Bakers’ triumphs of yesteryear

Jan 30 2009 by Jo Henwood, Chester Chronicle

Family bakers in Chester are few and far between these days, as supermarkets and bakery chains flourish.

Back in the 1970s and 80s, however, workers on their way to the office would have been greeted with the smell of fresh bread from virtually any street in the city centre.

Weinholt’s, P&A Davies’, Griffith’s, Blake’s and Bannister’s are names which will get the nostalgic taste buds tingling as readers remembers shops on Watergate Row, Upper Northgate Street, Bridge Street, Eastgate Row and Foregate Street.

Chester History and Heritage Centre’s latest exhibition, Pat-a-Cake, is a history of bakers and mill owners in Chester from the 1800s to the present day. The exhibition runs until March 26.

Weinholt’s, which closed its last shop in Handbridge in 2007, was founded by Frank Weinholt in 1953. A second shop was opened in Upton, followed by the first city centre bakery in Northgate Street in 1984.

The exhibition includes photographs of a four-tier cake, made in 1981 for the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer and a cake for the christening of Lady Edwina Grosvenor in 1981. According to a letter from the Duchess of Westminster, Lady Tamara, Edwina’s older sister, referred to the baker as Mr Why Not.

P&A Davies, the only family bakers left in the city, started out in 1891 in Hoole. The exhibition has a wealth of awards won by the firm, which just last month was named Craft Baker of the Year.

Evocative photographs in the exhibition include a queue for bread outside Blake’s bakery on Watergate Row during the strike in 1977 and a staff outing from Bannister’s bakery in 1960.

Heritage staff are keen to hear from staff who worked in any of the city’s bakeries or shops and would love to see photographs of group shots or staff outings. If you have any information, contact Pam Lynch on 01244 402110.