A popular Seascale ice cream parlour has received a huge amount of public support after opening the doors to its new store.
Owner Lizzie Mawson, 41 – who first started making ice cream on her farm while she was on maternity leave with her first child 15 years ago – said the new store’s first week of business has been full of positivity.
Mawson’s Ice Cream Parlour was previously based on Drigg Road and has now moved into the former Village Pantry shop at the bottom of South Parade near the sea front.
It’s a move that has allowed Lizzie to create the ice cream parlour of her dreams while also expanding the business in response to popular demand.
She said: “It has been really full on! But the relief of having a shop full of customers and not builders has been incredible.
“I honestly wish I’d filmed it, the second day we were open it was terrible weather, typical Seascale wind and rain.
“But when we opened the doors at 10 o’clock all the cars in the carpark their doors flung open and all these people started to run to the shop, it was like an ambush!
“By five minutes past 10 every table was full, and that was without telling anyone we had officially opened yet.”
Lizzie said the project to transform the former shop into the stylish ice cream parlour it now is has been a challenge.
She added: “It has been an absolutely epic 18 month long battle to try and get this place open, so it was a little bit emotional to leave the little shop behind and pack it up after 15 years.
“When we first took it on it was awful, we had to spend so much money just getting the building even weatherproof basically.
“It was in a really poor state and had been kind of abandoned, and when we came in the electricity had been cut off but the fridges and freezers still had food in. It was essentially an abandoned building.
“But Seascale has been 100 per cent behind this and everyone has just been hugging me and telling me how proud they are of me.
“It has been hard work, and I think they’ve all watched me over the months and could really see how much it had dulled my sparkle so to speak, as it really had taken it out of me.”
After a huge amount of hard work – Lizzie has now transformed the building into a breathtaking modern ice cream parlour.
She said: “When I first got wind that this site was coming up on the market five years ago I became obsessed and had a vision for it ever since.
“I’ve made it exactly as I want it and It’s been difficult but the finish, the materials and quality of tradesman is breathtaking, I’ll take that, it’s like nothing else around here.
“We worked with an architect to get it through planning, but the design was all mine and the ice cream counter we went to Italy for and found when we went to a big trade show there.
“I designed that and they built it in Italy and shipped it over to us. But it’s all better in the flesh! When you’re looking out of those windows there’s never a bad time to see the sea, it’s spectacular.”
As well offering a wider range of ice cream – which is all handmade by Lizzie, who is self-taught – the new parlour is also a cafe, takeaway, bakery, sandwich and pie shop.
The team are also in the process of finishing off the downstairs of the building – which will be a soft play complete with seating for families with young children that Lizzie is hoping to have open by the October half term.
Lizzie added: “I have to say the people that we have got working here are the best human beings I have ever met in my life.
“They have carried me for the last 18 months and I would not have got through how hard this has been without them.
“For our opening weekend they could not have worked harder, they’ve been amazing. They’re what makes coming to work .”
The new parlour has already proved a huge hit in the town – which has also recently welcomed a handful of new businesses.
Lizzie said: “It’s lovely to see Seascale getting back on its feet. For years our little ice cream shop was the only thing here.
“But I do think when things like this happen to places, it inspires other people to come to the area and think oh actually yeah, Seascale is a great place for me to set up shop.
“The more business in the area the better it is for everybody and it’s not about competing, you compliment each other and quite frankly the more visitors we can bring to Seascale the better.”
Lizzie added that she will eventually look to recruit more staff in the future – but for now is enjoying getting started in the new space.
