General News
14 May, 2023
Rare change at store
THERE have been few changes at the historic Newbridge General Store since John Elliot first purveyed provisions to prospectors along the Loddon River 167 years ago., Big floods hurtling over nearby river banks have been as many as the number of...
THERE have been few changes at the historic Newbridge General Store since John Elliot first purveyed provisions to prospectors along the Loddon River 167 years ago.,
Big floods hurtling over nearby river banks have been as many as the number of store owners who followed in the footsteps of the emigre Scotsman.
In a couple of weeks, one of those rare occurences will happen when Darryl and Beryl Peters, the 17th owners of the store, retire after 20 years.
The store is a popular stopping point for groups travelling the Wimmera Highway, from towns the veteran shopkeepers already have on their itinerary for future exploration across Victoria and into South Australia.
Darryl reckons has cooked up more than 200,000 of his now famous pies over two decades. within the walls of the weatherboard shop moved to Newbridge early last century to replace the original building that had burnt to the ground.
A fire had apparently started in the adjoining match and candle factory one night in 1905, says Darryl who researched the town’s history over eight years with Ken Arnold.
“Newbridge was a pretty self-sufficient place - a cheesery and tobacco factory too until the railway started bringing goods from Melbourne,” he said.
That need to be self-sufficient was again borne out when Darryl and Beryl finally bought the store in 2003.
“I used to come up this way and out to Rheola with my father cutting wood. We’d always call in at the Newbridge pub for a pie on the way back. Publican Phil Hill was always saying I should buy the shop one day. It had been on the market for nine years when I did ... and after 20 years of coming this way.”
And while change was careful and slow - left the interior as it was for the first three months before making alternations, says Darryl - he knew pies would be an important part of the store’s offering.
All went well at first with suppliers dropping in crates of the Aussie delicacy. Until one day, they could no longer deliver to Newbridge.
At the familiy’s encouragement, a recipe was developed and Darryl even dug out his father’s old pastie recipe.
“My hobby is cooking so to work and do what I love makes the job easy.
“We put in a coffee machine too. A former owner, Noelene Corry asked why a coffee machine! Have they got a thermos, she said,” Darryl recalls.
“We would go through a bag of coffee beans a week at the start. Built up to four bags and the pies grew too, selling 400 a week.”
Darryl and Beryl said their 20-year ownership of the historic store has been a unique journey.
“Once, campers would stay in Newbridge in tents and buy supplies here ... Easter would be 600 bags of ice not its 150,” he said,
“There’s a lot more now stopping in caravans and they bring everything with them.”
Darryl says 80 per cent of customers are now people travelling through the region. Those off to funerals and clearing sales top the list.
Surrounded by walls still displaying old advertising posters for once-popular brands of food and drink, Darryl and Beryl said that the few first days of retirement may mean a little sleep-in, no longer having to open the doors of a shop that also serves as the town’s post office.
They also have their sights set on volunteer work. Darryl has no intention of backing away from chopping wood in the area and there’s an old building he owns in town, marked with ideas of restoration.
He also backs the town push for connection to water and sewerage.
Darryl says there just needs to be investment in infrastructure to see an increase in residential development and population.
“And more people means more rates and less pressure on (Loddon Shire) council,” he said.
Back in January, Darryl notched up 50 years in the workforce, starting on the railways as an electrical fitting apprentice and becoming a project manager in Melbourne.
Beryl earns his praise for her support, working in aged care and also raising five children before they embarked on ownership of the Newbridge Store.
When the store was put on the market last year, Darryl and Beryl hoped to have it sold by the time Darryl reached retirement age. The sale was done in much quicker time than they expected and certainly the nine years Newbridge Store sat on the market more than two years ago.,
“We will miss owning the store. There are some wonderful people around here. It will be the end of an area,” he said. In the final weeks, a few things remain for Darryl to do.
Topping the list: sharing his weekly philosophical thoughts with customers and travellers on a blackboard attached to the historic facade.