From writer to baker

I am a writer, a published author, and a jobbing journalist of nearly three decades, that was until May 2023 when AI took my livelihood away overnight. I was left in a rut, not knowing what to do with my life. So I turned to my other passion: baking. 

 

Now, I have been baking my own bread for nearly 20 years, ever since I moved to Somerset because there being no local shop or bakery back then, I really missed fresh bread. I started out with a bread machine, and when that died an unceremonious death, I started baking by hand. Over the years I have developed a natural talent for all things bread, baking everything from sourdough to Tibetan steamed bread, naan and Irish soda bread, Scottish griddle pancakes, and pumpernickel. I love all things bread, and so thought why not turn my passion into a business and provide bread to my local community. 

 

And then I discovered way back in my family tree that my great grandfather’s father was a baker in rural Wales at the turn of the last century. Was this all meant to be? Was breadmaking in my genes? So I set about taking a business course, gained my Food and Hygiene Safety Certificate Level 2, and started my own artisan bakery. 

 

Yes, I shall keep on writing when I get the time, perhaps I will even get round to penning that long-promised recipe book. But for now, it's all about the bread...