The Hidden Village: ‘We created villages just for children- now we’re building an entire castle’

One Yorkshire family wanted to change that by creating a village with children’s play at its heart, but one which is also pleasurable for the parents too.

Ruth Owens, 29, set up The Hidden Village role play centre and cafe in Leeds City Centre with her mother Frankie Owens and late father Greg Owens two and a half years ago.

The Hidden Village is designed out of wooden materials, complete with a veterinary surgery, a hair salon, a shop and a fire engine to inspire role play in children.

Frankie said: “Ruth was going to set something up originally around about 2020 but that was the wrong time to set things up (with Covid). So we put the idea on ice.”

Frankie, Greg, and daughter Ruth eventually set up a pop-up play centre in Keighley town centre.

Frankie said: “That was so popular we needed to find our own place.”

The family secured a premises on Call Lane in Leeds near The Corn Exchange.

Frankie said: “This is a great location. It’s a lovely central location.

“It's great for public transport and everything is right in the centre.”

The family transformed the premises into the first official The Hidden Village.

Frankie said: “Ruth’s been the designer of all the villages. It's very much her brainchild.”

“She works very hard behind the scenes.”

Frankie said that everything is intentional such as the wooden furniture and neutral colours to feel as relaxing and natural as possible.

She added: “When we first opened this place, my husband (Greg) said he’d love to open somewhere that was really unique and based around a theme rather than a more generic village.

“We came up with this idea of the castle, somewhere we'd make as a medieval castle where we'd have a dungeon and a lovely police station, and a great hall instead of a café. He was really excited by that idea.”

Real-life tragedy

Greg and Frankie with their daughter Ruth had been running The Hidden Village for almost two years, during which they set up another The Hidden Village in Keighley.

Greg and his wife Frankie had been looking forward to celebrating their 30th anniversary in July last year.

Tragically in March 2024, 48-year-old Greg died unexpectedly as a result of complications during surgery.

Frankie said: “Greg worked here alongside me when we opened up. So he worked here right up until the day before essentially he passed away, he went for an operation, which went very wrong on the day.

“It was quite an unexpected thing.”

Frankie said that while The Hidden Village has always been a family business, since Greg’s passing it’s taken on a different role.

She said: “There’s a sense for us of really wanting to keep it flourishing, not just in its own right, because he gave the last year of his life to making it a success.”

Frankie said that she had to return to work straight away to keep the business running.

She said: “There were a few days of waiting to see if anything could be done, which, you know, ultimately it couldn't. So then, machines had to be switched off, that was about three days after the operation.

“The next day, I had to come back in and run here because of the timing of it.”

Frankie said they had a new member of staff starting and it was their busiest time of year.

She added: “It was either go in the next day or risk losing the business. So I just came in and worked throughout that holiday and I've worked pretty much throughout since which, obviously, has been very tough.

“But in another way, it's probably helped me.”

Frankie said The Hidden Village was ‘their place’ because that’s where they spent everyday together.

When premises became available earlier this year in Skipton, Frankie and Ruth decided to make Greg’s original idea come to reality by creating the first The Hidden Castle; A medieval-themed role play centre all designed to look and feel like a castle.

Frankie added: “That's a whole new venture for us, which is a twist on what we're already doing. It's The Hidden Castle, but it's got The Hidden Village quality stamp.”

The Hidden Castle is due to open later this month.