THE village shop, along with the pub and the church, has been at the heart of rural life in the Dales for well over a century.

But in the last decade villages all over the country have found themselves without a store as harsh economic realities have forced more and more owners to simply shut up shop.

Now some communities are fighting back - by reopening stores as community-run operations.

And the Dales appears to be in the vanguard of the fight to put the village store right back at the centre of village life.

Clapham has just reopened its shop as a community venture after it closed last May.

Burton-in-Lonsdale's store, on the other hand, has been run by the community since 2005. It is now thriving after a tough few years as it struggled with debts and will celebrate its tenth anniversary next month.

The association which runs the shop now has almost 200 members, giving it a firm base for future development.

Jean Smith, one of the shop's trustees, says that one of the most important factors in the success of any community-run operation is to have a solid core of volunteers willing to put the time and effort in.

"We have 30 volunteers who do a few hours a week, plus a full-time manager, and it works very well for us.

"That's the key really - you have to have a core group of people who have bought into the idea and are willing to work hard to keep it going.

"Running a store is very labour -intensive and it can be logistically difficult to make sure everyone know what shift they are on and that kind of thing. But the benefits to village life are simply enormous."

The early years of the association were difficult as the committee struggled to sell the upstairs flat against a background of mounting debts. After a refurbishment the flat was sold and the shop began to make a profit.

It seems that all community-run shops find they quickly become a hub for social activity - and its noticeboard a regular meeting point. People often just pop in for a chat, says Jean.

And it helps too that community stores are, almost by definition, democratically run.

Jean explains: "People are aware that from the off everyone is working for the benefit of others, so there is a tremendous amount of goodwill.

"But that is not enough in itself - we are still competing with supermarket home deliveries and the like.

"We have to exist in a competitive environment.

"We opened Cafe 27, a small area in the shop, a couple of years ago and that has proved very popular too. It helps that the store is on the main road - we get quite a lot of passing trade."

The Burton store was started with donations, plus various start-up grants, not least from DEFRA, which was keen to help rural communities in the wake of the foot-and-mouth epidemic. There was also help from the Big Lottery Fund, Craven District Council and various charities.

A combination of donations and grants has also helped to get the new Clapham shop off the ground.

The original shop closed in May last year, but it was not long afterwards that villagers undertook a feasibility study to see if a community store could be a successful enterprise. As in Burton, they found that hard work and a solid bedrock of support in the village could pay dividends.

Just six weeks after starting a fundraising drive last September, villagers had raised the princely £38,000 needed through shares, donations and grants.

And though it's only been officially open a couple of weeks, management committee chairman Don Gamble is confident Clapham will make a success of it.

He says: "For a rural community like ours the village shop is more than just a shop. But it does have to be a successful business so we need to give excellent customer service and provide the products that people want. The tourist season is just starting and we are on the Way of the Roses coast-to-coast path so we are confident we can pick up extra trade. We have only been open a short time but the reaction so far has been overwhelmingly positive. People have been telling us what they want us to stock.

"Community ownership of shops, pubs and other enterprises is a possible solution for communities wanting to ensure a sustainable future for rural services."

The shop has received start-up grants from the Yorkshire Dales Sustainable Development Fund and Craven District Council, as well as the Craven Trust, Clapham Parish Council and charities.

The first annual shareholders' meeting will take place in June, when the management committee will step down and a new committee will be elected.

Anyone wanting to to find out more or become a shareholder should visit the shop’s website www.claphamvillagestore.co.uk or telephone 015242 51524.