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INTRODUCING ...
Please tell us a bit about yourself. Again the
My name is Janet Tuffley. My husband, profits will all
Chris, and I have been running The Silver go towards
Pear gift shop in Ludlow for 22 years. St Laurence’s,
in this case for
Are you local to Ludlow? the church’s
That depends whether living in Ludlow mission work,
and the surrounding area for 43 years and that is
constitutes being local. Probably not! what inspires
So what brought you here? and propels
I am in fact a New Zealander who me forward.
hopped on a ship and sailed away when I How do you spend any spare time?
was 20. I came to visit Shropshire in Spare time, what's that? With running
1978 and ended up staying because my two businesses and a third on the way
boyfriend at the time, later first husband, there is little time for anything but we
decided he wanted to farm here.
have a large family scattered round the
And what is your connection with world so keeping tabs on everyone is
St Laurence's? more than enough. I do have a
I have always loved the magnificence of wonderful garden and just wish I had
the building so when I was approached more time to spend in it.
to look at growing the church shop it Which is your most memorable
was an easy ‘yes’ to take on the project holiday experience?
with my Broadmill business partners, Sailing in a flat-bottomed boat out into
Anthony and Camilla Shuster, knowing the Tasman Sea. As we left the safe
that Stephen Treasure was at the helm shores of Fiordland in New Zealand we
alongside Kelvin and that any profit were faced with 8 metre waves. This
would go towards the upkeep of the was celebrating a big birthday along with
church fabric. Without Stephen’s best friends and family! Frankly, we
expertise and tenacity the shop might were all lucky to have survived the
never have got off the ground, church ordeal along with several terrifying
bureaucracy being what it is! helicopter flights in torrential rain
However we did open in August 2020 amongst the mountain ranges.
and, despite the challenges of stop-start
trading during lockdowns, The Shop is What might we be surprised to
thriving and sales are rising. It is very know about you?
sad that Stephen is not around to I ended up with so many children, nine
continue imparting his knowledge and to be precise, that I didn't know what to
support to our exciting new project, do. So I started up in retail to find some
opening a coffee shop within the church. personal recognition.
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