A couple who took a leap of faith and bought a Lake District shop online have shared their memories, as they prepare to hand over the reins after 15 years.

It was the weekend of July 4, 2005 when Gillian Beggs and Tom Driscoll arrived to Patterdale from the USA to look at Patterdale Village Store and Post Office, the home and business they had bought over the internet.

Fifteen years on, the couple have fallen in love with the valley and are now looking to sell on the business and the house to someone else who can care for it the way they did.

Only two months after their first visit, on Gillian's birthday, the couple were ready for a new life in the Lake District, having left their jobs and sold their home and cars in Florida.

Gillian said: "We took a leap of faith and never looked back. We were doing something neither of us had done before and after great training from the previous owners we took the reins.

"Patterdale is such a beautiful place, with scenery we can take in everyday from windows in the front and back of the lovely three bedroomed house that we now called home.

"As the weeks and months went on we gradually began to remember the names of all the locals who came in and to get an idea of the kind of shop we wanted to run – no great major changes but we introduced various new ideas as time passed. And so the months and years started to roll by and we grew to love this village and valley and all the hills around us that have become old friends.

"Every spring we witness the birth of new born lambs in the field opposite, the daffodils appear, followed by swathes of bluebells in Glamara Park, just a five minute walk behind the house. We rush out to see the beautiful herd of cows being taken to their winter quarters along the road just outside our door. One year, rather alarmingly, a bull showed great interest in our shop.

"When October arrives, so does the rutting of the red deer and their primaeval roar on the flanks of Place Fell opposite us. You may be lucky enough to find an antler lying in the middle of a bog as I did. Walking in the fells on the long summer evenings when the shop is closed and the visitors are down in the pubs, is blissful, and taking advantage of our afternoons off in the winter to travel further afield. Winter was also the time to plan our holidays."

But the couple have not just been at the centre of community by running the shop, they truly got stuck in once they got the hang of running te store.

Gill said: "Tom taught Spanish at the local primary school for a while, and I became a parish councillor, first responder and then became secretary the local village hall, meeting more and more people as time went on. There is a real sense of community in the Ullswater Valley, which saw us through the floods of 2015 and heavy snowfalls and icy conditions disrupting traffic and cutting off vulnerable people."

The couple have also enjoyed meeting many hikers as the shop is right on the Wainwright’s Coast to Coast path.

TV personality Julia Bradbury also paid them a visit as part of her programme Coast to Coast Walk.

Another claim to fame for Patterdale Village Store is also that it was the first shop that agreed to sell the Wainwright Lake District Guide Books back in the 1950s.

Gill said: "This shop has been here for over 100 years, serving the local community and the many visitors who come here every year. We have seen local children grow from toddlers to becoming young men and women and have made life-long friends along the way, including many of those who come every year to visit and make the shop their destination.

"If we were 10 years younger we would not be leaving, but there are new adventures awaiting us and we will hand over the shop with great sadness but knowing we worked hard to make it the successful business it is today. Now it is time for someone else to take over Patterdale Village Store and make it their own."

The store is listed for sale with Mere Commercial for £515,000.