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Brighouse - Ryecorn Wholefoods Limited

Posted by Unknown Thursday, January 16, 2014 0 comments

Whenever anyone talks about Brighouse, I instantly think of the Brighouse and Rastrick Band, which always brings a smile to my face.

Now there's another reason why I smile when I think of Brighouse - Ryecorn Wholefoods:

It's a health food shop packed with all sorts of interesting food and health supplements and body care products. There's Ivy House organic cheese from Southowram, and more local dairy produce from Longley Farm in Holmfirth.

Their bread comes from LoveBread - a community supported bakery, which aims to bring the many benefits of baking real bread to Brighouse and Calderdale communities. It's real bread made with organic flour, water, yeast and salt and no artificial flavourings or preservatives, so they're members of the Real Bread Campaign.

We tried their chilli, cheese & onion white bread and a seeded malted brown (made with a long fermentation). Fresh bread is delivered to the shop every day (except Wednesday).

The shop also sells organic free range eggs, local honey and some attractive organic fruit and vegetables, including unwaxed lemons:

There's also an interesting selection of teas, and chocolates from Guppy's chocolates in York

Ryecorn Wholefoods Limited
33-35 Bethel Street
Brighouse
West Yorkshire
HD6 1JR

Tel: 01484 711835

Web: www.ryecorn.co.uk‎

Kington - George's Deli

Posted by Unknown Tuesday, August 20, 2013 0 comments

Good food shops, are like buses, often 3 come at once! George's deli is my third Kington business, and is opposite the Grapevine. It's a fascinating and quirky shop, selling nice things you can't easily get anywhere else.

I'm not sure why there were tributes to Haliax RLFC in this part of Herefordshire, and George turned out to be a cuddly toy (and not the owner). George was out on the day I called, no doubt visiting some of the local attractions.

There's too many things on sale here to list:

in this relatively small shop, but a special mention must go to the cheese counter, at the back of the shop.

There's a nice selection of cheese, including local, and sheep's cheese, but the helpful owner persuaded me to try some cheese from Doddington Dairy in the Cheviots and I was very glad I did. I asked him if Wallace (see first picture) was on the Taleggio, and not Wensleydale, but apparently he uses his ladder to move around and try different cheeses!

They also sell nice bread, like this: seeded wholemeal and French style country loaf:

To wash it all down they sell sell organic cider and perry from Dunkertons (7 miles away near Pembridge). If you prefer your cider and perry from Wales they sell this Ralph's (from the delightfully sounding Old Badlands Farm, which is 8 miles the other way, just over the border in Wales):

George's Delicatessen

25 High Street
Kington
Herefordshire
HR5 3AX

Tel: 01544 231400

Shrewsbury - Pomona Grocery

Posted by Unknown Sunday, July 7, 2013 0 comments

Shrewsbury is a lovely town, we frequently take the train to do our shopping there. As you come out of the station there's a beautiful walk up the hill, by the castle to the town centre. We usually stop at the Shrewsbury Bakehouse and Shrewsbury Coffee House (who serve Has Bean coffee). and just a few yards up the road is Pomona Grocery:

It's a lovely shop, which specialises in local and organic foods where possible.

They're big on what's in season here, and often have fruit and veg that's hard to get elsewhere. Earlier this year they were selling fresh 'wet' garlic, which is milder and sweeter than stored garlic.

They were at the first ever Shrewsbury Food Festival last week, with a stunning display:

They also sell speciality items, that are hard to get elsewhere, and wholefoods:

There must be a Sheffield influence here, because they sell Henderson's Yorkshire relish (see here if you don't know what that is).

There's all sorts of other things in this packed shop, like quirky and retro confectionery. Having gone in to get some onions you may find you've also bought some chilli or lavender plants or a pretty mug!

I always enjoy going in, as I never know what I'm going to find next!

Pomona Grocery

1-2 Castle Gates
Shrewsbury
Shropshire
SY1 2AQ

Tel: 01743 366660

Web: www.facebook.com/pages/Pomona-Grocery/106858282756713

Stirchley Stores

Posted by Unknown Friday, March 29, 2013 0 comments

Stirchley Stores is a new co-op, which sells ethical, affordable and local food. It's run by volunteers and there's a lovely atmosphere the moment you enter the shop.

Working with other businesses in the area, the aim is to rejuvenate Stirchley. The shop opened last autumn, and is on the busy A441, not far from Bournville railway station.

It's next door to Loaf, which contains a cookery school and is a social enterprise with the aim of building up communities and promoting real food and healthy living in Birmingham.

Tom Baker, who was an NHS nutritionalist, runs the Loaf on a day-to-day basis and is passionate about what he does.

inside the shop there's wholefoods and eco friendly products:

and even a cookery book section where you can donate your old books and buy new ones.

