Where have all the bakers (and traditional grocery staples of your youth) gone? (Long time passing). 🍰🍞🥧

[marty21]

My mate Barney has just opened a butchers on Chatsworth Road, it's pricy but top notch gear. Morgan's, check it out. (Unless you're a vegetarian in which case I apologise profusely. please don't hate me).

I am aware , and will probably use it , and love you obvs

 

[campanula]

Romsey has good charity shops though (unlike the eye-watering robber-barons near me). When I did live on the north side, there were 2 fantastic bakers - Maskells and Chapmans (might be before your time cos old).

butcher campanula do either of you remember Tyler's on Mill Road?

I was reading this thread last night and racking my brains to think of a single non-chain, non-'artisan' bakery I'd ever known, and that was the only one I could come up with!

It was there in the early 80s and had a bakery section at the front with poppy seed bloomers, Chelsea buns etc and a cafe at the back with vinyl bench seat booths and traditional frothy coffee.

Of course. Used to regularly buy an apple slice. There was also the fabulous Norfolk Street bakery where you could bang on the windows on the way home from a party, and get fresh rolls at 3-4am in the morning. There is still a bakery in Norfolk street, but now it is a spendy Portugese bakery...and I absolutely cannot countenance spending £2 on a teeny custard tart which is gone in one bite. Used to be a really good butchers, greengrocers and general store, cafe and chippy on Norfolk street, as well as the renowned Drum and Guitar Centre. Sigh.

 

[dessiato]

When I still lived in Spain there were three bakers, but only two butchers within 500m of us. Fishmongers were rarer. The supermarkets had a great choice of wet fish though.

I really miss this

 

[Elpenor]

We used to have an Ivor Dewdney in Exeter but it closed along with most of the other non-Plymouth outlets. Wasn’t there some feud with his brother, Ron? I remember in the 80s going to the Cornwall Street Ivor Dewdneys with the queue going out the door at lunchtime. No veggie or vegan, no curry or cheese and onion, just small, medium or large, plus a handful of sausage rolls for the heretics who didn't like pasties.

Pretty sure there’s one on Burnthouse Lane

 

[platinumsage]

Romsey has good charity shops though (unlike the eye-watering robber-barons near me). When I did live on the north side, there were 2 fantastic bakers - Maskells and Chapmans (might be before your time cos old).

Of course. Used to regularly buy an apple slice. There was also the fabulous Norfolk Street bakery where you could bang on the windows on the way home from a party, and get fresh rolls at 3-4am in the morning. There is still a bakery in Norfolk street, but now it is a spendy Portugese bakery...and I absolutely cannot countenance spending £2 on a teeny custard tart which is gone in one bite. Used to be a really good butchers, greengrocers and general store, cafe and chippy on Norfolk street, as well as the renowned Drum and Guitar Centre. Sigh.

Wasn't there Spicketts on Burleigh Street for many years.? I seem to remember it closed and there was then a Greggs-like independent outfit a few doors down? Neither of those could be described as artisanal or expensive.

 

[dessiato]

Talking to Mrs D about this she reminisced about her grandfather’s bakery which is now an art gallery/cafe thing.

She reminded me of the previous two owners of the village shop who used to buy in pre prepared dough and cook it on the premises. This was a nice half way for getting decent bread.

Unfortunately the village shop is now part of Waitrose partnership. The bread is very ordinary or expensive artisan types. It is fresh everyday, but it isn’t the same as real bread. For that we will have to make our own I suppose.

 

[davesgcr]

Here in St Albans we are fortunate enough to have Simmons , which is a local chain , bakes locally and is very comprehensive and affordable in stock.

However , growing up in SW Wales we had amazing bakers , some of which delivered / sold from mobile vans. A wide choice of mini-Hovis loaves (Hovii ?) , custard slices , egg tarts ,cream horns etc etc. Pasties of course.

Best of all , was a flat white batch perfect for slicing in half and fillings ranged from ham or cheese (if in funds) , or spam (and tomato ketchup) , if not.

