As relative “incomers” (we have only been here 9 years, so can hardly presume to be considered locals yet!) we refer to our nearest town as “The Free State of Louth”.
Why? Well, public opinion still matters here and the local council has done an excellent job of keeping those big multiples out of the town.
As a result, for a town with 17,000 residents and a catchment area of over 25,000, we only have two small supermarkets, both landlocked and unable to expand. The “big boys” keep trying to get in but so far the onslaught has been resisted by the good people of Louth and their council.
As a direct result, Louth has an excellent array of independent food shops and stores. Standards are exceptionally high and Louth is fast becoming recognised as a “foodie town” as reported in The Daily Telegraph, providing the best in regional food, in a similar fashion to say Ludlow.
For example we have 9 butchers in the town and by default, you simply cannot be a bad butcher in this town. If you are, you will soon fail as there are plenty more butchers in Louth to chose from.
Some say that time has stood still in Louth. Indeed when you go to the web link page on the BBC site, you will see that Market town of Louth site has not been updated since 2004! No matter, not much has changed since then and indeed that is the charm of this lovely town.
When you stay at The Thomas Centre, we will set you up with a generous Welcome Hamper. Our meats come from Lakings who make our fantastic gluten free Lincolnshire sausages to order every week! Some of our customers even make use of their national delivery service and order them for delivery to their own home.
More recently we have the young and exceptionally talented Jim Sutcliffe running Meridian Meats. Jim was recently a finalist in BBC’s Young Butcher of the Year and has brought new zest to traditional breeds of cattle such as the Longhorn which are passionately reared by Jim’s family farm.
Why not Pick Your Own fruit at our neighbours farm!
Within walking distance our neighbours the Brader family run a pick your own business. They grow strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and other fruits and vegetables. They also run a small farm shop selling a wide range of specialist local produce. On many occsions, we have enjoyed the sight of groups returning home down our driveway, proudly holding their punnets of freshly picked strawberries and raspberries!
Food connoisseurs, please note that May and June, Braders are growing the most divine fresh asparagus. Simply gorgeous steamed and with lashings of butter and fresh ground black pepper!
When the bigger towns and shopping malls beckon, Grimsby is located about 12 miles to the North and actually has an excellent indoor shopping centre, Freshney Place, providing all the well known high street shops.
For our County town, a journey to Lincoln is a 45 minute drive away and provides the full range of shops, as well as beautiful craft and gift shops. Lazy days in the coffee bars by the river are simply heaven on a warm summers day.