Gloucestershire’s oldest shop has shut its doors for good after a deluge of “awful and unbearable” tourists.
Proprietor David Barker served his last customer at Hartwells Ironmongers this month after running the shop for 36 years.
The store first opened its doors in 1805, making it Gloucestershire’s oldest retailer with 220 years of trade.
Mr Barker, 70, purchased the business in 1989 and spent decades selling paint, plugs and adaptors from behind the counter.
The shop operated in Bourton-on-the-Water, a village known as the “Venice of the Cotswolds” due to its stone bridges crossing the River Windrush.
“There is a great sadness that this is the end of Hartwells,” Mr Barker said.
It remains unclear what the next landlord will do with the former ironmongers – but some locals believe it may become a tourist shop.
Bourton, with a population of 4,000, now takes in around 300,000 visitors every year.
Some locals have said the transformation has been akin to a “Disneyfication” of their village.
Side-by-side Google Street View images from summer 2021 show tourists lining the streets and riverbanks of Bourton – directly opposite Hartwells
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Mollie Wise, a former editor of local newspaper the Bourton Browser, said residents were suffering as a result.
When she arrived three decades ago, the village had a cottage hospital, four butchers, four hairdressers, two chip shops, two banks, two hardware stores, a travel agent, newsagent, greengrocer, bookshop and shoe shop – all of which have now shut.
“We moved to Bourton 30 years ago for the amenities and community,” Ms Wise wrote last month in the Bourton Browser. “What a stark change. Only a handful of shops for the residents now. I expect other residents will remember more shops that have ceased trading.”
The village now hosts almost 20 gift shops, 11 restaurants, 10 cafes, two sweet shops, and just one supermarket.
Liha Okunniwa, 46, has lived in Bourton for a decade and called the tourism “unbearable”.
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The tourist deluge has been likened to a ‘Disneyfication’ of the village by locals
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“It wouldn’t be so bad if the tourists weren’t all so awful,” Ms Okunniwa said. “They come through my gate into my garden, trample all over my garden and take photos outside my house. They take photos of me eating in my kitchen.”
“It’s become so hellish that I’m thinking of moving out altogether,” she added.
District councillor Jon Wareing blamed “TikTok tourists” for exploiting the area for social media content.
“This kind of visitor tends to have little real interest in the heritage, culture or natural environment they are exploiting for clicks,” Wareing told the BBC. “They are the ultimate hit-and-run tourist.”
Over 100 residents gathered at a public meeting last month and warned the village had reached “breaking point.”The county council has now introduced additional parking fees between 10am and 8pm to discourage visitors.”This new approach is designed to give something back to residents and boost the money going back into the village,” said Paul Hodgkinson, the council’s cabinet member for health, culture and visitor experience.Bridget Cullimore, 70, who worked at Hartwells since leaving school, called the closure the “end of an era.”Mr Barker said the village now depends on tourism – and admitted his shop only survived by renting bicycles.”But there has to be a balance,” he said.
