It was
in 1901 that, having served his apprenticeship, Harry Bernard
Burbidge left the employment of Mr Sturgess's Blisworth bakery
in Northampton, to start his own venture. In the following
years he had business pursuits at New Milton in Hampshire,
Borough Green in Kent ,
and in 1926 he managed a baker's shop and cafe on the pier
at Paignton in Devon. By this time, his son Charles Fletcher
Burbidge was helping in the business, having married Muriel
Taylor, a Welsh girl whose family had moved to Paignton.
They then moved to Regent's
Street, Weston super Mare, to run a new bakery business but
moved to Andover due to the unsteady seasonal trade. In Andover
the family rented a bakery from Mr Bowden of Shipton Bellinger,
and having made a success of the business, were able to purchase
the bakery and adjoining plot in 1937.
Harry Bernard Burbidge retired
in 1956, handing the bakery over to Charles and Muriel who
continued building on Harry's fine tradition. Charles duly
handed the bakery down to his son, John Burbidge in 1963,
and in 1967 the bakery expanded with the new supermarket trend,
becoming the first self-service shop in Andover.
For the next 30 years, the
shop continued in this form, being one of the largest, independent,
family run foodstores in the south of England. On John's retirement
in 1997, the business now managed by John's son Steven Burbidge,
returned to its roots, with the building of a new bakery shop,
specialising in traditionally baked bread and morning goods,
as would have been sold in Harry's day back in 1901. |