New pub village shop to cater for 'isolated residents'

The Musgraves have been running the Greyhound for two years and built a strong reputation for pub food in that time.

In response to the closure of the village shop in Cotehill – which meant that some villagers faced a 12-mile round trip to Cumbria to purchase essential items – the Greyhound licensees built a small extension on their pub to accommodate a store providing essentials such as bread and milk with the help of a £3,000 grant by Pub is the Hub’s community services fund.

The new shop, which was opened by the Greyhound's oldest customer 95-year-old Mary Stubbs on Thursday 19 July, will open daily between 12noon and 8pm and has been designed so that whoever is working behind the bar can also serve in the shop.

Julie Musgrave said: “A lot of people in this village rely on lifts into town, very limited public transport or deliveries and, with a sizeable older population, reopening a village shop seemed like the right thing to do for the community.

“As the pub’s oldest customer Mary is also a regular at the fortnightly coffee afternoons and monthly pensioners' lunches that we run so it seemed fitting to invite her to officially open the shop. Mary is 96 on 4 August. She likes cream scones, which we deliver to her if she can’t get out.”

Pub is The Hub regional adviser Malcolm Harrison added: “I’ve been so impressed by Julie and Alistair’s drive to help their rural population.

“They’re at the heart of their community and have stepped in to provide a service that is so essential for elderly or isolated residents. I wish them well in this venture and hope they are well supported.”