How it all started

There has been a shop in Tewin selling groceries for at least 80 years.   Many villagers have fond memories of the 20 years when Roger Temple ran Tewin Stores as a general store and Post Office.  He retired and passed on the lease in 2000, but the new owners did not make a success of the business, and the shop closed suddenly in May 2007.  

 No one in Tewin wanted the shop or the Post Office to close.   People remembered buying sweets from Roger as children, the vegetable boxes he prepared and delivered, and the homemade cakes.  Tewin Stores was a village shop that served the community.

Immediately following the closure the Parish Council organised a meeting attended by 150 residents.  A steering Committee was formed and Tom Cook, young man in his twenties was elected as Chair.  A survey of the village found that over half of all households supported the re-opening of the shop and so Tom went ahead, negotiating a new lease and planning the renovation of the premises, which was in desperate need of love and attention.    

 Many people helped with the repairs, gave donations and did fund raising, and helped with the installation of equipment.   The sales mix was agreed, stock purchased, and financial planning was set out in a two year Business Plan.   The Plunkett Foundation also provided a grant and professional advice.

The renovation took three months, was largely completed by Christmas 2007. 

One of the villagers managed the shop, a rota was set up, the alcohol licence obtained, software for the Till installed, publicity distributed and on the 21 February 2008 the red ribbon was cut and the shop re-opened by Roger Temple. 

The Steering Committee: left to right: Andrew Kirby, Tom Cook, Eleanor Lohr, Brenda Barber, Debbie Winterbottom, Elisabeth Buchanan.  Roger Temple is cutting the ribbon.