Culture And Memory

Making a Crust: An Oral History of London's Bakers and Bakeries

This project will explore and share the rich history of London's bakers and independent bakeries by bridging the gap between veteran bakers and the next generation. We will teach heritage skills to students from the National Bakery School in London who will conduct and record interviews with London's bakers, some with family businesses in London going back generations, along with other more recent arrivals. We will record the baker's experiences and skills in these interviews as well as recording some of the techniques at risk of being lost - the family secrets, and the roots of techniques. A short heritage film will be shared widely including at 16 primary schools in East London where children will learn about the heritage of bakers in London as well as some of these heritage baking skills themselves through a fun and practical heritage programme that also considers environmental sustainability factors in the craft.