‘It’s bringing back a few memories’ – shop reopens in Burravoe
THERE is some good news in the south east of Yell after the reopening of a shop in Burravoe.
The Brough Store opened its doors yesterday (Monday) after a sizeable renovation job.
The building formerly hosted the Brough Stores shop which closed in the 1990s.
Its new owner Leslie Madden has run a small kiosk style enterprise there over the last few years, selling a small amount of goods, but Monday marked the opening of the refurbished main shop.
He said the shop was “very busy” on the opening day.
“We opened the doors at nine o’clock, and we had a steady stream of people straight away,” Madden said.
He added that there have been people coming along reminiscing about working in the former shop, or going there as a child.
“It’s bringing back a few memories for a few people,” Madden said.
North Isles councillor Ryan Thomson said it will be a “fantastic addition to the local community, and I’m sure this new venture will be a great success and a valuable asset to both Burravoe and to Yell”.
Madden also confirmed that talks are ongoing regarding the potential for the Burravoe postal service moving into the shop.
The Burravoe Post Office branch is due to close in July following the retirement of the postmistress, who runs it from her home.
After something of a U-turn, the Post Office said in May that it would explore keeping a postal service going in the community instead of permanently closing it.
Madden had expressed an interest in taking on the postal service.
Speaking on Tuesday, he said he is waiting for an assessment to be carried out “to say what we need to make us a post office”.
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Madden said it was a case of “waiting to see what happens next”.
The shop meanwhile will be open Monday to Saturday between 9am and 12.30pm, and 1.30pm to 5.30pm.
It has been a fairly long road to get to the shop’s opening, with a planning application, which included domestic living space elsewhere in the building, first submitted in 2019.
The C-listed property is dated back to the late 19th century, with 20th century additions and alterations. The last commercial shop there closed in the 1990s.
Speaking back in 2019, Madden – previously from Blackpool – said he first became aware of Burravoe after spotting a cottage for sale in the area.
His family missed out on that property but found that the shop building was available.
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