Spend Lancashire: The ice cream parlour that continues to sweeten its town and hasn't changed the recipe since 1929

The original dairy shop began with a Lancashire farming family, John and Mary Holden back in 1929. The couple began selling their ice cream the year their first daughter Marion was born almost a century ago. The couple went on to have two more children Jack and Jim Holden and Jack famously took over the shop.

Many people think of Holdens and Co as ‘Jack’s shop’ and remember him fondly selling his ice cream in a white coat. Jack ran the shop until he couldn’t any longer, he passed it on to the Cort family, who Richard Cort was the godson of Marion.

Now run by a father and daughter duo, remaining in line with local family values, Richard Cort aged 66, and Lucy Cort aged 37 both from Bolton haven’t changed the recipe since taking over in 2010.

Lucy said: “I can 100% vouch that it’s the same recipe using the same machinery since Jack had it. There are certain ingredients that we could do with looking at, with the way the economy is at the moment it would be beneficial for us but we just won’t. It’s a principle we will not change the recipe of the original ice cream, we want to give people that same experience they have always enjoyed.

"The whole purpose of us buying the business is we want to make a living don’t get me wrong but we want to keep the ice cream going. It’s been around a hell of a long time and it’s really well-loved. There are generations of families that have enjoyed it and still do. There are people who came as little ones, but they’re older now so they have grandkids and it's one of those things that’s a part of people's families and we want to keep that going. We have developed new ice cream flavours and we have grown the business and brand but ultimately the priority is making sure the ice cream's original quality is there.”

Holdens and Co now have three different sites selling their much loved, original, dairy ice cream. The original store sits in the heart of Edgworth village. Holden and Co opened a second site in October 2016, in the idyllic setting of Haigh Hall and Country Park, nestled in the Kitchen Courtyard. Their third site can be found at The Hideaway cafe.

Holdens and Co spoke with us as part of our Spend Lancashire campaign where we want to showcase the stories behind the businesses and ask our readers to think local when shopping this Christmas.

Not only attracting the attention of a local customer base, Holden and Co have also been featured in the British Vogue magazine back in 2018. As part of a summer/spring collection of food, the ice cream parlour displayed to a national readership how great our Lancashire locals are.

Lucy said: “One of the sales team at Vogue, was from the North-West and she’d been asked if there was anything from her region that she remembered from being a child that was really good for spring/summer food, her reaction was ‘oh my god I know the best ice cream shop ever where I’m from’ and they gave us a call. It was a three-month summer feature, it was brilliant!

“We’re really proud of the business and we want to shout about it. We want to give it a modernised future but it's the Holden family who have made it what it is. They’re hardworking and humble people. Marion Holden is still with us, she comes into the shop every day and has an ice cream every day.”

The Cort family cherishes the heritage of the ice cream they sell as Holdens & Co. are proud, family-run, artisan ice cream makers who have been making their famous dairy ice cream from the same site in Edgworth Village in Lancashire since 1929.

The milk in the ice cream comes from Holstein Friesian cows who graze in the fields of the same farm Holden’s have always worked with and their original dairy ice cream has just 6 ingredients.

Lucy said: “It's 93 years old, its outlived people today. It’s mentioned so frequently. Everyone knows the ice cream.”

“I think with the cost of living crisis people are starting to think more about where they shop and who they support and the fact there are local businesses that they still want to get through to the other side of this. Hopefully better and stronger.

“I think inherently, British people, especially northern British people are very community driven and ultimately we will just keep doing what we’re doing. We will adapt and move with the times as much as we need to but at the same time as long as what we’re doing is good quality - which we know it is - and as long as we are listening to our customers. I don’t think we can go too far wrong. We need to be as consistent as we can be.

“We are really feeling it, and Christmas is a really great time to spend it with one another so if you can spend your money and support your local businesses because if you want them there in the future that’s what it’s all about. You know you’re going to get better quality products and things so if you’re going to spend, spend wisely. Yes, it might cost a little bit more but chances are it's going to be a better product that you will prefer more and it means you will have your artisanal producers there through to the end of this.”