A Cumbrian bakery is bringing back the bygone bread van.
Lovingly Artisan, based in Kendal, are bringing back the bread van with their new ‘bread truck’ designed to appear at events and visit communities where people can’t easily access their artisan breads.
As well as selling breads and pastries, it will also double up as a mini mobile shop, selling other artisan produce and kitchenalia alongside barista-style coffee.
While bread van’s were once a commonplace essential to every day life across the UK, they slowly died out during the 80s and 90s.
The inspiration to create the bread truck came from founder Aidan Monks’ tales of him and his grandad delivering fresh bread together from a bread van, which trailed across the Lake District, from his grandad’s bakery in Ambleside.
Business co-owner Catherine Conner then decided to see what she could do to recreate that for Aidan’s own bakery.
She came up with a few initial ideas before paying a visit to Eclectic Creative in Staveley, which she worked with to bring the first concepts of the truck to life.
Then with a full design brief in place, Aidan and Catherine set about securing a vehicle for the job.
Designs in hand, Catherine then paid a visit to Wilkinson Mobile Catering Systems in Darwin, Lancashire, to turn the truck into reality. It was then fitted with its interior by blacksmith Shaun Bainbridge.
Once the truck was complete, the duo made plans to plot up at Kendal Farmer’s Market for a trial run. The pair are now planning regular locations to roll out the truck to, as well as a calendar of appearances at events across the North West such as the Westmorland County Show.
Catherine Connor, co-owner of Lovingly Artisan Bakery said: ‘’The bread van was something that was an integral part of how we used to shop, it would plot up in a regular location, you’d buy your freshly baked bread and perhaps a few other staples you might need such as butter or milk and after it’s allotted time it would be on its way until next the next week.
“Bread vans up and down the country provided a regular service that whole communities could rely on, but not only that they were a great way for people to get to know each other.
“And there’s no doubt we’ve lost that connection between people in recent years, so inspired by tales of Aidan making bread deliveries with his grandad in his bread van I decided we should try and do something about it and recapture a little of that way of doing things by introducing our ‘’bread truck.’’
