Local Produce

The region around Morecambe Bay is renowned for its local produce, as well as some of the best places to eat in the whole of the UK. In fact, much of the local food and drink, produced around Morecambe Bay, is linked to the landscape and its inhabitants, with many food names featuring the area itself! Who hasn’t heard of Cartmel Sticky Toffee Pudding, Salt Marsh Lamb, Lyth Valley Damsons and Morecambe Bay Shrimps?

Local Produce in The Bay
Photo by Robin Zahler

And you won’t be short of places to eat either! With an abundance of restaurants, pubs, cafes, fish and chip shops and farmers markets, Morecambe Bay is certainly THE place for foodies. At the head of the list is the 3 Michelin starred L’Enclume Restaurant in Cartmel; home to Simon Rogan, one of the top chefs in the UK, he also ranks amongst one of the finest in the world too. So, make sure you book early, as it can sometimes be 3 months before you can get a table on a Saturday evening. However, if you can’t wait that long, Simon also has a brasserie style restaurant – Rogan & Co, in Cartmel too, which follows the same ethos on quality and service that Simon insists on, but offers a more relaxed dining experience.

OTHER NOTEABLE VENUES, WITH EXCELLENT REPUTATIONS
FOR THEIR FOOD, DESTINATION AND HERITAGE INCLUDE:-

The Sun Terrace Restaurant & Rotunda Bar at The Midland, Morecambe (Famous Art Deco Hotel of the 1930’s, with local delicacies and amazing views), Aspect Bar Morecambe, or the Brief Encounter Refreshment Room, Carnforth Station
(for a step back in time and home of the set of the David Lean Classic).

Opened in March 2019, Levens Kitchen is a fantastic multi-purpose dining and event space serving a seasonally inspired menu. It has won a number of major awards. Locally sourced, high-quality produce, including products grown on the Estate and in the gardens of Levens Hall, feature prominently on the menu.

The newly opened Old Sawmill Café is situated in the picturesque village of Clapham, in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales National Park. The heritage & history of this listed building has been beautifully preserved, providing a fascinating backdrop for visitors to immerse themselves in whilst enjoying use of the café. Expect great coffee, delicious tray bakes, and an ever changing breakfast and lunch menu using a range of seasonal, fresh & local food.

If you are particularly looking for the best in local produce, then for fish you must try Baxters’ Morecambe Bay Shrimps in Morecambe, the only ones to have the Queen’s ‘Royal Warrant’, or smoked fish from the Port of Lancaster Smoke House at Glasson Dock and Shoreway Fisheries in Lancaster and Galgate.

For pies, fresh meat, game and sausages visit the award-winning Higginson’s Butchers of Grange-over-Sands, The Countrystyle Meats Farm Shop at Lancaster Leisure Park, or the award-winning butchery at Country Harvest at Ingleton, run by former Young Butcher of the Year George Taylor and finally the Butchers and Farm Shop at Greenlands Farm near Carnforth, selling all locally-sourced meats.

Homemade bread can be purchased at Hazelmere Café in Grange-Over-Sands, Grange Bakery, or the Bread Shed Bakery in Cartmel, as well as The Wolfhouse Kitchen Bakery and Gallery at Silverdale, the Bakery at Country Harvest in Ingleton and Filbert’s Bakery Lancaster. And, if you want to make your own bread, buy stoneground flour from Heron Corn Mill at Beetham.

Local delicacies like Cartmel Sticky Toffee Pudding can be found at their main home in Cartmel, or at places like Sizergh Farm Barn, Holker Food Hall and Booth’s Supermarkets, as well as at many local pubs, cafes and restaurants.

Don’t forget about Lancashire Hot Pot, or locally bread Salt Marsh Lamb, available on menus at eateries across the region. Any trip to Morecambe Bay would not be complete without a visit to one of the many excellent fish and chip shops in Bolton-le-Sands, Morecambe, Fleetwood, Arnside, Ulverston and Barrow-in-Furness.

For the cheese lover, pay a visit to Dewlay Cheesemakers of Garstang (who have a shop on site), or Cartmel Cheeses in Cartmel. There are many other independent delicatessens selling great cheese from other local producers for you to enjoy too.

