Queues went out door and round corner at bakery
It was the much-loved bakery that fed a city suburb for generations. Tom Deacon looks back at the history of Cardiff institution Franklin’s
BEFORE a time when you could pop to the shop at almost any hour of the day to pick up a loaf of bread, you’d have to visit the local bakery.
And if you lived in one Cardiff suburb, chances are you would have been one of the dozens queueing up outside Franklin’s.
The popular and long-established bakery on Cowbridge Road East served the suburb for decades.
The bakery closed in 2000, but now the family owners have revealed its history.
Franklin’s was run by the Franklin family until the 1960s when the Morgan family, who also owned another bakery on Cowbridge Road – ER Morgans – took over.
David Morgan is the son of John “Gwynfor” Morgan, who was the master baker at Franklin’s until 1994, and was known as Gwyn.
The 58-year-old recalled bakers starting work at 2am, carrying huge black trays topped with a variety of baked goods, and eager Cardiff City football fans stopping off for a pasty on the way to matches at Ninian Park.
David said the shop offered everything you’d expect from a family bakers, but there was one particular type of food they were famous for.
David said: “It was definitely the pasties and the pies. They were the best, even better than Clark’s and I like them.
“We had the custard slices and the bloomer bread too, they did the lot. But the pasties and pies is what we were known for.”
David was around 12 or 13 when he