One Month In
We’ve been open for just over a month now, and we’ve been overwhelmed by the way the community have embraced our little Bakehouse on Stoneham Road. We love the fact that children check out what’s happening at the bakery on the way to school, and that people just pop their heads in to say hello.
We’re baking more and more each week to keep up with the demand. It seems our cinnamon buns have kind of gone viral, with people queueing on Fridays and Saturdays before 10 to get their hands on some. Our official hours have us opening at 10am, which is to ensure we have everything out of the oven by that point, but if we have bread out of the oven you can always pop in to buy a loaf or two.
Our mission has always been to nourish the community, through providing good bread, but also supporting the community’s wellbeing through breadmaking. We’ve started to run our workshops on a Tuesdays and Wednesdays at the Bakehouse, and we’ve got sessions with Rise UK, Young Carers, and local Brownies groups coming up in the next few weeks. For those of you wanting to learn to bake, there are workshop dates on our website, as well as our Eventbrite page, and more dates will be added soon. Our workshops are relaxed, and we always have time to chat and eat some of what we bake.
Wow What A Start!
We’re into our third week of opening, and the Bakehouse team has been blown away by the response we’ve had from the community. It’s been great to receive good wishes from people, and awesome to see so many of you coming to buy (and buy more of) our bread. Thank you. 
We are going to be closed this Thursday for staff training, with a few of us in the bakehouse in the afternoon prepping the doughs for Friday. Normal service will resume on Friday with our cinnamon buns, bagels, and loaves being ready at 10am when we open. Our opening hours will be 10-1 & 2:30-4 Thursdays & Fridays, and Saturday 10-1.
If you haven’t tried our bread yet, do come down to the Bakehouse and grab yourself something.
We’re Open Tomorrow
We’re going to be having a soft opening on Saturday 6th May from 10-1pm. It’ll be a chance for our team of volunteers to get baking and try some things out, but also your first chance to come and buy our bread.
We’ll be baking a select range including our sourdough, white, malthouse, and wholemeal 5050 loaves.
We’ve Got An Oven – April Update
So, this morning was a momentous occasion in the life of Stoneham Bakehouse. We had our oven delivered! We’ve always wanted to bring an oven into the heart of the community, and now we can say we’ve achieved that. It’s still to be commissioned, so we can’t quite get baking yet, but we’re most definitely a big step closer to opening our bakery and being able to nourish the community.
Many of you will have supported our Crowdfunder campaign. Thank you. It’s because of people like yourselves that we have been able to get this oven. It’s also down to fellow members of the Real Bread Campaign, Tom Chandley Ovens, who sold us a discounted oven, and who drove all the way down from Manchester on a Sunday to get it delivered this morning.
With Easter fast approaching, we’ve decided to open for a few hours on Good Friday to sell our hot cross buns. Baked in various kitchens across Poets’ Corner, these mark the last bake we’ll do in our former state as ‘gypsy’ bakers. Come along to the Bakehouse on Friday morning from 9, pick up a hot cross bun, and whilst you’re there check out how we’re getting on with making the place into a bakery.
Over the last few months one of the things which has heartened us, and kept us motivated, has been people knocking on the door when we’ve been painting, or catching us in the street, to express their excitement for the bakehouse coming to Stoneham Road. It’s great to hear people supporting our mission. Being excited about the prospect of real bread on their doorstep, but also backing us to help nourish the community’s wellbeing. We got a nice mention from our local MP Peter Kyle the other day saying just that.
Big Plans Big Power
Today marks the real start of our big plans for the Bakehouse on StonehamRoad. Today has seen the groundwork going in for our updated electrics. With our plans for a Bakehouse which provides bread and breadmaking to the community, we need to start off right. So, over the next few days you’ll see work going on to give us the systems we need to nourish the community when we’re open. Electrics first, then the all important oven you’ve helped to fund, then the other equipment which will help us be a successful community bakery.
