The rural Shropshire village that kept community alive after all the shops closed

You won’t accidentally stumble across the picturesque village of Cheswardine.

Sitting in the middle of a green and yellow patchwork of farmers’ fields, the rural north Shropshire parish isn’t on the way to anywhere in particular.

Despite having lived in nearby Market Drayton for a time, my only prior experience of Cheswardine was passing a small road sign off the Hinstock Road during my daily commute.

But after a quick internet search suggested the village might be home to Britain’s smallest community shop, I practically ran to my car for a visit.

Travelling towards Cheswardine along several winding country roads, I expected to find a tiny hamlet of a few homes tucked around a parish hall or chapel.

It came as quite a surprise then to see a large village emerge out of the countryside, with road signs promising a cafe, shop and primary school.

After Wikipedia made mention of a particularly tiny community shop, that was my first port of call.

Taking up a corner of the parish hall, the store, well-stocked with sweet treats, bread and eggs and newspapers, was busy with customers on Tuesday morning.

After expressing my shock that Britain’s smallest community shop was quite a bit larger than I expected, the volunteer behind the counter informed me that I was five years too late and the store had moved location and expanded around five years ago. Serves me right for trusting Wikipedia.

The store originally opened in 2010 in an old wash house next to the Fox and Hounds pub, shortly after the last shop in the village closed its doors.

Due to its great success - particularly valued by the community during the pandemic - a permanent premises was found for the volunteer-run organisation.

Today, the still-little-but-much-larger store is full of local produce, including free-range eggs from a farm three miles away, bread from Bloomers of Wem, gingerbread from Market Drayton and frozen food from Fordhall farm.

While the town’s butchers, bakery and post office all closed around the turn of the century, Cheswardine’s two pubs - the Fox and Hounds and the Red Lion - are still going strong.

Alongside the volunteer-run shop, Cheswardine also has a volunteer-run cafe, open on Mondays and Fridays for tea, coffee, cakes and toast.

One of many crowded noticeboards around the town showed Cheswardine wasn’t short of things to do on other days either - with flyers advertising a book club, allotment society, walking group, bingo evenings, craft groups, table tennis, pilates and a bowling club.

This weekend, the village is preparing for a classic car show, with organisers expecting more than 100 classic cars to attend the event at the local park.

“There’s so much going on in the village,” said resident Jane Moore, who ran the former village store with her husband, Dennis, until it closed in 2008.

“We do lots of stuff for the local children too, like for Halloween or for Easter.”

But it’s the community spirit that Jane, 70, loves the most about Cheswardine: “Everyone is very friendly and everyone pulls together to support each other.”

Cheswardine didn’t become unremarkable when it lost its (albeit dubious) tiny shop title - it’s remarkable because people here have decided that community life is worth the effort.

In a rural corner of the county where many amenities have quietly disappeared over the years, Cheswardine has refused to let its community fade with them.

Instead, it has built something that feels rare: a village that still belongs to the people who live there.