THE final chapter is closing on one of Morpeth’s most famous names. Appleby’s bookshop has been synonymous with the town for more than a century, not all of it at its current site. Two years ago the business narrowly avoided the threat of closure. It survived when the family which has owned it for more than three decades decided to think again following a wave of public support, and varied its offering by adding a coffee shop to the premises. But now the ‘sale’ and ‘closing down’ notices have reappeared in the window of the Newgate Street shop. The owners say that after 32 years of trading, footfall has dropped off, and they have decided to close for good and thanked all their customers. The business was previously owned by the late Alderman Alfred Appleby, a former Mayor of Morpeth, and was once based at the junction of Bridge Street with Chantry Place, earning it the name ‘Appleby’s Corner’, which happily transferred when it moved to the junction of Newgate Street and Manchester Street.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Sep 2014 15:56:25 +0000