Producers lining up for Bowland Food Hall
Food and drink producers from Bowland are lining up to showcase their wares at the Bowland Food Hall, opening at the end of May.
The food hall is the latest development by hospitality group James' Places at Holmes Mill in Clitheroe. It promises to be a celebration of locally produced food and drink; a place to find tasty treats and enjoy a relaxing shopping experience complete with refreshments, demonstrations and tastings.
Alison Ashworth is the Bowland Food Finder (BFF) for the food hall. She said: "The Bowland Food Hall will be everything you ever wanted food shopping to be and more. It will be the larder of Holmes Mill, providing what you want rather than what you need, all with the James' Places magic."
Alison is on a mission to find the best Bowland products to sell in the food hall and already has a vast list of the finest the region has to offer.
The Bowland Chocolate Company is among those looking forward to taking its place among the array of elite edibles in the food hall.
The company is run by Angela Anderton, with her husband, David and they are based at their shop, Vanilla Angel, in Slaidburn.
Angela, who has been making chocolates since 2010, uses fresh local cream, Ribble Valley honey and home grown herbs in her creations. She is also currently experimenting with a new flavour using Bowland Brewery's Deerstalker stout in a dark chocolate ganache.
She said: "Bowland is a fabulous place for small independent producers. The food hall will make a huge difference to Bowland Chocolate, enabling us to be accessible to a wider customer base. We are delighted and excited to be involved and are looking forward to supporting the venture and building new relationships with local businesses and customers."
Bowland Forest Eggs is another local producer being featured in the Food Hall.
John Collinson's family has been keeping hens on its Longridge Fell farm for three generations, but in 1997 John took the decision to increase the poultry operation and has never looked back.
He said: "We are quite high up here and our free range hens like it. We have always had the motto, ‘healthy hens, tasty eggs'. Animals and poultry are always happier if they don't have much stress in their lives – very similar to humans really – and our hens are a contented flock.
"The Bowland Food Hall will be great for people who want to buy great quality, fresh local produce. It will support the local economy, be a fantastic advert for the area and at the forefront of shopping for people living in and visiting the Ribble Valley and Bowland."
The Bowland Food Hall will also feature local meats, salads to go, juices, pastries, bakery products, oils, chutneys, preservers, fish and cheese – plus lots more tasty treats. Wine and other drinks are also available and shoppers can enjoy a glass while they watch a cookery demo in a dedicated area of the hall, or simply relax in any of the seating areas as they shop.
The conversion of the weaving shed into the Bowland Food Hall is the latest phase in Holmes Mill's transformation. Already the mill is home to the Bowland Brewery – whose award-winning bottled ales will be on sale in the Food Hall – the Beer Hall, which houses what is believed to be one of the longest bars in Britain, and its function room, café, gelateria and shop. A 41 bedroom apart-hotel is due to open in June.