A popular florist whose humble beginnings started on the kitchen table of a farmhouse, has decided to call it a day after 26 years of trading.
The team behind Posies have supplied flowers for many occasions to Monmouth and the surrounding area.
Finishing last Friday, 26th January, customers had been calling in all week to say fond farewells to the team: Sheila, Julia, Haydn, Eileen, Kathie, Gareth and Rhys.
Eileen Williams began trading in Monmouth in 1998 from a shop in Cinderhill Street after having worked from her farmhouse home for a number of years before then.
When the launderette next door closed down seven years ago, the building was sold and Posies moved to its present shop on the Monnow Bridge.
By then, Eileen had taken a back seat and let Sheila and her family and helpers run the business, although Eileen did insist on doing the funeral flowers for her grandson Neil Anstey, who passed away in 2018 aged 49.
“It’s been lovely here” said Sheila, “we have really enjoyed it, but there comes a time when you need to stop,” she said.
Looking back over the years at the many occasions they have supplied flowers for has been a timeline in the history of the town for 26 years, colouring events from wedding to funerals and personal family celebrations.
“No one event has stood out for us” said Sheila, “they have all been beautiful: the weddings and the venues we have supplied flowers for.
But she won’t miss the worry and the nightmare of planning the flowers to look their best at the right moment, such as warming the flowers up in the house to make sure they are at their full bloom for the big day.
“I’m just looking forward to enjoying my time now as I have two great-grandchildren,” she added.
Four generations of the family have worked to make Posies a popular place to find the best bunch of flowers, from founder Eileen through to Sheila’s daughter Julia and the two grandsons, Gareth and Rhys who have delivered the flowers when ready as well as Haydn Anstey, Sheila’s husband and Kathie Jones who have all made Posies the one-stop shop for flowers for half a century.