Devon publicans Selena and Steve Porter have opened a new farm shop and café at the Shipwright Arms in Shaldon, near Teignmouth.
Selena Porter in the farm shop and café. Photograph: Pub is the Hub
The couple took on the pub in December 2019, just months before the first lockdown. With many elderly local residents and a lack of services in the immediate vicinity, they soon realised there was a need for a farm shop and café in the area.
They were able to renovate and transform a side room within the pub to create the shop, with the help of a community services fund grant from Pub is The Hub.
The shop offers a range of essentials, along with fresh and local produce, including fish from Brixham, freshly baked bread, cheeses, free-range eggs, locally sourced meat, and hand-made burgers.
The new development includes a small coffee area, which will allow local residents to meet and help reduce the risk of social isolation.
The pub also diversified during the year of lockdowns with a range of take-away food, which the couple delivered to local residents who were shielding. During the latest lockdown, it ran a Thai take-away menu, as well as offering a traditional Sunday lunch.
Selena said: “When we took on the pub we had only been open two months when we went into lockdown. We got to know a lot of the people in the local area by offering our take-away service and many local residents asked us to open a farm shop and café.”
She added: “The farm shop and coffee area will be really important in providing not just food but company to many of our customers who have been isolated in lockdown and are desperate to meet and connect with others.”
