Wooden Corby Glen shop to be replaced

A village shop that has stood for more than 50 years and is believed to be the oldest wooden shop in Lincolnshire is set to be demolished.

Lily’s Lavender Hut on Station Road in Corby Glen, run by Julie Tuckey, will close today (March 9) to be replaced with a similar wooden structure that will be opened up to the community and host activities for them.

Part of the £42,000 rebuild will be partly funded by a £19,000 Leader grant which is European Union funding for rural developments.

It is hoped the new building will reopen on Good Friday and in the meantime, a temporary shop will open on Sunday in a temporary building in the car park of the Fighting Cocks pub nearby.

“I’ve got a real mix of emotions about the shop closing,” said Julie, who has run the shop for the last two years, having taken it over from long-time owner Pauline Bland, who ran it for 32 years.

“It will be quite nice to have a building that is insulated and warm but I’ve invested a lot of work and effort into it in the two years I have owned it.

“The new building will also be made of wood and have an extension to it where I want to bring together my experience of being a home economics and early years
teacher.

“I want to open it up to the community and put on activities such as cookery classes for parents and toddlers in the morning and Scrabble in the afternoon.

“It’s going to be quite a small extension – three by three and a half metres and there’ll be an open plan kitchen in the new building.

“I’m hoping that the new shop building will open in six weeks’ time on Good Friday.”

Julie is the fourth owner of the shop which was built in the mid-1950s.

The shop is a well-known and popular community hub, acting as a newsagents and general store, selling as much local produce as possible, such as honey from Colsterworth and chutneys and pickles from The Bytham Kitchen.

Julie said that she had quite a few comments from villagers, even children, who said they were sad to see the current shop disappear.

“It’s a real community venture.

“The landlord from the Fighting Cocks, Simon Harwood, is a carpenter and he will be building the new building,” said Julie.