Founded in Alderley Edge in 1950 by George and Kathleen Wienholt, G. Wienholt has become a village institution and is now celebrating 60 years.
During the 1890's master confectioner Ferdinand Wienholt moved from North Germany to Manchester, bringing with him his famous Vanilla Slices. In the late 1920's his son August opened up the Premier Cafe in Cheadle. It was here that George Wienholt learnt his craft from his father before opening his own business in Alderley Edge in 1950.
Since George passed away in 1984, his son Martin, together with his wife Rosemary, have run the business and now a fifth generation Wienholt, Martin and Rosemary's daughter Heather, has taken over the reins of the business to guide it for the next 60 years.
Heather Wienholt said "I have been working in the bakery for around 10 years, though much longer if you count holidays, Saturday work and child slavery! My mum Rosemary runs the shop and continues to do so, while my dad Martin has taken semi retirement and handed the daily running of the bakery and the business as a whole over to me.
"Our bakery was opened by my granddad in 1950, back then it looked like a pretty modern set up but in all the time my dad has worked here he has changed very little, so as the world of retail and manufacture has changed around us we have through no design of our own become quite unique in our old fashionedness!
"Basically we take flour, add water, fats, sugar and create bakery products out of all that, without packaging, preservatives, production lines, marketing or men in suits! Just as food used to be produced in 1950."
To celebrate 60 delicious years Martin Wienholt and long standing friend and business associate Peter Sheridan are inviting customers to see behind the scenes of Wienholt's Bakery. They will be holding a series of open evenings to give customers the chance to see inside the bakery and try a little "hands-on" confectionary.
Heather explained "Dad now works two days a week and so has time on his hands and has decided he wants to do these open evenings. They are a way we can connect with our customers, dad thinks it will be fun, and we would love people to see behind the scenes.
"Some people think we just work a 3 day week, take a peek in the back door and it's a hive of industry 6, sometimes 7 days a week to get the vast range of products to our shelves by Thursday. Bakery requires a high degree of skill combined with a lot of hard work.The bakery's a bit shabby, but it's been worked hard for 60 years and we are very proud of it."
The open evenings will be held on Monday 28th June, Monday 15th July and Monday 12th July from 7pm to 8.30pm. There will be a charge of £10 per person with all proceeds going to East Cheshire Hospice.
To reserve a place pop in to Wienholts and complete the booking slip. Places are limited to 10 people per session and will be allocated on a first come first serve basis but if the demand is there they will put on more open evenings.
Pictured above (l-r) Heather and Rosemary Wienholt.
