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Farm shop destroyed by fire reopens 10 months on

Ellen Knightin Much Wenlock
BBC Peter Themans looks into the camera and smiles. He has short dark grey hair and is wearing a pair of black-framed glasses. He is wearing a light blue collared shirt, a long white coat over it, and a navy blue and white striped butcher's apron. He is stood inside the shop, in front of five glass-fronted large fridges with produce in them. The walls of the shop are painted cream. BBC
Peter Themans runs the farm shop, near Much Wenlock, alongside his wife Alison

The owners of a farm shop that burned down less than a year ago say it is "wonderful" to finally reopen.

Peter Themans' Wenlock Edge Farm Shop, near Much Wenlock in Shropshire, was speaking after the shop was destroyed in a blaze, in May 2025.

The business has now been rebuilt from scratch - and is back up and running, with the likes of sausages and black pudding back to being made on site.

"It's so nice to be back," said Themans, who runs the shop alongside wife Alison. "Without the shop, and all the customers and staff around us, at times it felt a little bit lonely," he added.

Customers are "thrilled", Themans said. "It's quite humbling how pleased people are for us."

Being back open is "a relief, but a little bit scary at times," he continued.

"We're feeling fairly optimistic now," he added, explaining that the main goal now is "ramping up and getting all the products available."

Ellen Knight/BBC A photograph of the farm shop following the fire. It is a pile of blackened, burned, and twisted corrugated iron, with a burned-out shipping container behind it. Beyond the wreckage is a large oak tree, and the ground is covered in grey gravel. The sky is grey and overcast. Ellen Knight/BBC
The farm shop was completely destroyed in the fire in May 2025

The Themans were first alerted when neighbours told them the blaze in the early hours had broken out in the shop, which is near their home.

It later emerged the cause of the fire had been an electrical fault, and 30 firefighters had to be called in to tackle it.

All that was left of the shop was a pile of smouldering metal.

However, 10 months on, after an extensive rebuilding project, Themans said "what we've ended up with is better than I hoped."

Ellen Knight/BBC Photograph of the farm shop since its reopening. It is a large, single-storey building, clad with dark green corrugated metal. A large, oval, white sign is on the wall, which reads 'Wenlock Edge Farm' in green writing, with 'Artisan products, bacon sausages and ham' written around the edge. Ellen Knight/BBC
Now, in April 2026, Themans says the new shop is even better than he had hoped for

Loyal customer Grahame Hurst said it was "great" to see the shop open again.

"I haven't had a decent breakfast since the fire", he said.

It was "terrible" to hear of the blaze, Hurst recalled, adding he was keen to "stock up" on the local produce.

Ellen Knight/BBC Grahame Hurst stans in front of the farm shops fridges, which are full of packets of bacon and black pudding. He is smiling and has short white hair, and is wearing a pair of thin-framed glasses. He is wearing a dark blue rugby shirt with a green collar. Ellen Knight/BBC
Grahame Hurst said he was thrilled the shop was open again after the fire

"It's been really good, the shop's been really busy," said Nicky Thomsett, who is in charge of charcuterie.

When the fire happened, it was "a big shock" to the staff,

"To see the devastation that was left after it, you just wouldn't have believed it," Thomsett said.

"We all thought that's it, that's going to be the end of the business."

Ellen Knight/BBC Nicky Thomsett stands in front of two fridges in the farm shop, which have packets of sausages on their shelves. She is wearing a long white coat, with a dark blue top on underneath. Thomsett has a dark blue and white striped butcher's apron on over the top. She has brown, chin-length hair, and is smiling. Ellen Knight/BBC
Nicky Thomsett is in charge of making charcuterie at the farm shop

But thanks to the determination of the owners, and staff helping out with painting the new shop, she added that the business would "hopefully keep going from strength to strength".

"[Peter] said it was going to [reopen] and it did," she said.

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