A grandma has realised her dream of owning her own wool shop after 50 years.
Lynda Speakman used to visit The Spinning Wheel, on Mill Street, when she was a child, and declared that she would one day like to own her own wool shop.
Now, almost 50 years later, she has bought the very same shop and reopened it as The Crafty Corner.
Lynda, who is a grandma of eight and grew up in Hurdsfield, said: “I would come in with my mum and look at the haberdashery cabinet and say ‘I want one of those’. My sister said I would need to open a wool shop, so I said I would. It’s taken nearly half a century but I’ve done it.”
Lynda has even sourced an old haberdashery unit which takes pride of place in her shop, just like the one she longed for when she was seven.
Lynda, 53, who now lives in Congleton, opened the shop on July 31.
She worked as a garden designer, but decided to rekindle her childhood dream after realising she spent most of her time driving around the country to find good wool.
And within three months she had opened Crafty Corner.
She said: “I used to travel a lot to buy wool so I used to buy in bulk. My husband said I had so much I should open a wool shop, so I did.
“It’s great, I’ve had some really positive feedback.”
Lynda has taken on two part time staff and a Saturday worker. She is also proud to sell Mirasol wool from Peru, which gives a percentage of profits back to the village where the wool came from, and is hoping to source some local wool and alpaca wool.
Lynda is also a member of Serenty Crafts, a community run project which now also meets in the back room at the shop, where Lynda also holds workshops and lessons.
She said: “Serenity Crafts is all about getting people out of their homes, sharing their skills, and tackling loneliness.”
Macclesfield MP David Rutley, who dropped into the shop to meet Lynda and the members of Serenity Crafts: “It was great to visit Lynda and to see her business, and to meet the other volunteers at Serenity Crafts.
“These classes are a good way to teach useful skills and help people to meet and make friends at the same time.”
For more information about the groups and classes at the Crafty Corner go to their facebook page.
