Woman took 'big risk' to be part of town 'where it is all happening'

After gaining experience working in the gelato industry, Samantha Cunliffe saw the opportunity to buy a gelato shop on Church Street in Frodsham. She tells the ECHO she 'sold [her] house and we've never looked back'. Three years later the shop, Bene Gelateria, was awarded 'Best Desert Shop Cheshire 2023' and is a valuable part of the community on Church Street.

As you leave Frodsham train station, which is only a half an hour train journey from Liverpool Lime Street, you walk onto Church Street - one of the market town's busiest streets that has more to offer its residents, and welcome visitors, by the day.

Sandwiched in between the train station and the busy Main Street, the ECHO spent the afternoon on Church Street to speak to some of the business owners, including Samantha, about the street that has an assortment of shops, bars, and food places with community very much at its core.

Samantha, owner of Bene Gelateria, told the ECHO about the big risk she took to be a part of Church Street and is now most certainly reaping the awards. She said: "The previous owner had it for a year but then decided they wanted to sell it. I decided to buy it because I had worked in the gelato industry selling ingredients. I made the leap of faith, sold my house and we've never looked back."

Samantha added: "I wasn't sure if we'd be accepted but we've been really welcomed by everybody. We've fitted in really well". Samantha, who is originally from Clitheroe but moved to Frodsham with her business, details how she is keen to make the shop as community-based as possible.

She said: "We make our own gelato here, so it's all freshly made here on site. We make a lot of our own cakes, always sourcing local produce. We also have some friends that bake for us as well so it's quite a community cake cabinet."

Samantha feels Church Street is in a good place right now. She said: "I live just across the road and Church Street's where it's all happening in Frodsham. A lot of people drive through Main Street and they don't know this is the street where all the shops are, and the cafés, really nice pubs and bars. We're really lucky to have new places open all the time."

One of those new places is Zucca, a bistro and breakfast spot that opened on Church Street earlier this year and has already garnered loyal regulars who come in to enjoy the breakfast, brunch, lunch, smoothies, shakes and a selection of coffee and cakes that are on offer.

Co-Owner Yusuf said, on the bistro's success: "Since opening earlier this year we've truly been humbled by the support and feedback from locals who have now become regulars. We've worked hard to transform this building and create a warm, welcoming meeting place for people to come together and escape the stresses of daily life."

One business that is also familiar with the local community's welcoming spirit is brew and tucker, a café that has been on Church Street for almost eight years. Staff Theresa and Julie told the ECHO about how the business made its way to Church Street.

Theresa said: "Katie, the owner, lived in Australia for a while and she became best friends with an Australian and he came back over here with her and they wanted to bring something like the big Australian coffee culture to Frodsham. They looked everywhere for the perfect spot and Frodsham was the spot they wanted 'because Frodsham is known to bring people together'."

Theresa and Julie also speak on the sense of community on Church Street that Samantha highlighted, they added: "There's 100% a strong community here, we've got a large number of regulars that support us. People here have a keenness for supporting independent businesses..

Julie said: "We also now have the local markets that have given the street a boost". Every Thursday, on Church Street, there is a street market and on the last Saturday of every month the street is host to an artisan market with the intention of bringing people into Frodsham.

Next door to Bene Gelateria, Lisa Reece is the owner of Dandelion. Her shop that sells gifts, cards, books, and much more to locals also acts as a ticketing office for events in Frodsham - an act which Lisa does free of charge.

Lisa, who has been the owner of Dandelion for five years, expresses how Church Street "is the best street to have a shop". Despite the pandemic providing many challenges, Lisa states that business has picked up and she very much enjoys working on Church Street.

Just round the corner from the train station is Helter Skelter, a bar and dinery, that has called Church Street home for a number of decades and has had many names ('The Drovers', 'The Gaping Gander', and 'Rowlands Bar') but its current one is in reference to the Helter Skeltor that was once on top of Overton Hill, in Frodsham, from 1908 to 1977.

The owner since 2006, Nick Broome tells the ECHO how the award winning local pub that prides itself on its cask ales as well as its freshly cooked cuisine.

Nick said that business is more unpredictable since the pandemic but 'it certainly isn't poor'. He said: "I think Frodsham as a whole is quite buoyant. I think it always has been. Church Street is good in that it has different things for different people. [Frodsham] attracts a variety of people, so I think that helps that buoyancy here."

Nick believes Church Street is currently thriving and puts that partly down to, not just locals, but the improved train line to Liverpool which helps spread the word of what the area has to offer. He added: "The improved trains do make it easier for people to leave and go to Liverpool but people will always do that. What it does for us is it makes it easier for people to come to Frodsham."