Even the wheat has a beautiful view of the sea. Norfolk is where all the elements collide.
We love: The progressive approach to baking, white washed original interiors and their visual identity by Polytechnic. Oh and of course Harry’s incredible home made pasta.
Where: Melton Constable or online.
Who: Polly, Harry and the rest of the team.
What’s the best thing about Norfolk?
Around here, you end up cycling places and driving everywhere. When you’re 17 you just learn to drive, so you really get to know your immediate surroundings quickly and it’s important to appreciate what’s in your local area.
Why Norfolk?
I grew up around here, and then went on to spend some time in France making bread. The space at this old railway Siding became available and I thought it would be a great base to start a bakery and provide the people of Norfolk with great coffee, good bread and delicious pastries. I got to know so much about Melton Constable from starting Siding. It was built on the railway industry…the track actually came right alongside our building to allow freight trains to unload their goods. Since then, the space has been used for printing canvas covers amongst other things, and you can still see the print marks on the concrete floor – but we love these unique details.
It’s not just tea rooms and tourists. There’s a real community sense around here.
Polly Quick
So what did you do to the space?
There was a bit of reorganising to make it into a working bakery. But when it comes to the aesthetics, we didn’t do much with it…it was already all white in all honesty. Our friends down in London did the design work for us and we asked them choose the name too. They knew our ethos and essence and what they’ve done is incredible.
What’s your journey been like to get to where you are?
The whole point was to become part of a sustainable food system and show that we can not just grow wheat locally but use it locally too. The wheat grown for us is actually in a field with a sea view…so we like to think of it as happy wheat! We started very small and simple, it was initially me and my sister. We’ve grown so much thanks to continued local interest and support. People who love the railway come in with photos of how it used to look and they have maps. Someone came in and said their relatives used to work in here when it was still part of the railway which was incredible.
Lovely, so what’s your home like?
We live just 10 minutes from the bakery which makes an easy commute with the early starts. Our home has a real feeling of space like most of Norfolk. We’re always interested in how the houses around us are changing and tired buildings are being made into new homes.
This is one of our fave places in the whole of the UK for sourdough, coffee and croissants. Honestly.
So if you, or anyone you know are looking to sell your home in this beautiful part of the country – Norfolk – then head here.
