Chesham Town Guide 2023/4

Could you be a Chesham shopkeeper?
At the beginning of 2022, in the wake of the covid
pandemic, I took a giant leap and opened an art gallery in
Chesham High Street. Coming from a long line of
shopkeepers, I really enjoy serving customers, chatting to
people from all walks of life, and offering them locallymade
art, crafts and gifts that aren’t easily found elsewhere.
With the town centre sitting in the bottom of a steep
valley, the High Street is too narrow for modern traffic
to run through. Berkhamsted and Amersham are
probably three times as wide, so Chesham suits its
pedestrianisation well and there is a special sense of
community spirit, especially on a market day or at one
of the ever-increasing celebrations or festivals.
Many of the shop premises date back several
centuries, with oak beams, old fireplaces and small,
uneven rooms which can be rejected by mainstream
retailers. The buildings are perfect for quirky,
independent, family-run outlets, such as our wonderful
homemade-chocolate shop and refill project at the
Gatehouse, the old-fashioned tea room and amazing
music venue at Francis Yard, the jewellers amongst the
tiny buildings of Lums Yard and in the High Street and
the little music shop overlooking the historic Broadway
for example.
How lucky we are still to have an independent bakery
(established 1837), a hardware shop, a butchers, familyrun
stationers, printworks and art shop, a brilliant
second-hand book shop, picture framers, shoe
retailers/repairers, pet shop, camera shop and so forth.
What a terrible loss to Chesham if they ever closed. Also,
I wonder if anyone has ever formally thanked our Polish
community for setting up some of the most tasteful cafés
and restaurants in the town centre in recent years.
Bear in mind that many of the smaller premises are
exempt from business rates, then search for a good and
honest landlord with a reasonable rent, bring your
passion and a willingness to work hard, and you could
enjoy a sociable and rewarding lifestyle selling products
or services you believe in.
Peter Hawkes
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