A MUCH-LOVED trader has shut up shop after 32 years on Dunbar High Street.

Annette Craig locked up The Curiosity Shop on November 7 for the final time after more than three decades of business in the town centre.

She said: “I loved every minute of it. The laughter that has come out of that shop, it must be the happiest shop on the High Street.

“I [always] wanted to go in and now there is a new, young influx of shopkeepers.

“They are brilliant and full of enthusiasm – I admire anyone opening a shop.” The shop, at 100 High Street, sold bric-a-brac and a number of antiques.

It is not yet known what business will fill the premises, although there are thought to be “three or four people interested”.

Annette, who lives just outside West Barns, originally worked alongside her husband Thomas, training racehorses for 25 years.

She said: “I thought ‘I don’t want to do this any longer’.

“My son Boyd wanted to be an antique dealer and I took him to East Fortune Market and he loved it.

“That’s how I got started when he was 14 years old and we went every Sunday for two years.” Boyd sadly died of meningitis in 2000 at the age of 35.

By then, Annette had become a firm presence on the High Street.

She opened The Green Bean in 1982 before opening The Curiosity Shop in 1984. A few moves on High Street saw the business set up a permanent home at 100 High Street in 2005. Nine years later, she felt she was leaving a High Street which was returning to form.

She said: “I think the High Street is brilliant now.

“It’s lovely and as soon as a shop is empty, another takes over – not many high streets can say that.

“There is an influx of new people, Steven Hill in the Dunbar T-shirt Shop is full of enthusiasm, and really there are a lot of different shops making a great High Street.” Despite never having longer than a fortnight holiday from the shop, Annette already has plenty of plans for retirement.

She said: “We were at the races at Musselburgh and I’ve got a massive garden and orchard that is overgrown. I also walk four miles a day with the dog.” Mr Hill, who is also chairman of Dunbar Trades’ Association, was among those paying tribute to the High Street stalwart.

He said: “Annette has been here for more years than most of us can remember – or have been alive!

“She does a lot for the community, shopping for people and helps them out. She is always friendly and we are sad to see her go – we need more people like her, not fewer.”