Gornal News & Goings On

NEWS

Coopers Bank Farm wants your advice! Gornal once had a variety of country farms on its doorstep, including Conqueror's, Straits, Hunts Mill, Roberts Green, and Abbey. However, only Cooper's Bank remains - and the future of that was in doubt until Lynne and Peter Vanes bought the derelict property from the Council a couple of years ago. They are gradually restoring the buildings, and sell fresh produce from the farm shop. After a hectic Christmas period, the shop is now back to its normal opening hours, Thursday to Sunday. However, we have been contacted by Lynne who is keen to use Yampy readers to carrry out a little market research. "I was wondering if you could ask local people what they would like to see sold in the farm shop as we would obviously like to improve the service we offer. Sales at the shop were excellent on xmas trees and wreaths but no real increase on the fruit and veg side. As spring is fast approaching, are people interested in bedding plants, hanging baskets and patio baskets etc? Would an ordering system be appropriate? We are certainly a lot less expensive - not to mention better quality - than the garden centres so it makes sense to buy locally if we are more aware of the requirements". It's great that we can still keep in touch with our rural roots in Gornal - there aren't many places in the Dudley area where you can stroll to the farm for a bag of spuds - so why not help Lynne to provide a better service? Contact details are on their website at www.coopersbankfarm.co.uk.

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