Dear Editor,
I would like to pay tribute to the owners of Walkers bakery, which switches off the ovens for the final time today, Saturday.
This marks the end of more than 100 years of bread making in the town.
Walkers Bakery in Kendrick Street and its sister site in Nailsworth have served generations of families their iconic lardy cakes, flapjacks, hot cross buns and filled rolls.
I’ve lived in Stroud since 1979 and Walkers has always been the go-to place for bread. The staff are some of the nicest people you could ever meet.
Looking at the history books you’ll find the business came into the Walker family ownership in 1939 with Percy Walker taking the helm. In 1961 Wilf Walker and son Don persuaded Percy to sell the lease and Walkers The Bakers was born.
Don took over the bakery from his father in 1969, eventually buying the business in 1984, where he worked for 40 years before he passed away in 2019.
Don’s children, Jamie and Jodie took up the family baton, but the time has come to call it a day due to astounding rise in running costs and ingredients and the decline in footfall has made it impossible for the business to carry on.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you for all you’ve done for Stroud and Nailsworth.
Martin Rogers,
Stroud
