Newbury woman celebrates rare visit to family-owned shop

A Newbury care home has fulfilled a resident’s wish of returning to their family-owned knitwear shop which has been in her family for four generations.

Anne Cummings, 85, was keen to give her fellow residents at Care UK’s Winchcombe Place a tour of her family store, Purlescence, which her grandmother, Rita, founded in Maidenhead in 1940.

When staff learned of her wish, they arranged for Mrs Cummings and her friends to visit the shop, where they were welcomed with tea and cake.

As a child, Mrs Cummings spent her free time helping her mum run the store and learning to knit herself.

The shop – owned by her family for more than 80 years – is now run by her daughter Sarah.

Speaking about the visit, Mrs Cummings said: “It was an amazing trip out. The shop looked as beautiful as ever. I’m so proud of it.”

Home manager at Winchcombe Place, Shirley Summerbell, added: “Anne absolutely loves knitting.

“She’s always got a project on the go and has even helped a few of her fellow residents learn the craft.

“Anne’s always sharing stories from her time at Purlescence and is so proud of her family’s legacy, so she was delighted to go back and relive those fond memories with her friends.

“I’d like to extend a big thank you to the team at Winchcombe Place, as well as to Anne and Sarah for welcoming us into their family. We all had a wonderful day.”

The special visit was part of the home’s Wishing Tree Initiative, which encourages residents to put wishes forward to reconnect with a past hobby or try something new – from flying on a plane to enjoying a fish and chip supper.