9 January 2023
This is the weekly newsletter from Loaf in Stirchley, keeping you abreast of our bakery and cookery school, and other news we think you might be interested in.
Happy new year! This week we announce the charity we’re fundraising for and draw your attention to a very important historical stone on the riverbank.
Scroll down for this week’s lunch menu, cookery school spaces and community news.
🍞 Pre-order your bread and pastries 🥐
We’ll have plenty on the shelves all week, with lunches served from noon on weekdays.
Our opening hours are:
Tue - Fri: 12 - 6
Saturday: 8 - 1
Please note we will be closed on Tuesday 24th January due to our AGM.
Fundraising updates
Thank you for all your donations to the B30 Food Bank last year. We passed on total of £1,075 from August through December along with bags and bags of food. While we are shifting our focus to another charity this year you can, of course, continue to support the food bank directly. And Loaf will remain a drop-off point for food donations along with the bread we send each week.
We’re proud to be fundraising for SIFA Fireside for the next six months. From their website:
Anybody can become unhappy, depressed, addicted, homeless, destitute and at-risk. SIFA Fireside’s services are here to stand by the people of Birmingham while they rebuild their lives with safety and dignity. SIFA Fireside provides an ever-evolving range of responsive services. These include: supporting tenants to pay their electricity bill without a smartphone, enabling clients from the EU to retrieve their birth certificate and making sure that essential needs are met.
You can make a cash donation through our online shop or at the counter with your purchase. And over the next few months we’ll be highlighting what they do and how you might get more involved if you’re able.
Have you found the mill stone of Stirchley?
As a bakery we’re very aware of the history of water-powered mills along the River Rea. If you walk from its source into the city you’ll notice the abandoned infrastructure that powered the early days of the industrial revolution, and of course the grain mills.
Hidden under a tree on the cycle path near the entrance to Birmingham Brew Co there’s a moss-covered lump of roughly circular rock, believed to be the stone from Hazelwell Mill. For most of the year it’s overgrown but in midwinter it’s easily accessible, so go check it out.
The Stirchley Baths blog has a bit of history noting that the mill was first recorded in 1704. The stone was recovered from the river when the bridge was rebuilt and has laid under the tree ever since, presumably because it’s too heavy to shift any further.
We have pipe dreams of having our own mill one day and it would be all too perfect to locate it next to this sleeping giant. But for now the stone is one of the many reminders that we’re part of a long history of bread-making along this river, and hopefully a long future too.
The Breadcrumbs
🥖 Artefact, the artist-run gallery/cafe/bar and a fellow Stirchley co-op, is starting an email newsletter! As a fellow Stirchley co-op we’ll be helping them get it off the ground, so if you like this email, subscribe here!
🥖 Speaking of useful newsletters, the January issue from Cotteridge Park has loads of things to do should you need help getting out of the house and meeting people this winter.
🥖 Pip and Pals, the indie food market curated by Pip of Pip’s Hot Sauce is back at Attic on Sunday 19th February.
🥖 “If you work it, you should control it” - Workers Coops in the Midlands in the 1970s is an online talk by Les Huckfield on Thursday 23rd February. If we’re building the future of co-operation, which we hope we are, it’s best to know our history.
🥖 Real Bread Campaign’s review of 2022 is an invaluable look through a very active year for our industry membership organisation.
If you’ve got news or an event in Loaf’s wheelhouse (some variation on bread / community / cooperatives), let us know at newsletter@loaf.coop
Lunches this week
Tuesday
- Curry: Tarka daal with sourdough (Ve)
Wednesday
- Soup: Spicy roasted parsnip and carrot soup with toasted pumpkin seeds and sourdough (Ve)
Thursday
- Soup: leek and potato soup (Ve) with Parmesan focaccia (v)
Friday
- Curry: Roast cauliflower, chickpea and spinach with sourdough (Ve)
- Salt beef on challah
Tue — Fri
- Sourdough pizza: Mushroom, garlic, rocket, caramelised onion, herb and mozzarella
Wed — Fri
- Ham and cheese croissant
- Pine nut pesto and cheese croissant (V)
Tue — Sat:
- Sausage rolls
- Vegetable rolls (V)
Lunches are made fresh weekdays for 12 noon.
Our menu for the week — with ingredients and allergens — is on the website.
Cookery school classes
The following classes have spaces as of this newsletter being posted.
Loaf’s all-day classes:
- Bread — Back to Basics: Tue 24 Jan, Tue 21 Mar
- Simply Sourdough: Sat 11 Mar
- Heritage Grains: Sat 25 Mar
- Sweet Breads and Viennoiserie: Sat 21 Jan, Sat 11 Feb
Haseen’s evening classes:
Lap’s all-day classes:
- Sausage & Charcuterie: Tue 31 Jan
- Seafood Masterclass: Sat 4 Feb
Lap’s evening classes:
- Thai Cooking: Wed 18 Jan
- Sushi: Wed 8 Feb
- Ramen: Wed 15 Feb
- Macarons: Tue 17 Jan
- Knife Skills: Tue 14 Feb
We release new dates as soon as possible, based on tutor availability. You can sign up to alert lists for specific classes here.
Thanks for all your continued support. See you next week!
Team Loaf: Molly, Neil, Ian, Dave, Dorit, Pete, Martha, Rach, Nancy & Sarah
Website: loaf.coop
Socials: Instagram / Mastodon / Twitter / Facebook