ABOUT THE FOREST BAILIFF

When Lucy Woodruff first visited 36 Durham Road, opening a shop was the last thing on her mind.

Before going into the fashion business and gaining a passion for textiles, Lucy’s family background and professional training was in the retail industry. However, it was her love of houses and design, begun in childhood, that eventually prompted her to set up business for herself – and so began her interiors practice.

Stepping through the door of number 36 for the first time, in 2009, and wandering through the rooms of this 19^th Century building, Lucy was captivated by its working fireplaces.

Having recently renovated her own London home, Lucy knew about clearview woodburning stoves. By the time she had finished looking around she was convinced not only of the building’s huge retail potential as a stove showroom, but as a place for further establishing her interiors business. In an instant Lucy’s vision for the halcyon, bucolic and eclectic tone of the shop had come together, right down to its name, which she took from the origins of her own surname, Woodruff – the Anglo-Saxon for Forest Bailiff, or The Keeper and Protector of the Forest.

With the UK in the depths of recession, Lucy was keen to represent British brands and to support homegrown talent. At a time of thrift and frugality, where people in Britain needed to support each other, The Forest Bailiff proved no exception. Lucy’s family pitched in to help her run the business, with her sculptor son Max taking on Woody’s delivery, her father the accounts, and her sister Vicki teaching the Annie Sloan courses.

Home is where the hearth is, and from the lit and cosy fireplaces Lucy’s sourcing of unique brand and design slowly unfurled into every corner, the shop becoming a hub of inspiration – a welcoming place for people to gather around the fire and chat about interiors, find pieces to love or give, and learn new decorative skills.

Today the challenges of retail remain, but The Forest Bailiff is a growing family, the shop crammed with wonderful and continually changing things.

Lucy’s ethos for encouraging creativity and sharing knowledge also continues, bringing people together for events, considerably developing The Forest Bailiff courses in drawing and painting – and all the time the search goes on for new and interesting products that will end up as beloved mainstays of many a home.