Like so much else , the supermarkets did for these businesses. (or the owners retired)

 

[hash tag]

Here in St Albans we are fortunate enough to have Simmons , which is a local chain , bakes locally and is very comprehensive and affordable in stock.

However , growing up in SW Wales we had amazing bakers , some of which delivered / sold from mobile vans. A wide choice of mini-Hovis loaves (Hovii ?) , custard slices , egg tarts ,cream horns etc etc. Pasties of course.

Best of all , was a flat white batch perfect for slicing in half and fillings ranged from ham or cheese (if in funds) , or spam (and tomato ketchup) , if not.

Like so much else , the supermarkets did for these businesses. (or the owners retired)

Carefully cut out the middle of a mini hovis loaf from the underside to leave an intact shell. Slap loads of butter on the inside, put back the piece you cut out and eat.
What a delight that was.

 

[philosophical]

I hate going past a butchers shop, or a halal meat place, or a fish shop or stall…makes me retch.

 

[hash tag]

I hate going past a butchers shop, or a halal meat place, or a fish shop or stall…makes me retch.

Many years ago in Pettticoat Lane, they used to have open fronted slaughter houses - they really were the pits.

Rochelle Cole, Poulterer | Spitalfields Life

spitalfieldslife.com

 

[Flavour]

In Manchester where I'm from I reckon you won't find many old school bakeries except in the really run down bits of town. And even then, not sure how many are left. If you go to places like Openshaw, Eccles, Cheetham Hill, i reckon you'd find something. In the posh bits of South Manchester I reckon almost impossible.

But in Turin yeah there's loads. Literally hundreds. Not that they're necessarily good, mind, but they're there.

 

[existentialist]

I knew a few bakers, back in the early 90s, and all of them said that their businesses folded after supermarkets started doing in-store bakeries - they just couldn't compete any more.

 

[The39thStep]

In Manchester where I'm from I reckon you won't find many old school bakeries except in the really run down bits of town. And even then, not sure how many are left. If you go to places like Openshaw, Eccles, Cheetham Hill, i reckon you'd find something. In the posh bits of South Manchester I reckon almost impossible.

But in Turin yeah there's loads. Literally hundreds. Not that they're necessarily good, mind, but they're there.

There are quite a few left in Stockport

 

[JimW]

Just looked to see if the family one we used in Stroud is still going and see they've fancied up their website and all products are vegan but still all your proper basic loaves. Their granary bread was just fantastic: Walkers the Bakers, Stroud and Nailsworth - Home
Stroud also had a really old hippy bakery (100 years plus) associated with the anarchist commune at Whiteway Colony, think it was called protheroes but can't find it on the web. Their bread was really really heavy, dense as some of the Russian stuff and not really my thing though a loaf really lasted.

 

[Artaxerxes]

Percy Ingles seems to have closed over lockdown and post covid.

We’ve got a couple of Wenzels to replace it near me and Gail’s seems to be pushing out into Essex as well.

Here in St Albans we are fortunate enough to have Simmons , which is a local chain , bakes locally and is very comprehensive and affordable in stock.

However , growing up in SW Wales we had amazing bakers , some of which delivered / sold from mobile vans. A wide choice of mini-Hovis loaves (Hovii ?) , custard slices , egg tarts ,cream horns etc etc. Pasties of course.

Best of all , was a flat white batch perfect for slicing in half and fillings ranged from ham or cheese (if in funds) , or spam (and tomato ketchup) , if not.

Like so much else , the supermarkets did for these businesses. (or the owners retired)

Spotted that in the area I’ll be moving to (hopefully) and certainly looks decent enough.

 

[Maggot]

In Manchester where I'm from I reckon you won't find many old school bakeries except in the really run down bits of town. And even then, not sure how many are left. If you go to places like Openshaw, Eccles, Cheetham Hill, i reckon you'd find something. In the posh bits of South Manchester I reckon almost impossible.

But in Turin yeah there's loads. Literally hundreds. Not that they're necessarily good, mind, but they're there.

