Lancashire’s Larder | Bowland Food Hall

“There’s something new, different and unexpected around every corner”

Food producers from all over Lancashire – and further afield – are selling their mouth-watering wares at the showpiece Bowland Food Hall, the latest attraction in the awe-inspiring £10million redevelopment of Holmes Mill at Clitheroe.

It’s much more than you’d expect from a farmers’ market or a topend supermarket… it’s a veritable food theatre, where there’s something new, different and unexpected around every corner.

Under an amazing curved roof made of aluminium, and behind a wall of glass, Bowland Food Hall is a food-lover’s delight with more than 6,000 square feet of floor space and nearly 60 sellers offering the finest locally-produced food, from luscious chocolate to farm-fresh eggs, along with overseas delights from charcuterie to fine olive oil.

“It’s like Lancashire’s Larder,” says Holmes Mill marketing manager Heidi Kettle. “A place where all the food has a story, that’s what makes Bowland Food Hall such a great attraction.”

Among the suppliers are Little Town Dairy, Bowland Outdoor Reared Pork Beef and Lamb, Roy Porter butchers, Bowland Forest Eggs, Leagrams organic dairy cheese, Cowman’s sausage specialist butchers, Bowland Chocolate and many more, along with fine ales from Bowland Brewery based in Holmes Mill.

Alison Ashworth, Bowland’s Food Finder, said: “For the last six months I’ve been seeking out and buying the fabulous produce that we make here in Lancashire, and there have been some surprises too. Did you know there was a herd of buffalo in Inglewhite, the milk from which is used to make Inglewhite Buffalo Cheddar?

“It’s a project that it is easy to be passionate about, and as a team we want to share the producers’ stories with the customers. Somehow food seems to taste so much better when you know how much love and attention has been involved in bringing it to sale.”

The redevelopment of Holmes Mill as a major leisure hub is on ongoing project by James’ Places, who have a substantial portfolio of pubs, hotels and restaurants in Lancashire and Yorkshire, all sharing the same ethos of providing top-class service for discerning customers.

The Bowland Beer Hall, opened a year ago and boasting the country’s longest bar, is a social hub hosting regular live music events and festivals, and there’s also a function room for weddings, parties and other big events, a patisserie, cafe and a gelateria, all in unique surroundings.

The mill’s steam engine and some other old machinery are preserved and on display as a fascinating reminder of the mill’s past role as a textile maker dating from 1823, combining northern pride with modern chic.