Letter to James Hall (Spar)

Update: Since posting this on Your Ribchester I’ve had a reliable source contact me to say that James Hall don’t own the building now as we thought it did. I’m now seeking contact details for the actual owner to very much ask the same question. 21/11/2025

Several weeks ago I sent an email to James Hall (Spar) who [edit: apparently do not] own the building next to the shop in Ribchester. The state of the building has been an issue which has been of concern to residents for a while now and who have raised this with both myself and the Parish Council. Over the next few months or for as long as it takes I’m going to be pressing James Hall to do something urgently to bring the building back into use, preferably for the Community but I’m open to ideas.

Eyesore Picture 1
Eyesore Picture 2

So far I have not received a response from James Hall & Co

Dear James Hall & Co

I would be most grateful if you could pass the following pictures to the appropriate person.

These pictures are of the frontage of the building next to what is now the Premier Shop in Ribchester which used to be a Spar. I believe the building is still owned by James Hall and in particular this part of the building is still owned by yourselves.

As you might appreciate from the pictures, the front window is less than beneficial to the overall aesthetic marvellousness that I strive for in Ribchester and I’m wondering if we could have a conversation about how to improve the state of this building.

In the short term it is important that something can be done to improve the look of the frontage and I would welcome your ideas on how you might go about doing this. Perhaps a local artist could be engaged to create some kind of mural in a similar fashion to what happened at the Longridge Co-Op store recently after the cash machine left a massive hole in the wall?

I’m very interested in the longer term intent for this building. As you can imagine, I’m keen for the building to get some kind of use rather than the empty shell it currently is. In past times it was a museum and has a longer history beyond that. Bringing the building back into meaningful use would be a fantastic step.

Please let me know of further steps to address this matter.

Best Wishes

Cllr Karl Barnsley

Ribchester Ward

Ribble Valley Borough Council