Historic stores in heart of 'All Creatures Great and Small Country' reopens
A stores and tearoom in the heart of “All Creatures Great and Small” country is enjoying a new lease of life.
The historic Hawnby Stores and Tea Room near Helmsley, founded in 1762, has re-opened after a refurbishment.
Oli Nicholls and Sally Pearson, who lease the building from the Hawnby Estate but own the business, have transformed it into a village shop, café and community hub.
The village shop was a former sub post office and has operated continually since the 18th century.
Oli and Sally, who have moved to Hawnby from the French Alps where they worked in the tourism sector, said they are thrilled to have started the business they had always dreamed of.
Oli said: “While we loved our time together in France, the pull of Yorkshire was too much. Sally’s family come from Leeds and I have strong connections with the county, so when we saw the opportunity to run a little village shop and open our very own cafe deep in the North York Moors, we grabbed it with both hands.
“The joy of this project is that we have a completely blank canvas. This has enabled us to create a welcoming community space, based on our principles of sustainability and inclusivity, sourcing local produce and ensuring that we stock everything that both villagers and visitors to Hawnby need.”
Sally continued: “We want to be so much more than a village shop. We are very passionate about our lovely, refurbished café, while we have also created an informal space for coffee and light snacks and are planning to have community and musical events on the beautiful space in front of the shop leading down to the River Rye.”
Jamie Savile, from Hawnby Estate, said: “We are absolutely delighted with the transformation of the Stores and Tea Room and extremely impressed with the work Oli and Sally, and their families, have done.”
Helmsley is part of Yorkshire regarded as “Herriot Country” because of its connections with the Thirsk-based veterinary surgeon Alfred James Wight, who wrote under the pseudonym James Herriot. His books inspired the hit tv show “All Creatures Great and Small”, which was originally broadcast by the BBC in the 1970s. A new series of All Creatures Great and Small has now been produced for Channel 5.