Store Spotlight: The Garden Apothecary
Rosie Greenaway takes you to the unique retail space of The Garden Apothecary, which straddles two counties, chatting to owner Ben Haugh about his approach to making healthcare more accessible.
A practitioner of Chinese medicine since 1999, Ben Haugh is well versed in treating broad-ranging ailments, but since purchasing the small store formerly known as Sunlight Apothecary (now The Garden Apothecary) in 2022, he has adjusted to working solo and treating walk-ins while manning the till. “I see patients while the shop is open, which is unconventional, but it works; nobody minds if I’ve got to serve a customer [during their treatment]. People come in for help and advice from me. If they come in with pain and I know it’s something I can fix with my hands, I’ll just say ‘Have you got a minute?’. They come in expecting to buy something for a headache and go out without a headache – and they haven’t bought anything. That’s how it should be. I was so used to knowing who I’m seeing, by appointment, but here it’s an open door.”
That open door is part of his philosophy that healthcare should remain accessible to all. “It shouldn’t be closed off or expensive. People don’t go to private healthcare practitioners of any modality because of the expense. It’s nice to have a community shop where people come in, throw a left-field problem at me; I can ascertain what’s going on … and decide what’s best for that patient. It’s a really nice way of working – fulfilling.”
Haugh, whose fourth great grandfather was a medical herbalist, fills his shelves with functional products which complement the ailments he treats in clinic; supplements, herbal teas and personal care items only make the cut if they offer medicinal value. “Primarily we’re an apothecary. Even the skincare side of things has a purpose.” This approach allows him to address common problems such as eczema, acne, toothache or candida of the mouth with carefully selected functional SKUs. “As long as it’s got a health use, then it fits. We wouldn’t sell a tin of baked beans,” Haugh says, adding that neighbouring store Todalmighty has food covered, with the two businesses referring customers to one another.
“Primarily we’re an apothecary. Even the skincare side of things has a purpose. As long as it’s got a health use, then it fits. We wouldn’t sell a tin of baked beans.”
The typical Todmorden shopper is discerning, he says. “Everyone’s got strong ethics – political, shopping local ... sustainable, eco-friendly, vegan. People have their morals in this valley and live accordingly. You could say it’s forward-thinking but it’s almost backward-thinking; going back to how we used to live, by our environment and seasons.” They’re also open-minded, ready to ‘reach for the comfrey or the arnica’ after injury, and astute enough to distinguish between ethical brands and greenwashing. What they might be less able to determine is in which county the store sits, with Haugh joking that borders are hotly debated in the area.
“That’s a contentious issue, whether it’s over the border or not. The historical border was the river, and that flows underneath the shop; if you go off the historical boundaries, the front of the shop is in West Yorkshire and the clinic is in Lancashire. Then it flows through the Town Hall; they used to say you could dance in the ballroom from one county to the next. It’s a very interesting place.”
The store is suspended above the river on girders, the cobbled street having been raised up hundreds of years ago to protect from flooding. It’s the type of unique architecture which draws a tourist crowd, there to observe the many film crews using the region as a backdrop for TV dramas and to enjoy the area’s abundant nature walks.
Haugh welcomes the weary ramblers and treats their aches with a combination of ancient wisdom and modern herbalism, supporting only brands which align with his own ethics, such as Terranova, Viridian and Feel Supreme. “They’re not just out there to bash out products with fillers and binders, without any thought – there’s thought in the preparation.”
By Rosie Greenaway, editor