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Notes
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For as long as anyone can remember, Mary Morris’s family have lived in and around Longtown, a small village on the edge of the Black Mountains, on the border between Herefordshire and Wales. Like many rural villages, it has changed enormously over the years. Once it had butcher’s and grocer’s shops and a garage. Now there is only the general stores with a Post Office inside, which is where she has worked as counter assistant for the past decade. The village, a long row of houses on either side of the main street and little else, is aptly named. Along with its church, chapel and pub, the shop is the hub of local life. It’s where villagers pick up their daily newspaper and buy everything from toiletries and household goods, through local fruit and vegetables, to fresh and frozen food.
Mary says: 'The shop’s busy from the moment it opens its doors at 8.30. The nearest supermarket is a good half hour away, but people can get most things here. The church and chapel have good newsletters, but I reckon you catch up quicker on what’s going on in the village when you come into the shop. Apart from the chat, there’s a notice board for buying and selling, and another advertising upcoming events.
Longtown has changed a lot in my time. Shops may have closed, but don’t get the impression that the village is dying. New businesses are opening up, such as the bottled water factory and another which makes quality fabrics. New houses are going up and old properties are being renovated. The trouble is, property prices are going up, and young people can’t afford the high prices. If they go away to college, they tend not to come back. Even so, Longtown is still a good working village.'
Royal Society of Portrait Painters People's Portraits collection at Girton College, University of Cambridge
Cambridge
Title
Mary Morris, Post Office Assistant
Date
2000
Medium
oil on board
Measurements
H 97 x W 71 cm
Accession number
476
Acquisition method
on loan from the Royal Society of Portrait Painters
Work type
Painting
Inscription description
signature and date
Royal Society of Portrait Painters People's Portraits collection at Girton College, University of Cambridge
Huntingdon Road, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire CB3 0JG England
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