100-year-old shop closes
A historic village shop with links to the Lord Lieutenant of Shropshire has shut its doors after more than a century serving generations of Hodnet residents.
Bennetts Supply Stores, in High Street, closed after Bill and Frances Bennett decided to call it a day after more than two decades in charge.
The store, which sold groceries and other goods, had previously been run by the Taylor family since World War II and Mrs Bennett, who stated working there after leaving school, eventually took on the lease.
However, the shop has been in the village since it was set up by Albert Zumbrunnen in the 1900s. His father was Major Heber Percy's butler at Hodnet Hall.
The major was the grandfather of the current Lord Lieutenant of Shropshire, Algernon Heber Percy.
Today Mr and Mrs Bennett were unavailable for comment. But Hodnet Parish Council chairman Ann Taylor, whose family now owns the store, said it was sad news for the village.
Hodnet has seen a series of businesses close over the years but still has shops including its Post Office and Hodnet Stores.
Mrs Taylor said: "I'm very, very sad the shop has closed because Bill and Frances have worked so hard and it was an open all hours sort of shop.
"My husband ran it previously and his father before that just before the war in around 1936.
"Frances came to work for us when she left school and when my husband decided to stop running the shop she took on the lease.
"It's the end of an era and we are all very upset about it."
