Settle Dugdales store to close after a century (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Settle Dugdales store to close after a century

11:23am Friday 9th December 2011 in Settle news By Helen Perkins, Reporter

A BUSINESS that has been at the hub of a town’s commercial life for more than a century is to close.

Dugdales has been in Settle since 1906 and is today run by Barbara Johnson, granddaughter of founder William Dugdale, and her husband Ian.

The couple are planning to close the Kirkgate shop by Christmas.

As well as supplying a wealth of farming equipment and electrical components, at the core of the firm has been the fitting of milk parlours and bulk milk tanks.

“It will be mixed emotions for us,” said Mr Johnson, 65, who joined his wife in the business in 1979.

Until then it had been run by her father Thomas Harger Dugdale.

“This has been our life and we will miss our customers and the friends we have made in the business but at the same time we are looking forward to taking it a bit easier.”

They will be keeping the garden business, The Garden Shed, they set up at the time of the foot-and-mouth crisis.