Farewell To Parkers

Ealing's oldest bakery has closed its doors for the last time

 
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The last hot cross bun has been served and Ealing’s oldest bakery has now turned off its oven and locked its doors for good.

Parkers on Northfield Avenue has been a local institution, serving the community who queued for the fresh bread and cakes for over 100 years.

Owner Brian Davis, 70, started in the business 49 years ago when he worked weekends while studying avionics engineering.

He said, "John Parker, the owner, died very suddenly, and I took two weeks off from university to help out. Then 49 years went by."

After a medical scare last year, Mr Davis considered closing at Christmas, but decided Easter was more appropriate.

The day of closing saw local customers out in force queuing to wish Brian and all the staff well.

Brian said, ''We had a very busy day on Saturday, selling another 2000 Hot Cross Buns.  In the evening, staff with their families, friends and local traders had a drink and meal together in The Forester.  The ladies from the shop were presented with flowers and the men bottles of whiskey as a token of my gratitude for their hard work, some over many years.''

During talks with the developer, Mr Davis said the shop frontage may be retained, but it is unclear what will fill the spot.

The shop already had planning consent to extend the rear of the building, which Mr Davis said had made it easy for the developer to convert the property into homes.

Mr Davis said he felt happy, sad and guilty to close.

Happy to have more time to himself, sad because it was the end of an era, and guilty that he was putting staff out of work and letting customers down.

Mr Davis says the 3am starts will be a hard habit to break, but luckily he has plenty of time to acclimatise.

Contributions and images from Ged Cann Local Democracy Reporter

24 April 2019

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