The Red Store

The  Red Store    at Lerryn is a prominent feature of the south bank of the river.  It is a Community Interest Company (The Red Store Lerryn, C.I.C.) with a Chairman, 7 Directors and a Membership of, currently, about 30. Sue Pearce (Chairman) spearce993@btinternet.com Jane Forsyth (Treasurer) jane@foweyriver.org.uk Sue Daw (Booking Clerk) sudawcrownhill@aol.com Secretary, Sue Hancock susanlib@yahoo.co.uk	2010
Facilities
The ground floor is a gallery equipped for displays of arts and crafts as well as meetings or social functions, with catering and toilet facilities.                              Pots and Paintings.  12.11                      Portraiture Workshop. 5.12	A large screen is available for PowerPoint presentations to an audience or for playing a DVD. The Lerryn Photo Archive 1900-2010 can be browsed and searched on the Red Store computer. Two workshops on the upper floor are reached by a separate staircase. They have facilities for pottery or other crafts and are usually rented on a medium or long term basis.                                                       Food & Drinks Fair. 12.11
Calendar of Bookings
DATE, TIME EVENT 2013   May   Thur 2, 2 pm Bridge Club Sat 4 Vintage jewelery and handbag sale Tue 7, 2 pm Scrabble Thur 8 - Sun 12 Mixed Media at the Red Store. Exhibition and sale of local crafts. Tue 14, 2 pm Book Club Thur 16, 2pm Bridge Tue 21, Wed 22 Portraiture in Oils workshop by Jo Salter Wed 22, 7.30 pm Lerryn History Societty AGM Thur 23, 10 am Sewing/Craft Group "  "  2 pm Bridge Sat 25 - Tue 28 Mixed Media/Textiles by Rachel Brown. Open Studios exibition and sale. Thur 28, 2 pm Bridge Club
REGULAR EVENTS	DATE AND TIME
Book Club. Contact Rosemary Weatherhogg, 01208 873621	2nd Tuesday of each month, 2 pm
Scrabble Group Contact Sue Watts, 01208 871513	Alternate Tuesdays at 2 pm
Bridge Club Contact Barry Hunt, 01208 871675	Thursdays at 2 pm

Booking

Contact the Booking Secretary, Sue Daw, 01208 873634

• £5/hour or part thereof
• £25/day 8am to 10pm
• £150 for 7 Days
• IT Equipment: £3/hour

Bear in mind that the Red Store is difficult to reach without boots when the height of the tide is above 5.0 metres. The highest (Spring) tides occur in the evening (6-8 pm in summer, 5-7 pm in winter). Consult a tide table or the Booking Secretary.  Mornings and afternoons are safe.

Boats carrying visitors often come up the river from Fowey on the summer Springs and moor at the quay beside the Store.

History

The Red Store was built about 1870 although a band of stone around the base differs in quality from that above suggesting that the present building stands on the remains of a much earlier structure. The store is one of the few remaining examples of the many riverside warehouses that existed by the Fowey River and its tributaries. They were important for the local economy when few goods were imported or exported by road.

Since the decline of the water-borne trade, the Red Store has had a variety of uses, The owners of Lerryn Mill used the building as office and workshop space in the early 20^th C, newsprint was stored here for recycling during the war and for a time in the 1950s the upper floor was used by the village youth club. More recently it contained the family possessions of its owner, Mrs W Elin of Wood Cottage.

For many years the Parish Council had recognised the potential of the building for community use and, realising that conversion to a dwelling would probably change it beyond recognition, set about trying to persuade the building's owners to sell it to the council. In 2002 the owners agents indicated that, not only was the sale of the building possible, but also that it could be at a very reasonable price and that time could be allowed for the funds to be raised.

                                1914                                                                1930s. Trading ship moored at the Red Store quay.

                                                                                       (Couch's Store/The Boathouse and Black Store on right)

Restoration

The Parish Councils of St Veep and St Winnow combined forces to set about raising the money for the purchase, conversion and restoration of the building, having staged a consultation event to gauge public support for the project. A grant of £2000 from Caradon D.C. covered the initial survey, plans and applications for planning permission.

Applications were made to the Heritage Lottery Fund, Objective 1, RDA, and Caradon DC for funding. Architects were appointed and the building cleared for a full survey which included a Bat and Owl report. It was found that a rare Lesser Horseshoe male bat was in residence. An application to disturb the bat was eventually approved by the District Council, English Nature and Deffra.

Work commenced on the building in November 2005 and was completed in August 2006, 5 months behind schedule but under budget. Significant parts of the building are now dedicated to several species of bat and other creatures.

                      The project team in 2004:                                                                                  2002

     Esthermary Todd, Barry & Judith Campbell-Taylor

            Eric Baker, George Mansell, Ken Hoskin.

                            November 2005                                                          February 2006

                                                                                           October 2006