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My favourite bakery: Tywardreath Bakery
Gail Parsons has written the first in (what we hope will become) a series of articles celebrating people’s favourite Real Bread bakeries.
Tywardreath Bakery is run by Emily Roots and Joe Wood in our village in Cornwall. They are very proud to tell everyone that their cottage microbakery makes Real Bread. Emily says: ‘Real Bread is about simplicity, made from few but good quality ingredients, which come together and make something that sustains you.’ To Emily, Real Bread means ‘no artificial preservatives or other additives, used for shelf-life not nourishment or flavour. For me, Real Bread has meant bringing my community together and enriching the village we live in with food crafted using a time-honoured technique, quality ingredients and my own creativity.’
We have been buying Real Bread from Emily for over a year now. She says: ‘It began when I was heavily pregnant with our little girl in 2024. After making my first loaf, I fell in love. I was mesmerised by it. I soon found myself down a bit of a rabbit hole and couldn’t stop baking!’ Emily posted a poll in our local Facebook group page, asking people whether they would like to buy fresh, Real Bread every week. ‘The response was overwhelming! Every Sunday, I’d make as much bread as our little cottage kitchen could handle. At 11a.m. I’d set up a table outside our home and ten minutes later, everything had gone. The queue down the street was incredible, you had to see it to believe it. This happened week after week after week.’
Emily soon found that she couldn’t bake enough in their domestic oven to keep up with the demand. She crowdfunded the purchase of a professional bread oven (a Rackmaster RM2020 ‘from the one and only Campbell’) that she named Rory, which greatly increased the microbakery’s capacity. She and Joe don’t use a mixer, though, ‘just our hands, so we can feel and connect with the dough.’
A change in direction
There are a number of microbakers who started during lockdown, but Emily’s route was rather different. ‘I’d been in medicine and healthcare for a decade. Throughout COVID, I worked in care homes, nursing homes and A&E. I then spent two years studying and training in anaesthetics.' During that time at university, Emily was assaulted. ‘That threw my career and life into a bit of a shambles. It took me a month to decide to leave everything I had made for myself in London and move to Cornwall.’
Emily had never been to Cornwall before, so why pick here? ‘I knew it was where I wanted to end up, If that makes sense?’ She says. ‘It called to me. People who live here will understand. I am so, so happy that I did.’
No more bloating
Emily constantly changes the choices she offers each week on the bakery’s website. She is very innovative and we all love trying her new ideas. Everything we have bought from her has been exceptionally good. You can forget what Real Bread tastes like! I used to suffer from a bloated stomach if I ate more than a slice of a supermarket loaf, which we find to be rather tasteless, anyway. Now I can eat endless amounts of Emily’s Real Bread and not have any problems at all! We recently introduced a number of friends and neighbours to the bakery and one messaged her to say: ‘now we know what we have been missing!’
Team effort
Emily is now balancing her love of baking and running the business with being a mum to Lyra. ‘Being a mother is a full-time job in itself, but when combining that with running a business, it becomes a whole other thing entirely. The mum-guilt sets in fairly quickly and I’m constantly having to remind myself that it is okay to struggle. I would not have the success I have without Joe, he’s a sensational dad, business partner and training now to be a baker, which is looking good!’
Community
Emily now does weekly local markets and no matter how much she produces (having been up through the night before to bake) she sells out in a matter of minutes! Emily also supports the local community that supports her business. Joe and her latest idea is to set up our very own village market, and they have already secured a venue in Tywardreath.
In January 2025, Emily and Joe trialed a pay-it-forward scheme in response to the cost-of-living crisis. They invited people who could afford (and wanted to) to pay for an extra loaf, which they then gave to someone unable to afford what the bakery needs to charge to stay financially sustainable. They even matched each donation, doubling the number of loaves she gave to people who needed them. So generous and thoughtful.
The village is so proud to have such amazing people living amongst us, who provide for all our Real Bread needs and more! The feeling is mutual. Emily says: ‘I’m so thankful to people in our village, to our customers who have become goodfriends, to the market organisers who took us on and booked us up for the rest of the year. You have all been vital to our growth and success.’
What’s next?
Emily says: ‘We expanded massively when we got our oven, but I think I’m happy to enjoy the success we have right now. It’s not always about constantly expanding or making more money. Sometimes I think it’s best to enjoy and be grateful for the success and support that we have; it’s so easy to take things for granted. Five years ago, when I was in London, I could only have dreamt of the life I have now.’
Does Emily have any top tips for aspiring microbakers? ‘I think my best advice is just go for it, whatever it is. If it makes you happy, then there should be no question about it. Do what you love!’
Which is your favourite Real Bread bakery?
If you’d like us to help you let the world know, please read this article.
Planning or running a (micro)bakery?
Check out our business handbook Knead to Know…more.
See also
Published Monday 14 April 2025
Real Bread Campaign: Finding and sharing ways to make bread better for us, our communities and planet.
