Experience Grasmere at our place

Everyone at The Grasmere Gingerbread Shop loves to talk – to customers over our busy counter and on the telephone, as well as to passers-by.

But we also host special talks at our historic shop about Grasmere Gingerbread® to groups of visitors from the UK and tourists from the rest of the world.

Discover

• Why Grasmere village is the ‘jewel in the crown’ of UNESCO’s Lake District (just an hour’s drive from the border with Scotland);
• How the bustling 18th century port of Whitehaven influenced the development of unique Cumbrian foodstuffs;
• The fascinating history of Cumberland Rum Butter and what makes it so special;
• How humble Victorian cook Sarah Nelson defied the odds and her poor working-class background to invent her unique Grasmere Gingerbread® in 1854;
• The fascinating history of the Grasmere Gingerbread Shop (the original village school built in 1630 and Sarah Nelson’s Church Cottage home);
• What happened to Grasmere Gingerbread® after Sarah died in 1904 and the people who, ever since, have safeguarded her incredible delicacy;
• How TV coverage and the backing of leading chefs and celebrities has helped to make Grasmere Gingerbread® world-famous and reach customers across the globe through our mail order service.

Experience

Held outside our shop for up to 30 people, the talks bring Cumbria’s unique culinary history and the story of Sarah Nelson to life (if it’s raining we go under umbrellas or beneath the adjacent church lychgate).

Presented by an experienced team member in Victorian costume, which is great for photographs – they are very popular with special interest groups and UK and global coach tours seeking a different kind of inexpensive ‘pit stop’.

Our talks last between 20 - 30 minutes depending on your schedules but we can shorten or lengthen times to suit.

As you would expect, with the mouth-watering aroma of sweet ginger hanging in the air – everyone receives:

• A freshly-baked piece of Grasmere Gingerbread®;
• An oatcake spread with our delicious handmade Cumberland Rum Butter;
• Cup of tea or coffee.

Group sizes vary from a minimum of eight* to a maximum of 30. Larger parties of more than 30 are split in two groups. Whilst the first group enjoys the talk, the second is encouraged to stroll around the village and adjacent 13th century St Oswald’s Church (where romantic poet William Wordsworth is buried).

For school group visits please visit our Educational pages

Who came and what they said…

Ramblers Associations, Book clubs, Business groups, Bowls clubs, University groups, Walking groups, Natural History societies, International groups.