Turin Bakes

 

[davesgcr]

Percy Ingles seems to have closed over lockdown and post covid.

We’ve got a couple of Wenzels to replace it near me and Gail’s seems to be pushing out into Essex as well.





Spotted that in the area I’ll be moving to (hopefully) and certainly looks decent enough.

Marshalswick ?

 

[Artaxerxes]

Marshalswick ?

Lea valley-ish

 

[Plumdaff]

We're lucky to have a local chain, Brutons, and there's one on my nearest shopping street, and also a super gentrified newish bakers at the other end of the same road (expensive, but was a godsend for flour during the pandemic).

 

[friedaweed]

This came up on another thread.

In the not too distant past, there were bakers shops in convenient locations in most towns. I live in Glasgow, and unless you count fancy artisan bakers where you can buy cottage loaves for the same price as an actual cottage, or Greggs, then there are no old style high street bakeries. Certainly not near where I live. (G20).

Yesterday my Dad (85, who is living with us after a hospital stay) wanted a bridie. ( Bridie - Wikipedia ). In my youth, these were available on any high street. We couldn't find one. Supermarkets will sell you multi-packs of Scotch pies. Greggs will sell you steak bakes. But no bridies.

Recently I was told by some Scottish Tweeterers that soda scones were not a Scottish thing, but only Northern Irish. This didn't used to be true. They were available in all good bakers when I was growing up, and we'd often have them as a breakfast item, toasted and topped with eggs (poached, scrambled or fried), or with butter and marmalade. Or even toasted with grilled cheese and a slice of tomato for lunch. They were usually toasted as a breakfast accompaniment (rarely fried and on the plate in a fry-up, as in Northern Ireland, unless stale, but certainly a regular breakfast item). But you can't find them anywhere now, so youngsters in Scotland would be forgiven for not knowing about them.

Plain bread ( Plain loaf - Wikipedia ), in my youth known as a "half loaf", as they were baked in twos then split; (Scottish) crumpets (the larger of the two pan cakes below); Selkirk bannocks, and on and on, which used to be widely available, are now out of fashion, and where even available in supermarkets, are often labelled with non-Scots terms: "Irish potato cakes" (tattie scones), "Irish farls" (soda scones); even turnips come cling-wrapped and called "swedes" in some shops.

View attachment 340409

I knows tastes and times change, but I regret the loss of bakeries you can buy bread and rolls in, and the loss of local character.

Are there non-Greggs, non-artisan bakeries on your local high street? Are there traditional items from your youth lost to newer generations? I know Staffordshire has very few oatcake shops now, for example, although they are available pre-packed in supermarkets. What about Henderson's relish in Sheffield? Do young folks buy it?

Take it away, curmudgeons of Urban. Shake your fist at that cloud!

My Nan used to bring us Bridies back from Greenock when she went Hem.

We have some cracking bakeries still pushing out traditional fare but just down the road in Staffs they make the formidable oatcakes which are as close as we can find to a bridie around here. There's a couple of places still knocking out Bridies in the highlands mind.

Your thread has reminded me of one of my fav songs....

 

[danny la rouge]

My Nan used to bring us Bridies back from Greenock when she went Hem.

We have some cracking bakeries still pushing out traditional fare but just down the road in Staffs they make the formidable oatcakes which are as close as we can find to a bridie around here. There's a couple of places still knocking out Bridies in the highlands mind.

Your thread has reminded me of one of my fav songs....

That is also one of my very favourite songs.

 

[Skim]

This thread has reminded me of an amazing lardy cake I ate from a bakery in Chippenham many years ago. I’ve never seen lardy cake since. Is it a Wiltshire thing?

 

[Des Kinvig]

the only one i can think of north of the river is in carntyne.

wellbread bakery in renfrew is the sort of place you are talking about. they’re a good example of what has happened with this, since a gregg’s opened across the road years ago they’ve had a printed sign up that says something like “the REAL bakery, not a factory outlet”.

there’s watson’s in govan but don’t think they sell bread. they maybe have bridies.

i remember when i was a nipper post offices and paper shops used to sell some of this stuff. paris buns, empire biscuits, snowballs.

