Shop is still cream of the crop
Famous Midland ice cream parlour going strong for over 85 years
FROM humble Rubery beginnings, two brothers went on to lick the competition with their famous ice cream, even earning the title of making the best in the country.
It all began when milkmen Harry and Arthur Fathers took all their dairy experience from Rubery, on the Worcestershire-Birmingham border, to take over a new milk round of Tudor Dairies in Henleyin-Arden in the 1930s.
Though the brothers were delivering milk by day across Henley-inArden, Warwickshire, at night the pair were experimenting with leftovers to make cream, butter and the product that would eventually make them most famous – ice cream.
For the brothers’ mother used to make homemade ice-cream at her small shop in Rubery and they had watched her carefully.
They began using the family recipe under the Henley Ice Cream brand in 1934.
Just three years later, Harry and Arthur won the Premier Award for their ice-cream, making it the best in the country in 1937.
Current shop owner Cindy Brittan said: “The shop became more and more popular as the excellent reputation of Henley Ice Cream spread and soon enough, their shop turned into an ice-cream parlour.
“Harry and Arthur used the know-how from their mother and word soon spread about their delicious Henley Ice-Cream.
“By 1938, the volume of customers visiting the parlour brought
traffic in Henley to a standstill, so a uniformed employee was taken on to direct traffic and prevent holdups in the High Street.”
Even now, more than 80 years later, their shop attracts long queues in the summer, despite it being passed on to others.
When the brothers retired in 1959 it went to Ross Foods Ltd and several other owners, through to the latest, Ms Brittan and her daughter Emily Adams.
The Second World War interrupted the brothers’ early success as ice-cream production was banned due to food shortages, and led to the parlour being transformed into an air raid post.
When food rations were introduced once war was over, the brothers had to think on their feet as they only had enough ingredients to make two days worth of icecream a week.
Limiting the days they sold their delicious goods, they ended up with customers lining up to buy it on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
For those visiting the ice-cream parlour and cafe in Main Street today, there are more than 40 flavours to try in peak season and around half of those in the winter.
Deliciously creamy favours range from Jaffa Cake to Lemon Meringue, Toffee Apple Crumble and even Walnut and Maple.