Hubert West
History
Hubert West
The Early Days
Over 100 years ago, Hubert West had a dream of an authentic bakehouse, but never would he have thought that his great grandson, Mark, would be continuing the name well into the 21st century. Wests Bakery has been a family business since the day the doors opened, passing through four generations.
Having spent several years in Barford, a small village just 3 miles away, Hubert West bought a property in Wellesbourne, on Warwick Road in 1910. It was private house, with the vision to build a bakehouse out the back. One of the first photos of the bakery, formally known as H WESTS & SONS, is of Hubert and his son Reg, standing out the front next to the delivery vehicle, a Ford Model T.
The first transition
All three of Huberts children were involved in the business from a young age, so when Hubert was to retire in the 1930’s, the business was passed down to Reg & wife, Edith West.
Reg & Edith ran the bakery from the 30’s to the 60’s, and during that time, their daughter Noreen, was regularly working in the bakehouse, frying the donuts on a Saturday morning, alongside sister Linda.
Noreen married Ken Lane, and Ken was next to join the baking team, lining up the next family transition as the generations moved on.
Ken Lane & Reg West
Mark Lane
When the Wests became the Lanes.
It was in 1960, that Ken and Noreen Lane were to take the bakery on themselves running the business together for over 25 years, when son, Mark Lane, was to join his father in the bakehouse.
The fourth Generation
It was in 1995 that Mark became a partner with his father, and then proceeded to inherit the family business. Through this process, the building has very much been kept in its original condition, except for a few modern updates such as mixers and steel tables to replace the original wooden ones. The epitome of the history in this bakery, are the original ovens, that were installed in 1910, alongside the original bread tins that are still used to this day.