How losing acres worked in favour of garden centre next to the A1

Road widening schemes can cause havoc for the countryside and farmers with a loss of land for owners and habitat for wildlife. Compensation schemes are sought and carriageways left behind can look out of place, becoming ghost roads.
Alex (left) and Gordon Thompson who run Lumby Garden Centre alongside the A1 near Monk Fryston. (GL1009/49c)Alex (left) and Gordon Thompson who run Lumby Garden Centre alongside the A1 near Monk Fryston. (GL1009/49c)
Alex (left) and Gordon Thompson who run Lumby Garden Centre alongside the A1 near Monk Fryston. (GL1009/49c)

The Great North Road between the Selby Fork Hotel, once a renowned A1 landmark up until the new three-lane motorway section opened more than a decade ago, now acts as a somewhat over-the-top dual carriageway but for the Thompsons of Lumby, the changes have worked in their favour.

Their garden centre started as a nursery in 1908 and is now situated more handily than ever. With the changes, it is now right on the roundabout where vehicles exit the new A1.

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Gordon Thompson and his parents Donald and Barbara took over what was a nine-acre site in December 1988. His family come from Seacroft, Leeds and on leaving school he worked as a groundskeeper for Leeds Council at Lotherton Hall and Temple Newsam Estate.

He later became a rep for Sutton’s Seeds before joining Strikes Garden Centre in Knaresborough and moving to their outlet at Swillington Common near Garforth.

“Dad knows what people need for their gardens,” says his firefighter son Alex. “He’s also proved that there is still a place for the smaller family enterprise selling good quality locally grown garden plants.

“Our main sellers are pansies and bedding plants from growers in Shadwell and Garforth, but we also grow around 15-20 per cent of what we sell. The commercial growers and suppliers we use don’t have acres of glasshouses. They are great local businesses that provide just what our customers rely upon. The most important thing is stocking what people want and from now until the middle of June is our busiest time of the year. Dad is always on hand to offer his advice seven days a week.

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“When he first came here in 1981 it was to work for Reg Holmes. He purchased the site, including the house, the woods and business seven years later when Reg passed away. It has always been a family oriented garden centre with regular visitors and many who are personal friends. My brother Matthew works here and Martin Smith has been with us since 1990.”

Alex tells of how Leys House and Lumby Garden Centre’s location can send heads spinning. “We’re only three miles from South Milford and two miles from Fairburn but we have a Leeds postcode; a Castleford dialling code; yet we’re in North Yorkshire and we pay our council tax in Selby. It makes us look as though we’re nomadic but we’re now in a highly visible location. We lost the equivalent of two football pitches when the widening took place but we would have to say it has worked in our favour.”

It was the opening of the new coffee shop last year that has really added to their trade.

“People were coming in and saying ‘where’s your tea room’. Dad works with plants every day so for him the coffee shop would’ve been a bit of a minefield. It was our vision: me, Matthew and my wife Sarah. We went to see the Food Standards Agency in Selby and took advice from others.

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“At first we just stuck our toe in the water serving toasted bagels, crumpets, coffee, tea and cake but it’s now developed into a full blown coffee shop with full English breakfasts, paninis, jacket potatoes, locally baked pies and our special high teas served on tiered plates.

“We opened in March last year and having originally started with seating for 20 we soon extended to 30. By September last year we reckoned that in hindsight we should have made it as big as we could without being too big so it now seats 56.

“It is bringing in more income and once customers have had something to eat or drink they then take a wander around the garden centre. I remember being here one cold January day when I was in my teens and we’d see maybe five or six customers all day. This year the café was busy throughout January and that had a knock-on effect for the garden centre.”