BREAD

Aerated Bread Company

ABC Bakers

Aerated bread was yeast-free. It was made with carbonic acid gas. The technique was devised by Dr John Dauglish (1824-1866). It was faster than conventional and was thought to be more hygienic than bread that was made with yeast.

In 1891 a factory was established in Camden Town. In 1923 the company had 150 branch shops. In 1954 the company stopped making aerated bread. The following year it was acquired by Allied Bakeries (later Associated British Foods).

The Camden Town facility closed in 1982.

Location: 17-21 Camden Road, NW1 9LJ (purple, red)

233 Fleet Street EC4Y 1AA

Bakery Philippe Conticini

Bakery Philippe Conticini opened as a classic French patisserie in 2020. However, trading conditions prompted it to metamorphose into being a purveyor of novelty croissants.

Bread Street

Until the middle of the 17^thC the City of London's corn supply and bread market was controlled by the City Corporation and the livery companies. The switch to private bread baking was aided by the destruction of many of the guild ovens during the Great Fire of 1666.

Location: Bread Street, EC4M 9BE (blue, red)

See Also: THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON

Brown Bread

Dr Thomas Allinson

In 1879 Thomas Allinson (1858-1918) qualified in Edinburgh. Practised in the East End and then Manchester Square. a man is what he eats . He became obsessed with diet. He was critical of the medical profession and fell out with it. An early anti-smoker. In 1892 the General Medical Council struck him off.

He bought a mill in Bethnal Green. A national brand was soon created. Allinson's flour and bread derives their names from him.

Dr Allinson exhibited brown bread at the Health Exhibition of 1884.

Location: 4 Spanish Place, W1U 3HZ

Natural Food Company, 210-214 Cambridge Heath Road, E2 9NQ

Website: www.allinsonsbread.co.uk

White Bread

Chorleywood

In 1961 the Chorleywood breadmaking process was introduced. This produced a loaf that met the supermarket chains wishes but was regarded by bakers as being cotton wool .

Covid

One of the ways in which the British public responded to the covid global pandemic of 2020-2 was by eating more white bread. As a commercial product, it had been in a slow steady decline for many years.

Fascism

The politician Sir Oswald Mosley 6^th Bt. wrote a pamphlet in which he wrote about the dangers of white bread. The cause was taken up by the newspaper proprietor Lord Northcliffe. The baronet went onto found the British Union of Fascists. The peer continued to support him.

David Backhouse 2024