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Village converts old bus stop into little library

Craig BuchanSouth East
Sharon Thompson A small white bus shelter with a sloped roof. There are paintings on the wall inside and pots and hanging baskets are filled with flowers.Sharon Thompson
The bus shelter was previously "getting very, very shabby"

A pub says it has received an anonymous donation of £100 after renovating a disused bus shelter.

Sharon Thompson said staff at the Woolpack Inn in Chilham, Kent, arranged to repaint the shelter and installed a chandelier, lending library and information board.

"People may think a bus shelter isn't important but it's really, like the pub, a historical building, we feel, and needed looking after," she told BBC Radio Kent.

Thompson, who owns the pub, said £100 was donated towards the upkeep of the shelter following their efforts.

She told the BBC her daughter would walk her dog past the shelter and "noticed it was getting very, very shabby", so inquired about permission for the renovation.

Buses no longer use the shelter, stopping further down the road as the bend near the pub is "a bit tight".

Thompson said the team wanted it to "look a little bit special" and "put a smile on people's faces when they went past".

Sharon Thompson Two pink shelves on a white brick wall. They are stacked with books. Two drawings in frames are handing on the perpendicular wall. A sign reads "bus stop library".Sharon Thompson
The bus shelter has been decorated with artwork and contains books that can be borrowed

"The rain was coming through the roof, so we fixed the roof," Thompson said. "We painted it inside, outside, and then we just wanted to give it a few special touches."

She added: "Anything that brings a smile to people's faces has got to be a good thing, isn't it?"

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