The village has a population of 240 and 2,300 online reviews. Its aggregate rating is 4.1.
Residents did not create the listing, cannot remove it, and are not sure who did.
The reviews
The great majority are positive and several are moving, written by people who clearly had a good day somewhere beautiful.
The remainder have been read aloud at the community council on two occasions, which is how they came to the attention of this newspaper.
One star: “Too quiet.”
One star: “Nothing to do after 6pm.” The shop closes at five and there is nowhere that has ever been open after six.
Two stars: “Beautiful but the locals stare.”
Three stars: “No restaurants, but honestly what did I expect.” This one was described at the meeting as fair.
“A man has given the place I was born two stars because it rained. I do not think he was being cruel. I think he genuinely believed he was reviewing a product.”
A resident
What was decided
The community council has considered the matter twice and has on both occasions decided to do nothing.
The reasoning, recorded in the minutes, is that any response would generate more reviews; that the rating is 4.1 and therefore fine; and that the village survived the Clearances, two wars and the closure of the pier, and can withstand a man from Cheshire who was disappointed by the rain.
One suggestion was adopted. A note has been added to the noticeboard asking visitors, if they are minded to review anything, to review the shop, which is a business, and which would benefit.
The shop has since received nine reviews and is rated 5.0.