Why I really like this shop is because there's a great selection of bread:

which are made in the bakery at the back of the shop:

They were recently included in the Sunday Telegraph's list of Britain's top 5 bakeries. They use flour from Shipton Mill, a Cotswold mill which produces quality flour using traditional methods.

There's even a Stirchley loaf, a half wholemeal bread with a lovely crust:

The Foccacia is also great:

and, with the shops emphasis on local ingredients, is made with English rapeseed oil.

There's also cakes, like this bread pudding:

and we can recommend these Chelsea buns:

This is a great enterprise, that ticks all the boxes for me. Fantastic local food, served by lovely people - you leave the shop feeling the world is a better place!

Stirchley Stores
1421 Pershore Road
Stirchley
Birmingham
B30 2JL

Web: www.loafonline.co.uk
&
www.stirchleystores.co.uk

Audlem - Hoc's Fat Pigeon

Posted by Unknown Thursday, January 17, 2013 0 comments

I thought I'd start this post with a picture of the church of St James the Great in Audlem. The earliest part dates back to the 13th century. In front of the church is the Buttermarket. Audlem was granted its Market Charter in 1296.

It's nice to see the village is still thriving. Whilst other villages are losing their shops, in Audlem new shops keep opening! Audlem is also where one of my favourites walks is.

A short distance from the church up Cheshire Street is Hoc's Fat Pigeon. It's a friendly shop which their Facebook page tells me "if its fair-traded, organic, natural, therapeutic, wholefoods and healthy you'll find it at the Fat Pigeon"!

Inside you'll find everything from eco English charcoal,

and cereals to cous cous.

Where possible there's an emphasis on local food so there's Staffordshire Oatcakes, Cheshire honey and free range eggs from Ben's Eggs at Hookgate.

They also sell organic and local fruit and vegetables:

Hoc's Fat Pigeon

9 Cheshire Street
Audlem
Cheshire
CW3 0AH

Tel: 01270 812424

Web: www.hocsfatpigeon.co.uk

Northampton - The Daily Bread Co-operative

Posted by Unknown Wednesday, November 7, 2012 0 comments

The Daily Bread Co-operative is a rather special place! They're committed to providing healthy, high quality food at very reasonable prices.

I asked their manager if he'd hear of the excellent Unicorn Grocery which is one of the first places I visited when I started this blog. He told me that the Unicorn Grocery was based on the same model, devised by Roger Sawtell in the 1980s, and it was first used by the Daily Bread Co-operative in Northampton.

The building I'd assumed was an old railway station, but actually was once laundry to St Andrews Hospital up the hill.

Inside the shop:

there's over 5,000 different products. The Daily Bread was one of the first to champion causes such as Fair Trade goods and organic food production, and do not stock any product containing animal products.

Because it's a genuine co-op prices are less than what you'd pay elsewhere. The savings are even greater if you buy larger sizes:

so why not start your own mini co-op and buy a bigger bag than you need and share it with friends and neighbours.

At the back of the shop there's spices:

and again the cost is a fraction of what you'd pay in a supermarket.

I bought 50g of organic dill for about the same as you'd pay for 10g in a supermarket.

There's chilled and frozen products:

like Sheese - a variety of non dairy and dairy free cheese substitutes suitable for vegans and Woodlands Dairy sheep and goats' milk products.

I bought some apple juice:

from the Village Orchard and some Chunky Piccalilli:

from Labour of Love preserves. It didn't need "Labour of love" on the label, you could tell it was made with love... I see she makes a Wild Blackberry & Pinot Noir Jam, and a Hopping Mad Hearty Ale Chutney (made with ale from the Hopping Mad Brewery). I'll be on the look out for anything she makes...

Bizarrely until recently the one thing the Daily Bread didn't sell was bread (it a Christian co-op which gets its name from the bible). However they've now put that right:

If you're too far from Northampton, there's also a daily bread in Cambridge, and you can also shop online at ecofair.

Daily Bread Co-operative Ltd
The Old Laundry
Bedford Road
Northampton
NN4 7AD

Tel: 01604 621531

Web: http://www.dailybread.co.uk

Oxford - Uhuru Wholefoods

Posted by Unknown Friday, August 17, 2012 0 comments

Just in case you're wondering, Uhuru means Freedom in Swahili! This shop started life in 1974, when a group of students started selling crafts from the third world. It developed into a whole-foods shop and has been in its current location since 1977.

I found the staff friendly and helpful. It's a place where you can buy items like spinach pakora, vegetable samosa and organic bean and vegetable pasties. In the week (Monday to Friday) there's home made soup, suitable for vegans.