Even though it snowed again last night, with more expected this evening, it somehow feels as if things are pretty much back to normality here at Allendale Bakery & Café.

Our bread schedule is back to normal, the café service is back to normal and increasingly enjoyed by more and more visitors, and we’re issuing our newest Newsletter this weekend, crammed full with 7 separate headings of friendly news.

In fact, here it is in electronic format, with 3 copies on a single A4 sheet . . . print one sheet, keep one newsletter  and give two newsletters away to friends!

ABC-Newsletter January 2010

And continuing in our normality theme . . . we’re offering our normal Bread-Making courses throughout March!  So, more normality then . . . which as far as we’re concerned is pretty wonderful, in and of itself!

We’re open again!  From Saturday the 9th of January, we did manage to struggle down the daunting track at Elpha Green Cottage, as shown here:

Zoom in on the rather forlorn bunny at the bottom right!

Anyway, the scenery was lovely, for sure,

but it has been so difficult for Carrie our baker to trudge up and down the track, and she finally insisted that she simply couldn’t manage it in the dark, so that’s why we had to close the place down on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of this past week.

But we’re back to regular hours, we hope, with our regular bake on Monday the 11th.  Please do note that we are regularly closed on Tuesdays, however, and especially this week as we wait for the big thaw to proceed in earnest!

Fully kitted out with the latest audiovisual aids to presentation, the sound in our new upstairs is actually quite superb!  The lovely carpet helps to create a different ambience to the busy downstairs, and the flexibility of the oak tables means that a variety of conferences, workshops or parties can be accommodated very conveniently.

Our broadband WiFi’ed internet and fully-installed AV means that you can just bring your laptop along, and simply plug it into the system for a complete and professional presentation, using all the capacity of the internet at your own disposal.

We can arrange 50 chairs in theatre style, or put a group table together that can accommodate 20 in a delightful here’s-looking-at-you square.    The space is ideal for family celebration lunches, so if you have an event you want to celebrate together, get in touch with us and we’ll sort something out that will suit superbly.    We’ve taken care of two birthday parties and one working lunch already, so we know the room works very well indeed, even while the rest of the world whirls busily by.

And that’s why we’ve maintained a friendly ‘cosy corner’ upstairs as well, to help on the relaxation front after the effort of a superlative presentation!

It’s a funny thing, but as we work to make the Allendale Bakery Cafe more and more comfortable, we ourselves tend to forget how much things have changed since our very first launch images.

But in addition to the furniture, we also enjoy a seasonal change of mood with the work of different artists.  Throughout the end of the summer and on into September, with all our sympathetic  display furniture finally installed, we were so happy to present the stunning water-colours of Rosie Villers-Stuart on our walls.

And this November we’ve been delighted to feature the work of local artist John Fowler which fascinated everyone who dropped by the cafe.

Throughout December, we’re focusing downstairs on the abstracted images of local views created by Dorothy Lawrenson, and upstairs on the refined moods of Sarah Blackett-Ord.  These images all help to create yet another reason to make your visit to our friendly cafe soon, and often!

It’s not even November yet, and already some thoughts are turning to the traditional festive season parties!

Of course, there are a month’s worth of amazing Breadmaking Courses yet to finish, throughout November, but Allendale Bakery Café is also ready with a delightful festive menu  for consideration.  The café will be serving festive food for lunch and evening dinners in the fortnight before Christmas, on Thursday, Friday and Saturday the 10th, 11th and 12th, as well as the 17th, 18th and 19th.

We proffer our menu selection for your early thoughts.

ABC Festive Menu

Two evenings already are nearly completely booked, so enquiry by telephone (01434) 618879, by email (info@allendalebakery.com) or in person here at the café is recommended.

The view from the bread on Launch Day

The boss baker at work on Launch Day

It was a wonderful event, at Allendale Bakery on Saturday the 7th of February, 2009, and we can scarcely believe that we’ve been producing wonderful bread ever since!

Our press release tells the story of the Launch Day, but the real story since has been of hard work, love and labour to get the bread out to devoted customers who love it!

“It doesn’t seem like the ideal time to launch a new enterprise, but as Andrew Whitley, the founder of the Village Bakery at Melmberby, and author of ‘Bread Matters’, explained to a crowd of 100 strong  in his inspiring address at the opening of the new Allendale Bakery last Saturday [the 7th February],  bread-making within one’s own community is actually a noble calling of service.  So, much more than an enterprise then, more a continuing labour of love.

Some three years ago, Carrie Winger transformed her kitchen up on the fells of Sparty Lea into a catering enterprise, and soon found herself creating her own breads and rolls to complement her celebration offerings.  As the new regeneration effort at Allen Mill  developed, she took the opportunity to begin to construct a real, commercial bakery within that complex.

The new bakery is founded on the core concept of creating wholesome food from local ingredients — the enterprise will be seeking official organic status for its products, which are made from the finest organic flour milled in Stamfordham at Gilchesters Organics from grains grown in Northumberland.    The company’s strap line:  ‘Traditional values — Today’s tastes’; reflects its commitment to quality.

With new delivery networks and distribution outlets to be developed throughout the district, the enterprise will have to work hard in today’s economic climate, but with a commitment to quality and service, and the finest wholesome processes, the Allendale Bakery has made a brilliant beginning.   Certainly, the entire preliminary production run of 100 loaves last Saturday was snapped up within moments by eager buyers!

Allendale Bakery’s bread is available at The Market Place, Allendale, as well as at the Allendale Co-operative Society, and at discerning pubs and cafés around the region, and the bakery will, of course,  continue to sell its products from the premises in Allen Mill, six days a week from 9:00am until ~4:00pm, where real bread-making  can experienced directly.

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