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All change at Balcombe stores
Village shopkeepers Roger and Anthea Bell are hanging up their aprons after 10 years of happiness and heartbreak behind the counters at Balcombe Stores.
The couple took over the shop in 1997 and have been open all hours ever since, continuing to serve customers even through the tragic deaths of first their younger son and then their elder daughter.
It was the daily business of running the shop, the only general provisions outlet in the village, that kept them going when Rhodri died, aged 21, in a road traffic accident on his way to college, and four-and-a-half years later, Claire died at the age of 29 from a sudden illness.
Anthea said: " We have loved it here. Obviously there have been ups and downs and times when we haven't wanted to get up in the mornings to do the papers, especially Roger. But the village is fantastic and it was when both the kids died, especially Rhodri, which was only a year after we moved in.
We realised then that we were accepted and part of the village and again when Claire died. We have made so many friends and that is why we haven't wanted to move out now."
Roger and Anthea moved from Horsham to take over the shop when Roger was still a duty manager at Gatwick Airport. He was unable to continue after Rhodri's death and he and Anthea threw themselves into the new business to help cope with their loss.
They are now settling into a new home in Haywards Heath Road, less than half a mile from the shop and will continue with their many involvements in the village, including the Beaver pack, of which Anthea is the leader, and the scouts, which is run by their surviving daughter, Ceinwen.
Their elder son Alex is also well known locally as a landscape gardener while Roger, a keen miniature railway enthusiast, is joint organiser of the annual village fayre, which he helped ressurrect several years ago.
Anthea said: "We are very happy in the new place and slowly getting things unpacked. Most of all we are looking forward to having more time to care for the grandchildren."
New owners of the shop are Gemma Lewis and her partner Neil Slater who were handed the keys last Thursday.
They are closing the business until November 20 to carry out a major refurbishment including a new shop front and awning, new floor and counter and to remove an internal dividing wall.
Gemma, daughter of Balcombe estate gamekeeper Johnny Lewis and his wife, Joyce, who runs Bowders Farm shop, said they were planning a grand reopening and would be stocking a number of new lines, which she would be revealing nearer the time.
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Weather for Haywards Heath
Sunday 27 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 26 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Light showers
Temperature: 13 C to 25 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: North west
