A GRANDMOTHER from Bluntisham has been selling fruit at the roadside for 50 YEARS.

A GRANDMOTHER from Bluntisham has been selling fruit at the roadside for 50 YEARS.

Grace Reid, 81, known affectionately by her customers as the ‘fruit lady’ has been selling plums in Rectory Road in Bluntisham since 1960.

The plums are picked from her orchard in the village and sold from her white and yellow stall. She says business is booming, with her stall attracting hundreds of customers each week.

She offers 25 different varieties, including her best-sellers the Victoria and greengage, selling them for between 35p and 60p a pound.

The stall is manned by Mrs Reid from the third week of July to the end of September from 9am to 4.30pm seven days a week.

She told The Hunts Post: “I’ve never missed a day. If it’s pouring with rain I sell from my garage. I can’t let my customers down.

“I couldn’t tell you how many customers I get each day but I’m busy and would estimate that I see a couple of hundred people a week. I don’t advertise. All my business is by word of mouth or passing trade.

“I’ve had customers who first purchased from me in the 1960s return with their grandchildren to buy my plums, which is just delightful.

“It’s a popular stall and I really enjoy it. Selling fruit provides me with lovely company and the ability to meet new people. While I’m strong enough I will carry on selling.”

Mrs Reid was born in Bluntisham and has lived in the village all her life. She is the mother of former St Ivo School pupil, Terry Reid, a guitarist who lives in America and toured with the Rolling Stones.

She said people buy her plums over those available in the supermarket because hers are picked daily and people know exactly where they come from.

“Mine are super fresh,” she said. “They’re picked in the morning and sold the same day.”

She often has people from Ely, Cambridge and Bedford coming to buy her plums.

So does Mrs Reid still enjoy eating the fruit? “To be honest I’m a bit sick of them but I freeze some and make jam.”