, gutsy, grassroots, and gloriously unpolished.
for the carnival, for the town
Their support for the Whitstable Carnival has been extraordinary. Last year, they transformed the garden into a temporary licensed venue, brought in DJs, hired security, and funded the whole thing themselves. Buckets were passed round and came back heavy with coins. This year, they’re adding live bands. Every penny goes to the carnival association.
They’ve kept our volunteers fed too. Last year it was homemade chilli, thick, smoky, and spiced just right, spooned into bowls with a side of warmth. This year, they’ll do it again.
quiet generosity
They’ve raised money for causes like SOS Whitstable, amongst others…. when Whitstable Marine Environment Group lost its council insurance, the Coach and Horses stepped in quietly, covering the cost with no fuss. Plans for future fundraisers with Revival Café are already bubbling.
young artists, big walls
One of their proudest collaborations is with the Far Skate Academy. Students from the academy, young people who don’t always find their footing in traditional classrooms, painted the mural on the outside wall. Their talent is vivid and growing. Those same students are now designing skateboards to be hung and sold inside the pub, raising money to support more of their work.
a living space for art
Inside, the back room is often given over to the profanity embroidery group, who stitch out truth and humour in bold thread. Sarah and Maddie keep the teapots filled. Local artist Chris How exhibits his work on the walls, with more exhibitions set for autumn.
the heart of autumn
That’s when the Coach truly settles into its bones. Tuesday quiz nights fill every table. The kitchen hums midweek and weekends alike, offering hot food like burgers and subs, with the kind of bar snacks that remind you of school trips and seaside chips. Thursdays bring their “fab 2 for £20” offer, hearty, honest, and brilliant value. And every Sunday, their comfort Irish menu takes centre stage, with slow-cooked stew, buttery colcannon, and all the warmth of an Irish kitchen. It’s become a quiet weekly tradition.
play it again
Retro games nights are on their way back too. The first one, all Mario Kart, N64 buttons and throwback joy, was a hit, but the organiser lived too far away to keep it up. Now, Sarah and Maddie are crafting a new plan to bring it back home.
a Christmas for everyone
On Christmas Day, they opened the pub for a few hours. They expected thirty people. Over a hundred turned up. The kitchen dished out 300 pigs in blankets, roast potatoes and gravy. All free. Some staff who’d just popped in for a drink jumped behind the bar to help. Because that’s the kind of place it is.
a garden in exchange for dinner
Even the garden outside is community grown. A group of local women tend it lovingly. In return, they’re fed every Sunday, one generous act folded into another.
Sarah and Maddie didn’t set out to become the heart of anything. They just wanted a pub. Whitstable gave them a place. They gave Whitstable a home.
Come in. Then come back.
Come see what they’ve built. You’ll feel it the moment you walk through the door.
And while you’re at it, join in Maddie O’Shea’s Guinness Game, a pub tradition since 2012, still going strong, still raising spirits.
open mic night
Most pubs don’t have live music. Some do duos or Karaoke. A few do covers bands. None in Whitstable do originals. Even Canterbury has few.
You have to go to Margate or Folkestone for something this innovative. Maddie and Sarah have had the courage and vision to do something else.
Of course it’s been a slow build. Audiences aren’t always drawn to originals. They prefer the easy hit of the familiar tune, so it takes patience to wait for the crowd to arrive but it’s happening. The word is spreading.
Oh and by the way they run an absolutely cracking open mic night. Fortnightly on Thursdays.
The Coach and Horses on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/coachandhorseswhitstable
Aurelia
is a professional Therapist and Chair of the Whitstable Carnival Association, who loves to take minutes in her spare time.
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