In the evenings Mr. Britten got everything ready to bake the bread next morning. In the bake house was a large stone tub. Mr. Britten would go up a set of wooden steps on the outside of the building, into the flour loft where he would lower a cloth shute down through the floor into the bake house beneath, straight into the stone tub. He would then pour down the amount of flour that he would need for the bake next day. The dough could then be mixed in the large tub and allowed to rise. When it was sufficiently risen Mr. Britten would cut off pieces of the dough which Mrs. Britten would then weigh to ensure continuity of size and weight before placing them in the tins ready for further proving before baking.

When the oven had reached the correct temperature Mr. Britten would place the tins on a long handled shovel and push them into the large bakers’ oven. As soon they were fully baked the long handled shovel would be used to take the loaves out of the oven, the bottoms of the tins tapped to ensure that they were perfectly baked and the loaves turned out onto wooden racks to cool.

On Saturday the shop would be very busy and there would be a constant stream of loaves coming out of the oven and into the shop to be sold – going as hot cakes or loaves as the expression goes.

At Harvest time Mr. Britten would always make a harvest loaf in the shape of a sheaf of corn with field mice etc and Elizabeth would bring it along to the Harvest Festival at the chapel and sometimes bringing another one to the school for our Harvest celebrations there.

Susan Manton (nee Keech)