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07
Jun
Masham restoration documentary to be screened on Channel 4 this weekend
The story of a huge community effort to renovate a historic shop in Masham will be told on Sunday evening, when a new series starts on Channel 4.
Our Yorkshire Shop: a Victorian Restoration follows a group of volunteers as they set about restoring the near-derelict premises at 15 Silver Street and turn it back into Peacock & Verity, the thriving shop it was for generations before it fell into disrepair.
The premises as they looked before restoration started.
Over the course of a year, Channel 4 and Emily Dalton of production company Factual Fiction documented the early stages of the project, from uncovering the original shopfront to restoring the Victorian ovens.
Ahead of the screening, two people closely connected with the project, Ian Johnson and Elsie Taylor, appeared on BBC Breakfast earlier this week to talk about it.
Interviewed by presenters Naga Munchetty and Charlie Stayt, Elsie, who celebrated her 95th birthday this week, said:
It was a very thriving shop, and I can remember going in as a little girl and buying a pound of sugar in a blue bag.
There was a long counter and several assistants, and you could buy anything – and that was our main shop in the village.
It was always a meeting place – everybody knew everybody.
Ian Johnson and Elsie Taylor talking to Charlie Stayt and Naga Munchetty on BBC Breakfast.
The plan is to restore the ground floor of the premises into a Victorian grocer’s from the 1850s and an Edwardian-style tearoom inspired by the café which was part of the building in the 1900s.
The volunteers also intend to bring a Post Office main counter back to Masham and create a new heritage centre celebrating the story of the town and surrounding area.
An artist's impression of how the shop will look after restoration.
Upstairs, four one-bed affordable rental flats will also be created exclusively for residents with a connection to Masham.
The first episode of Our Yorkshire Shop: a Victorian Restoration will be aired on Channel 4 at 8pm on Sunday (June 8).
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