Honest to goodness

Just as I was mourning the imminent closure of the coach house gallery (the news of which came hot on the heels of my discovery that the excellent Wedge Hall team rooms and cakery is no more :-(  ) I happened upon the Coniston Honest Shop and was immediately cheered.

Housed in part of the Coniston Institute Building (the Institute was founded sometime in the 1800s to "curb drinking, idle minds and a general hanging about" and also sought to offer "an education in the arts, science and humanities that would lead to productive employment and social reform") the honest shop is a community  run enterprise that gives local craftspeople, bakers, chutney makers and growers an outlet for their work/produce and embodies  and celebrates all that is best about local communities working and growing together. The shop is attractively laid out and unstaffed. Goods (which, when I visited ranged from baked goods and chutneys, home grown veg, knitted goods and cards through to handmade walking sticks, chopping boards, pottery and wall hangings, and in price from c £1 - £50) are all marked with a price and maker’s code – to buy, you simply pop the requisite amount of cash in a cash box, log your purchase in the shop’s register and voila! Purchase complete.

As I came away with my jar of rhubarb and ginger jam I felt curiously reassured that, despite the loss of two much loved small businesses, enterprise and community spirit is alive and well in the South Lakes.