The Village Store, Post Office & Off-Licence (formerly known as Beckindale shop and the village store) was the main shop in the village until 2011, when it suffered a fire, killing Terry Woods and Viv Hope.
The building is now occupied by Café Main Street.
Biography[]
1914-1989: Beckindale years[]
The shop was ran by Reg Webster alongside his wife Gladys in the 1910s, and eventually, elderly Amy Postlethwaite ran the shop until 1973 when she retired to Devon. Henry Wilks bought the shop but let Alison Gibbons run it. In 1974 when Alison left Beckindale, Norah Norris took over, working for Wiliks, until February 1975 when Lena Dawkins took over. In May 1975 a post office was installed at the shop by Wilf Padgett.
Mrs Robson owned the shop in the late 1980s and was involved in a robbery at the shop in June 1988. Nick Bates foiled the robbery, but when no one was looking, Nick took some of the money left behind by the robbers. Mrs Robson left the village in 1993 to look after her ill father, and the shop was put up for sale.
1993-2000: Windsor family[]
In August 1993, Londoners Vic and Viv Windsor arrived in the village with their three children Scott, Kelly and Donna Windsor. They viewed the property, and bought the premises a month later. In December 1993 a plane crashed on the village and Luke McAllister broke into the shop to get all the medical supplies. Vic understood, and Luke had left a note to explain, and did an inventory of stuff he took. Vic and his family bought their city ways to Beckindale and that did annoy some villagers.
In 1994 an explosion ripped through the post office after an armed raid by Viv's ex-husband Reg Dawson. The men grabbed Viv and lead her out the back door of the shop, turning on the gas hobs on the cooker before leaving.
In December 1998, Vic was killed by Billy Hopwood when he broke into the shop.
2000-2011: Windsor-Hope era[]
In September 2000, Viv meets Bob Hope who is a salesman who tries to sell stockings to sell in her shop, Viv then spends the night with Bob and they eventually marry in February 2001. When Viv's friend Carol rocks up her marriage has fallen apart with her husband and she sets her sights on buying Viv's shop with her settlement after Viv becomes interested in the B&B. Carol tries turning the shop into a luxurious food store and it doesn't hit well with the local villagers. Eventually Carol becomes bored with the shop and employs Terry as shop manager and puts Emily on the post office so Carol can just set her sights on the profits, She then before completing the sale on the shop swoops in and purchases the B&B from under her best friend Viv.
Viv struggles to stay afloat in the early 2000s due to the rise of big chain supermarkets in the area and she has to let Emily go without pay whilst still keeping her employed in the shop with the lack of customers as they decided to shop elsewhere, Emily liked working in the shop with Viv as it kept her distracted after the Bus Crash in 2000 which killed Emily's husband Butch.
In March 2002, Viv Hope hired builders Syd Woolfe and Jerry Mackinley to build a Café at the back of the property. The café was popular among the regulars, and Viv decided to purchase computers for the residents use. However, Betty Eagleton soon stumbled across a live-stream of a camera set up in her living room by Seth Armstrong, showing the world what Betty had done in the privacy of her living room. Later in November, Viv's cafe is accidentally burnt down by a drunk Steph Stokes, when she leaves the chip pan on without Viv's knowledge.
In 2011 crooked policeman Nick Henshall, suffering from hero syndrome, sets fire to Victoria Cottage, the home of his girlfriend Katie Sugden. The fire travels down the maisonettes and to the shop. Terry Woods and Viv's current husband Bob Hope goes in to save Viv and their twins. Bob rescues the twins but as the firefighters prepare to save Viv and Terry, the shop explodes, killing Viv and Terry. Following the fire, Viv's widower Bob decided to just re-open the building as a café, today known as Café Main Street.
Owners[]
- Amy Postlethwaite (c. 1973)
- Alison Gibbons (1973-1974)
- Norah Norris (1974-1975)
- Lena Dawkins (1975-1976)
- Mrs Swannick (1976)
- Mrs. Robson (c1988-1993)
- Vic Windsor (1993-1998)
- Viv Hope (1993-2011)
- Bob Hope (2000-2011)
Background information[]
The Post Office in Main Street is blown up for Queen Elizabeth II's visit.
- In 2002, Emmerdale were asked to take part in the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II. The crew decided to do a live viewing of The Post Office explosion. The explosion was filmed for Episode 3306 (11th November 2002).
Gallery[]
 |