And, who could resist some homemade ice cream? Well you won’t be disappointed, as this region has a great many local ice cream producers, but you could try Holme Farm Ice Cream
at Grange-Over-Sands, Brucciani’s in Morecambe (where you can enjoy your gelato in an authentic Art Deco café),
as well as Mio Gelato opposite the clocktower in Morecambe and Lewis’s Ice Cream & Coffee Shop, where you can enjoy a truly authentic ice cream beside the seaside! In nearby Lancaster you should try award-winning Leonardini Gelato, with some spectacular flavours, freshly made every day. If you prefer a coffee instead why not try one of the specially brewed coffee’s from
J. Atkinson & Co.

Salmon dish
SOME SUGGESTIONS OF PLACES A LITTLE BIT SPECIAL:

Swarthmoor Hall, Ulverston
Base, Ford Park, Ulverston
Bakehouse Born & Bred, Greenodd
L’Enclume and Rogan & Co, Cartmel
Clare House, Grange over Sands
Holker Hall food hall and cafe, Cark
Sizergh farm shop and café, Sizergh
Kitridding Farm Shop, Nr Kirkby Lonsdale
Greenlands Farm Shop, Kitchen & Bistro near Carnforth
Archers café & farm shop at Red Bank Farm, Bolton le Sands The Restaurant at Bay View Garden Centre, Bolton le Sands The Countrystyle Kitchen – Farmshop, Restaurant and
Ice Cream Parlour at the Lancaster Leisure Park
Country Harvest – A65 Ingleton
Atkinson’s at Lancaster Castle
Old Sawmill Café, at Ingleborough Cave
Light Ash Farm Cafe, Bilsborrow

BROWSING A FARMERS’ MARKET ALSO MAKES FOR A GREAT HOLIDAY EXPERIENCE. HERE IS A LIST OF FARMERS’ MARKETS AND FOOD FESTIVALS AROUND THE BAY:

  • Ulverston farmers’ market, monthly – 3rd Saturday
  • Cartmel food market, monthly – 3rd Friday
  • Milnthorpe farmers’ market, monthly – 2nd Friday
  • Poulton le Fylde farmers’ market, monthly – 4th Saturday
  • Lancaster charter market, weekly – Wednesday & Saturday
  • Carnforth farmers’ market, weekly – Wednesday
  • Kendal farmers’ market, monthly – last Friday
  • Lyth Valley Damson Day, annually – April
  • Lancaster beer festival, every March
  • Lancaster food and drink festival, annually
  • Kirkby Lonsdale beer festival, annually

 

JUST SOME OF THE DELIGHTS FOR YOU TO TASTE ON A TRIP AROUND MORECAMBE BAY:

  • Shellfish, particularly cockles, mussels and brown shrimps
  • Fish, seabass, flukes and salmon
  • Saltmarsh Lamb
  • Heritage Beef
  • Apples and pears
  • Damsons and sloes
  • Local cheeses and ice creams

Why not complement all this delicious local produce with some locally produced ales? Around Morecambe Bay there are lots of breweries where you can try the beer on site, including: Little Bare Micro Pub in Princes Crescent, The Crossing Micro-pub at Hest Bank, Taps on the Green at Carnforth, Farm Yard Ales at Cockerham, created by local farmer Steven who followed his passion, whilst also creating a sustainable business for himself and future generations, all the while being based on the family farm. Lancaster Brewery, Lancaster, Unsworth’s Yard Brewery, Cartmel, Foxfield Brewery at Prince of Wales Pub at Foxfield, Greenodd Brewery at The Ship Inn at Greenodd and the Old School Brewery at Warton, amongst many others.

There are also a great many more local micro-breweries, who sell their beers through the many local pubs around the Bay. Look out for Hardknott Brewery and Beckstones Brewery, both from Millom, Abraham Thompson from Barrow-in-Furness, Old Stringers and Ulverston Brewing Company from Ulverston, Fell Brewery from Flookburgh and The Porterage Co at Greenodd. If gin is your tipple, then don’t miss out on Shed 1 Gin distillery in Ulverston or for some damson Gin at the HOT Wines Shop in Cartmel.