Banham, Norfolk, believe to be old shop

[Kerimichelle92]

Me and friend driving through village came across this amazing old building. We crept in through the side thru some hedges and got in. There's been previous people in there other explores. Alot of paperwork here some dated 1987. Check out photos.

View attachment 788668

 

[mookster]

The old General Store in Banham, been around for years. Pretty decent little explore.

 

[Kerimichelle92]

Do you have any knowledge of when it closed? It's good isn't it.

 

[Lord Oort]

Those hamsters look like they're being taken care of.

 

[Kerimichelle92]

Those hamsters look like they're being taken care of.

Oops will remove that photo haha

 

[Exploring with Andy]

Nice one finding the place like that, unexpected explores are always good. What's with the hamsters though?

 

[Kerimichelle92]

Nice one finding the place like that, unexpected explores are always good. What's with the hamsters though?

I took my children to a Christmas show yesterday on a farm and I took photos of our day including lots of different animals and I must of clicked on 1 of them while uploading my exploring photos haha

 

[mookster]

Do you have any knowledge of when it closed? It's good isn't it.

It was mid 90s I believe.

 

[Kerimichelle92]

I thought it was older than 90s as There were letters and newspaper dated 1987

 

[mookster]

I thought it was older than 90s as There were letters and newspaper dated 1987

It may well be pre mid 1990s, the memory isn't what it once was sadly.

 

[amfalconer]

Date on Christmas Draw tickets state Xmas '92

 

[Kerimichelle92]

Oh yes i hadn't read it properly. I was born on 15th December 1992 and my friend that was with me on this explore found a newspaper with the date on it being 1 day before she was born and that was 1988. Has anybody else visited here yet?

 

[TheRichTurner]

I used to live directly opposite that shop. It was known locally as "Lucy's shop". It was the village's general store and Post Office and was owned by members of the extended Aldridge family, who have been prominent landowners round this way for years. I moved to the house opposite in January 1997, and the shop had definitely been closed for quite a while even then. When I first saw Urban Explorer pics of the inside of this shop, I had no idea of the location, and was suddenly surprised to see my own house through the upstairs front window!

There have been innumerable attempts to force the Aldridges to do something with the property. It's on the main street through the village, and glorious though it is as an exploring site, it's a bit of an eyesore. But all attempts failed for 3 decades. Lucy and her husband had moved out to a caravan near the coast to retire and eventually died, and the family simply couldn't agree on whose it was and what to do with it. I always thought that they were waiting for it to fall down so they could get permission to build on the land and make some money, as simply knocking it down wouldn't be allowed (it's in a conservation area). But now there's a planning application to knock it down and build something identical-looking as a semi-detached pair, using the same colour bricks and everything. Soon it will be bye-bye to Lucy's shop, so get in there while you can! I moved out in 2010 and moved all of 200 yards up the road to live directly opposite the current village shop and Post Office. When that is abandoned (won't be long, I bet), it'll be even more fun to explore. It's vast, and the building is ancient!

 

[Bikin Glynn]

Er yes it is!

 

[sarahsoz]

Do you have any knowledge of when it closed? It's good isn't it.

It was abandoned around 1990 as this was my Great Nans shop and she died around that time at 106 years old.