Longstraw Bakery

Loaves built on stone-milled grain

Bread comes first here, and the grain is the point. Longstraw works with 100% UK stone-milled wheat, oats and rye, bought from small-scale farmers and millers, and turns it into sourdough, rye sourdough, spelt and wholemeal loaves. The two breads that define the range are the full-flavoured porridge tin loaf and the rye/spelt malt loaf, both of them wholegrain-leaning rather than the pale, soft end of a bakery counter. Everything is mixed and baked from scratch on the premises, with no frozen or par-baked dough, so a loaf carried out of here is the whole of the operation rather than the last stage of someone else's.

An organic bakery on a weekly rhythm

Longstraw was set up in 2022 and is best read as a scratch sourdough bakery rather than a cafe: a short list of loaves, a weekly production rhythm and a supply chain that stays close to home. Its founders started it so that people in Wiveliscombe and this part of west Somerset could buy local grain and local baking instead of watching good food travel away from the area, and the bakery's own language places the work inside regenerative farming and a more resilient local food system. One of them came to it from home baking, learned about milling through sourcing flour, and spent time at Rye Bakery in Frome, which explains why provenance, milling and natural leaven sit at the centre of the range rather than at its edges. The Good Food Guide has named it a Local Gem and credits it with winning over the town.

Start with the porridge tin loaf

Begin with the porridge tin loaf, because it carries the wholegrain flavour the bakery is built on and shows what stone-milled cereal does to a sourdough crumb. The rye/spelt malt loaf is the darker companion, putting rye, spelt and malt at the front of the loaf instead of using them as seasoning. The sweet side is smaller but worth waiting for when it appears: rhubarb and custard pie, roast apricot bostock, and cream buns filled with strawberries macerated in Somerset cider brandy. The strongest visit is bread-led, with one sweet bake chosen after the loaves are settled.