TWO new stores are rekindling community spirit in two Cheshire villages.
Great Barrow and Brown Knowl have two village stores with the former opening last Saturday and a new village shop, backed by Bolesworth Estate and Reaseheath College will open next to The Sandstone Pub tomorrow (Friday).
Mother and daughter team Shirley and Catherine Boardman opened Great Barrow Stores after the shop had been closed for 18 months.
Catherine Boardman said: “We knew that Great Barrow didn’t have a store – we liked the look of the village we met with the parish council even before we signed the lease and they were hugely supportive.
Shirley Boardman said: “The whole village nearly turned up on the opening day and every person has thanked us and promised to support us.
“It was very difficult for some people, especially pensioners as they had to travel further afield and some didn’t have transport.”
Catherine added: “We provide fresh fruit and vegatables, dairy products, newspaper, all the usual stuff really – we also do flower arranging! We are in talks with the Post Office with a view to providing counter facilities long term.”
The two stores open at a time when council figures announced that there are 51,000 jobs in rural West Cheshire and more opportunities for businesses in village communities.
The Rowntree Foundation released a report this week into the cost of living in rural areas and found residents were having to pay transport costs as a result of closure of stores and post offices.
The report states: “Economic activity is widely dispersed across the rural area – including the green belt with clusters of activity in many of the smaller villages not just in the larger villages and market towns.”
