Sam Oldham didn’t know how to bake before 2020. Now, just a few years later, he’s about to open the doors to Hive Bakehouse’s first café on Market Street – and he’s doing it in style.
Set inside the old stables next to the Wheatsheaf, the building hasn’t been occupied in nearly 50 years. “We actually found a porn magazine from 1974 stuffed behind some cladding,” Sam laughs. “That gives you an idea of when it was last used!”
Baking beginnings
The Hive Bakehouse began in the shed at the bottom of Sam’s garden during the pandemic. He was working from home for Warburtons at the time, and like many of us, was looking for something to fill the hours – and maybe the soul. “I didn't know how to bake, but I wanted to teach myself. A colleague of mine was getting into sourdough too, so we kind of did it together, virtually.”
