TWO well-known shopkeepers in Kirkby Lonsdale have announced their intention to retire from their traditional village shop.

Ken and Margaret Harrison, of the General Grocers in Market Square, will keep the business open until a buyer can be found.

Mr Harrison, originally from Hest Bank, took over the business in 1965, the year the Beatles received their MBEs, a year-old Triumph Spitfire cost £575, and many phone numbers were only three digits.

Originally, his market trader parents had bought the business intending to run it but his father was taken ill and his mother died suddenly so Mr Harrison junior agreed to take the reins.

Mr Harrison celebrates his 65th birthday in June next year and decided that the time had come to call it a day.

He said: "You have got to make a decision about retiring at some time in your life. I don't know where the time has gone, it has flown by really.

"I will miss the banter of the customers and hearing all the gossip that goes around. We have our ups and downs but 38 happy years."

Renowned for its hams, which are roasted in house, and its Lancashire cheese, the father-of-four said: "There is still a nice living in the business if you are prepared to work."

January 3, 2003 12:00