Now wash your hands: Ripon’s indie shops brace for the big reopening
Richard Mudd is looking forward to reopening Appleton’s butchers fully this week, for the first time since lockdown, and getting back to his his normal working hours. Staff will be protected by Perspex screens and only two people will be allowed in at a time, with markings on the floor so they can obey the two-metre rule. He is expecting long queues. “We’ve got a lot of loyal customers that travel for miles, just to get their pork pies from us,” he said. “This shop has been here for over 150 years.” The lockdown has threatened its survival. “We’re hoping that takings will go up and demand will go back to normal.”
