Blackberries, figs, apples and pears …. these delicious fruits feel like
Autumn is slowly upon us. Don’t waste a moment to make jams, jellies,
cakes and crumbles all ingredients available from the shop. Not forgetting
lots of creams and ice creams to accompany your favourite pudding or tart.
We are still getting courgettes and British tomatoes and new in are figs,
squashes and purple sprouting broccoli. With the demand now for tasty
homemade soups and stews ever increasing we have all the local
ingredients you will need.

We have some new beers, lagers and ciders in, all from local brewery Hawkstone, based just outside Moreton. Made famous by Jeremy Clarkson and Kaleb Cooper. The Hawkstone Sundowner is a fruity and refreshing lager in a can available for a limited period only.

As we move forward to darker evenings and cosy nights by the fire we will be changing our opening hours from Sunday 29th October 2023. Our opening hours will be Monday-Saturday 9.00am-5.00pm and Sunday 9.00am-2.00pm.

Sadly, I must report that Maura my assistant manger has resigned from
the shop. She has been an asset to our team and will be sadly missed by us
all. I am sure you will want to join me in wishing her all the best. This
means I am looking for a new assistant manager. If you know anyone who
may fit the position please let them know about this vacancy or contact me
on 01608 659977, manager@bledingtonshop.com

Finally I would like to thank all my amazing volunteers who very
generously give up their time to help and support me in the shop. If you
have just recently moved into the local area and would like to help serve our
local community please do pop in for a chat to find out more.

There’s no other month that cries holidays and warm sunny days like
August but unfortunately this August has been very disappointing weather
wise, lets hope we have an “Indian Summer”.
Once again we have had a very busy time in the shop and café
welcoming and serving lots of customers who have travelled from further
afield. I had the pleasure to chat to one lady from America who told me her
grandmother grew up in Bledington.
New fruits and vegetables are arriving in the next few days and weeks.
Delicious juicy figs are perfect on their own or served with blue cheese,
walnuts in a green salad. Luscious British plums which go well with duck or
goat’s cheese, and not forgetting corn on the cob, griddled on the BBQ with
lots and lots of melted butter and black pepper. September is just days
away so why not buy cooking apples to go with the arrival of blackberries,
arriving on a hedgerow very soon.
I am sure you will have noticed on your visit to the shop one of our garden planters
is bursting with a variety of English herbs. Rosemary, parsley, mint, thyme and chives. Please
do help yourself these are for everyone to
enjoy whether in a salad, a casserole or even in a drink!!
We would like to send our congratulations to two of our young
volunteers. Angus Sherringham who achieved a double merit in business
studies and a distinction in computing. Plus Daniel Logue, who received his
A-level results, achieving four A* grades.
Everyone at Bledington Shop would like to take this opportunity to thank
them for all their hard work volunteering. We wish them all the success in
their next steps. If you know a young person who would like to volunteer in
the shop please do get in touch.

British Summertime has finally arrived, we have already had some amazingly hot summer days. Thankfully in the shop we have air conditioning which is now being generated by our newly installed solar panels, making the shop even more green.

Don’t forget our fruit and vegetables are delivered to us daily from Drinkwaters. It is not packaged in lots of plastic, you can buy what you need, plus it reduces food waste which is very important to us all.

If this amazing weather continues I am sure you might be considering going on a picnic. We have a great selection of yummy treats to take with you from pork pies, scotch eggs and tasty quiches all supplied to us from a local company the “Outdoor Pig Company”. Don’t forget a chilled bottle of Rose. If you need anything else to enhance your picnic just come in and ask, we are always happy to help.

Summertime brings to us lots of yummy fresh fruits, English cherries, apricots and not forgetting strawberries served with lashings of cream all available in the shop.

You may not know we have a fish van that visits the shop every week. Paul has changed his weekly visit to Wednesday from 2.00 – 3.00pm. He has the finest quality fish direct from the Grimsby docks. Why not come and have a look and see what he has available.

I am sure you will all agree the exterior of the shop is looking stunning with the flower planters, one containing summer bedding plants and the other with fresh summer herbs. It has also been enhanced by five hanging baskets. A huge thank you to Alan Jarvis who very generously planted and donated these.

Don’t forget we are holding our

Annual General Meeting on
Wednesday 12 July 6.30pm at the
Village Hall. This will be an opportunity for you all to hear what has been happening this past year and to ask any questions.

Many thanks to those of you who volunteer in the shop and welcome to Jenny and Rosalba who have recently started volunteering. I know that helping in the shop is a great way of giving something back to the village and the local community. If you are interested in volunteering please do pop into the shop and have a chat. Its lots of fun.