A RIBBLE Valley shop will celebrate 100 years in business next week.
Hudson’s Ices in Downham Road, Clitheroe was opened as a butchers in 1913 but has been serving up fresh ice cream for 76 years – and still uses the machinery installed after the war ended.
Co-owner Mandy Paul said: “The ice-cream takes eight hours to make by hand.
“All the fruit is sourced locally from markets and, from the shop, we can see the cows the milk comes from. We pasturise the milk ourselves – and it tastes much better.”
Mandy, and her husband Mark, have owned the shop since 1999 and put their success down to their refusal to introduce gimmicks.
“It’s quite unique. We are trying to keep everybody happy but we do not have any wacky flavours,” Mandy said: “At the moment people want to stay traditional.”
Hudson’s was originally opened in 1913 as a butcher’s run by Clifford Hudson. You can still see the ceiling hooks and old marble slab he used.
In the late 1930s, Clifford’s wife and daughter moved into making ice cream after he became ill. After testing their product at a birthday party, they decided to start a business but plans were put on hold by the outbreak of the Second World War.
The ice-cream is still made the same way in the original dairy, including a 1940s wafer maker, and the recipe is still a top secret.
Mandy said: “I’m in the process of moving into wholesale but only to one unique supplier. To keep Hudson’s alive in this day and age it would be better to sell to just one person.”
Hudson’s is holding a vintage tea party on Friday, July 19 to celebrate the centenary.
The tea party will feature tea, coffee, cakes and ham sandwiches, and the Ribble Valley mayor will attend a ‘brain freeze challenge’ to see how much ice-cream people can eat in two minutes.
The cost is £5 to enter with proceeds split between A Soldier’s Journey and SSAFA (Soldiers’, Sailors’ and Airmen’s Families Assocation).
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