There are not many things in life which transcend generations and remain exactly the same. But in Swansea, since 1933, there's been one bakery which has been ever present, selling homemade food with the same recipes as your mum or dad may have tried when they were younger.
Kristy's Bakery, which can be found along Eversley Road in Sketty, is something of a city institution, and has won legions of loyal customers young and old for generations thanks to its famous custard slices, animal biscuits, Swansea pies and cocktail pies to name but a few. Its history is a fascinating one. It all started when Alice Marjorie Taylor - with help from her sister Kathleen - opened a small bakery and cafe on St Helen's Road, Swansea. Their popular shop sold bread, cakes and pies - the same recipes which are used to this day. Among the bakery's early customers, it is believed that a young Dylan Thomas used to visit the original cafe back in the mid-thirties.
Alice continued to build her new venture for a few years until war broke out and the bakery was bombed. But this didn't spell the end of Kristy's, with the sisters opening a new bakehouse in Alexandra Road. But the bad luck kept coming as the Alexandra Road bakery soon became another casualty of bomb damage, forcing them to change premises once again. In the early 1940s, the sisters made their final move to Eversley Road in Sketty, where the bakery has remained ever since.
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In 1955, a 15-year-old apprentice called Alan Jenkins joined the staff. The keen youngster forged a career in baking and remained with Kristy's for twenty years, eventually taking over as owner in 1975. His craftsmanship pleased hundreds of customers over the years, including former US president Jimmy Carter who enjoyed Kristy's handmade truffles when he visited Swansea in 1995.
In 1997, Mr Jenkins sold the bakery to the current owner and head baker, Antonio Carra. Despite having more than 20 years of culinary experience at the time - running restaurants in Italy, England, Wales and Canada, Mr Carra was less familiar with the world of baking. But he relished the new challenge and soon learned the trade, before adding his own twist by introducing traditional Italian breads, cakes and pasta sauces to the shop - including focaccia, pizzas, cannoli and panettone.
He also began the trend of chocolate wedding cakes, with one of his customers even being the daughter of Paul Newman. The actor himself even gave his seal of approval. Over the years Swansea Pies have been sent to Russia, cakes to America, Christmas puddings to Australia and wedding cakes to France. They even sent 400 Welsh cakes over to the Shetland Islands. Customers to the bakery are treated more like friends, with the people who come in being on first name terms with Mr Carra and his partner Teresa.
Mr Carra recalled: "When I took over most of the recipes were the old ones, and I just decided to keep them. The animal biscuits that we sell - I had a couple of people from America come in who used to study at Swansea University around 40 years ago, and they were raving because the biscuits were exactly the same as they remembered them! We use the same cutters now as they did all that time ago. Then you have other people who come in and remember the cabinets, which are still the same today as they were then.
"I wanted to bring in a few things of my own, mainly focaccia bread, Sicilian bread, and savoury breads. I've done things like laverbread focaccia for the Six Nations and occasions like that. I can wake up in the morning and if I feel like doing something, I'll do it. I don't have to wait for the boss from Tesco or Marks and Spencer to tell me whether we'll be able to do it, I do it."
For many years, Mr Carra has turned his hand at a unique chocolate construction to raise as much money as possible for many different charities and good causes, something he feels a particular sense of pride about. These have included amazing creations such as nativity scenes, a seven kilo chocolate pudding, six pound Christmas chocolate logs, a two-foot tall nine pound snowman, an angel made with 3kg of white chocolate, and much much more.
It is nearly 90 years since Kristy's first opened, and 25 years since Mr Carra took over the reins of the well-known bakery. But at the age of 70, with a heavy heart, he has decided it is time for him to hang up his apron. The bakery has now been placed up for sale, and although the future is uncertain, Mr Carra hopes that someone will step forward, take over the business in its current guise and keep the bakery going long into the future.
Mr Carra said: "I need to retire. I have been working since I was five, and I'm 70 now, I'm no spring chicken, some days you get an ache here, an ache there. When you work by yourself to produce all of the items you see in the shop, it is quite hard. I dread to think in the future what I'm going to do but I will find something to do, eventually. I'm just starting to think about it now. It could be after Christmas, it could be Easter time, but the bakery has been placed up for sale. We've got some customers who have been coming here since the age of five. The customers who have heard about it say they are sad to see me going and that they will miss me, but they realise I have done quite well.
"I'd love to see it continue on as a bakery under new owners. If they do want to carry it on as a bakery, I'd be prepared to stay on and work for next to nothing, teach them and show them the ropes. If they want to come in and do their own thing with their own idea to run it, fine, but I'd love to see it carry on. Someone could walk in here and carry on working straight away. Whatever they need, it's here."
Kristy's Bakery is currently up for sale and is being marketed by Dawsons Property for £395,000. If you wish to express your interest in the property, you can do so by clicking here.
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