Family bakery shuts up shop after nearly 120 years

Shaking hands with a customer of 40 years, John and Mary Catton beam with pride over the joy their bread has brought the community.

They are preparing to shut their beloved Harrogate bakery, which has been in the family for 119 years.

As the couple and their staff sell their last loaves, they are inundated with praise from North Yorkshire residents, who speak to them like old friends.

After four generations of bakers, Lancaster's Bakery on Cold Bath Road will shut due to rising costs.

"My grandfather started it in 1906," said Mary, 71.

"The story in the family was he had no work in Scarborough, and had a relation in Harrogate, so walked here."

Harry Lancaster found a job in a local bakery, before he met his wife Alice and decided to set up his own shop.

Their five children, one of whom was Mary's father, worked in the bakery and then Mary and her four brothers went on to do the same during school holidays.

In 1983, Mary left her career in finance and her husband John left his job in the steel industry to buy the family business.

"John was 40 when we started, he is now 81," Mary said.

"I've enjoyed all of it, all of the time," John added.

"In the '80s, bakeries were closing left, right and centre because everyone said supermarkets were going to take over.

"Supermarkets clearly have a place but family businesses, if you make a good product, people are interested in food provenance."

The couple said their location on the Harrogate high street meant their bakery had thrived for many years because people living there were prepared to buy something "a little more special".

During the last 40 years, the fourth generation of the family also put on their aprons to help out.

Mary recalled all of her nieces being Saturday girls at the bakery and her daughter Claire Hutchinson said the shop had always been a big part of her life.

"I've had a very sweet tooth as I've grown up because of all the flapjack and vanilla slices," Claire laughed.

"When I was younger, I worked here as soon as I could, until I went to university.

"Then I came back for a few years, before I had my little boy eight years ago."

Claire returned every year on Christmas Eve to give her family a hand and donned her apron again for the final week in business that would end on 1 February.

"It's been amazing, the customers have been so kind and it's quite upsetting listening to people's memories.

"The queue has been out of the door for most of the day today."

Manning the till on the penultimate day of trading, James Soper said it had been lovely to hear customers' tales.

"Some people will come in every week for their bread and families will come in to get a biscuit before school - it's great to be part of a place like this," he said.

"I will miss working here."

Mary and John put the reasons for closing down to rising ingredient costs, high utility bills and changes to employer costs in the most recent Budget.

They said the response from the community had been "overwhelming, heart-warming and very moving".

"It's like an obituary but you're still alive," John said.

"It's been lovely to feel you have been appreciated."

"We will probably sail off into the sunset now," Mary laughed.

"It will be nice to get up in the morning and say 'what are we going to do today?'."

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