High Street Stories Celebrate Local Traders
A new initiative to celebrate the stories behind some of shops on county borough’s high streets has been developed by the council’s Town Centre Management team under the successful ‘Choose the High Street’ banner.
Behind every shop front is a story, a tale of family tradition, entrepreneurial spirit, a talented individual or the want to help others. Be it a bakers, shoe shop, café, beauty salon, fashion retailer, florist, cobbler, sweet shop, electrical store or pet shop the retailers and businesses on Caerphilly High Streets are unique. A great example of this is Glanmor’s Bakery and Tearoom in Caerphilly town centre, a well-known local business with a less well known story.
Glanmor Evans was a senior lecturer at the Cardiff College of Food technology and always dreamed of opening a bakery baking traditional bread and confectionery with no additives or preservatives. In 1980, he opened a small bakery in Trethomas with his wife Lynne and following its success they opened a larger bakery in Caerphilly in 1983.
Their son Russell came into the business and in 1995 and Glanmor’s Tearooms with its famous waitress service was opened in Castle Court Shopping Centre. When Glanmor sadly passed away in 2002, Lynne and Russell continued with the business.
Lynne Evans said: “Russell and I have stayed true my husband’s values and high standards. We still bake the majority of cakes we sell in Glanmor’s Tearooms and our fresh bread doesn’t contain any additives.”
Cllr. Ken James, Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Planning & Sustainable Development said: “There are some fantastic shops on our High Streets and it is important to remember that it’s the owners and staff that make them so special. The relationship between customer and retailer is exceptionally important; looking through the High Street stories has proven that the trust and friendships that develop over time are what makes our town centres unique places.”
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