TWO women whose lives have been touched by cancer and who met while walking their dogs have combined their love of rustic furniture and opened a specialist shop together in Crudwell.

Susann Wych was recovering from a traumatic year after battling breast cancer while Naomi Grunfeld lost her husband Nick, 48, also to cancer.

They became friends around two years ago while out with their dogs near their homes in Upper Minety and realised they had a lot in common.

Their long chats about what they’d like to do resulted in a new business, The Pot Cupboard which they recently opened at a “delightful little barn” in Crudwell near Malmesbury.

Mrs Wych, 50, who is currently undergoing a final round of treatment, said: “We met while walking the dogs and often spoke about our mutual interest in lovely old furniture.

“I contracted breast cancer and Naomi was coping with the loss of Nick. We decided that once we were out from under of this dark cloud we would do something for ourselves.

“Starting a business together, doing something that we both loved, which involved bringing beautiful furniture back to life, seemed a really good idea. It felt like a new lease of life.

“We’re delighted to have opened The Pot Cupboard, selling hand painted furniture and accessories for the home.”

The pair found the perfect accommodation for their venture, an old barn behind Crudwell’s award winning village pub, The Potting Shed. “It suits us down to the ground,” said Mrs Wych.

The business’s older furniture, much of which the pair paint, mend and apply knobs and handles to, is sourced locally while a lot of the newer stock is made by local craftsmen.

Whereas Mrs Wych has a background in marketing, Mrs Grunfeld once ran Cirencester-based Parlour Kitchens with her late husband, which imported and restored antique pine furniture.

Mrs Grunfeld said: “We are selling a large variety of furniture from our beautiful barn.

“There are bigger pieces, such as dressers, along with blanket top-boxes, hand-made lamps, cupboards, and a lot of pine, along with some nice rustic accessories such as jugs, clocks, seed boxes, candle sticks.”

Mrs Wych added: “We’re painting and mending a lot of these lovely old pieces of furniture ourselves, bringing them back to life with a little love.”