Up at 4am, sold out by noon. A morning behind the counter with the family who bake for half the High Street.
It’s 4am on Portslade High Street and the only lit window belongs to Hartwell’s Bakehouse. Inside, flour hangs in the air and the first trays of sourdough are already proving.
“People think bread is quick,” says the baker, shaping another loaf without looking down. “The good stuff takes two days. We start tomorrow’s dough before we’ve sold today’s.”
A family affair
The bakery is run by one family across two generations. Mornings are for bread, afternoons for the apple buns that regulars queue for on Saturdays, made with apples from an orchard a few miles away.
By 7am the door opens and the High Street starts to wake up: builders on the way to site, parents on the school run, dog walkers fresh off the footpaths.
ADVERTYour business here, read by people across HoveFrom £35 a month“If we sell out by noon, that’s a good day. If we have bread left at four, we’ve made too much.”
Why it matters to the town
Independent shops like this are the reason people choose Portslade over an out-of-town retail park. Every loaf sold keeps money circulating on the High Street, and keeps the street busy enough for the shops around it.
So next time you walk past at 7am, go in. Get the apple bun.