 

[butcher]

NB this was my GG Grandfathers Bakery in Kensington, he drank them into poverty eventually

 

[moose]

Wow butcher Look at the flags and stuff! Amazing. Is the building still there?

 

[JimW]

This thread has reminded me of an amazing lardy cake I ate from a bakery in Chippenham many years ago. I’ve never seen lardy cake since. Is it a Wiltshire thing?

Get them in Gloucs though where they're from not sure.

 

[hash tag]

I reckon this is the same place

 

[butcher]

Get them in Gloucs though where they're from not sure.

Ha ! Those Wiltshire wannabees are always trying to claim Lardy rights but as any Hampshire Hog knows they are a fine Hampshire invention aped by our jealous neighbours.

 

[butcher]

NB here is what happened after they left London:

WILKINS THE BAKERS. MALMESBURY PARK RD / HENVILLE RD. BOURNEMOUTH. DORSET. 1980​

Wilkins the Bakers origins lay in the early 1900s.
F Wilkins started out as a franchise holder for the Isaac and Co Dairy Company's bakery division and by 1911 had taken over Fippard and Sons bakery and shop at 192 Old Christchurch Rd on the corner of Glen Fern Rd [ now Pizza Express ].
By the early 1930s Wilkins had a string of local shops and a purpose built bakery at 62 Malmesbury Park Rd on the site of a former laundry.
By 1935 the business had been purchased by a Canadian businessman named W Garfield Weston who had taken over his father's bakery business and who was now expanding into Britain.
By 1937 he had acquired 15 bakery plants across the country which had been unified as 'Allied Bakeries', mass producing bread in large, modern baking factories.
Weston later founded Associated British Foods, incorporating a whole range of brands across the world and many household names in Britain including Ryvita who's main factory is in Poole.

The Wilkins factory at Malmesbury Park Rd was extended at various times over the years and by the 1970s was producing tens of thousands of loaves a day from two large production plants situated on the top floor of the main factory. The lines ran 24 hours a day, only closing for maintenance at 6am on Saturday morning before starting up again frst thing Sunday morning.

The loaves were sent via a conveyor system to the ground floor where they were sliced, bagged and despatched. Also on the ground floor was a confectionary department that produced bread rolls, doughnuts, sausage rolls, currant buns and other goods for the network of local shops that they still ran across Bournemouth, and for other customers.
They regularly produced over 2 million hot cross buns for the Easter market and also had a specialist cake decorating department that made and decorated cakes to order.
As well as producing for their own shops Wilkins also mass produced bread under various Allied Bakeries brands such as Sunblest, Allinson, Mighty White, Hi Bran, Betabake, Slimcea, Kingsmill and Hovis as well as supplying a lot of the major supermarkets.

The company employed up to 250 people at any one time across in house departments such as baking, machine operating, hygiene, drivers, maintenance engineers, mechanics, office staff and building maintenance, with many hundreds, and probably thousands, being employed over the years.
Until the early 1980s wages were still paid in cash with the money being delivered to site by an armoured van with each individual wage packet being made up in the main office block. An announcement was made over the tanoy for employees to remain inside the factory whilst the wages were being delivered. From 1983 wages began to be paid directly into employees bank accounts.

In the late 1980s the confectionary department closed along with the shops, and in 1994 it was announced that the bakery was to close down in two phases with production being transferred to large super bakeries in the London area. Production finally ceased with a second wave of redundancies in 1995.
The site remained as a distribution centre until 2007 with bread being delivered by lorry from other bakeries with the depot moving to the Ferndown Industrial Estate where it still operates.
The Malmesbury Park Rd premises were demolished in 2007 and replaced over the following 18 months by The Granary housing development that resulted in the creation of Chelsea Gardens and Wilkins Gardens.

​

 

[butcher]

My side of the family ended up here: