MEMORIES of fresh bread being delivered by bicycle - and even by boat at times of flood - have been revived in Kempsey with the imminent sale of the Old Bakery, in Main Road.

It is 25 years since the bread ovens were used, but they can still be seen in the back room of the bakery, attached to a large double-fronted house.

The Thomas family, who ran the bakery for more than 60 years, also kept a general store in the front room.

They are believed to have taken over the bakery in 1914 and are still remembered as the "midnight bakers", members of the church choir and supporters of local events.

People even took their Christmas turkeys to be cooked in the ovens.

The family of 10 included five sons and three daughters, of whom six survived to carry on the family business after the death of their parents.

The youngest was Horace, the only surviving member of the family, who now lives at The Firs, in Old Road, Kempsey.

Jack, the eldest, was the baker, helped by Percy and Fred, who also made deliveries. Fred covered the outlying hamlets in his little Ford van, while Percy did his round on a bicycle.

Progress would be slow as customers invited them to stop for a drink and a chat, so it could be as late as 11pm when the bread arrived, hence the nickname of the midnight bakers.

Baking began in the afternoon and there are memories of stopping off for some hot, freshly-baked bread on the way home from school, after the end of the Second World War II rationing.

Rachel Evans, of Lyf's Lane, remembers using baskets made by Italian prisoners of war to collect bread for the neighbours at 4d (about 2p) a loaf and coming home with stale bread for the dogs.

Horace and his sister Dorothy, known as Doll, looked after the shop, which stayed open for another 10 years after the bakery closed.

The other sister, Louise, who was taught to play the piano by Sir Edward Elgar, married a doctor's son, Jim Bird. They formed a band and used to run village dances.

Marjorie Harris, of Callow End, has a photograph believed to date from around 1880, when the Old Bakery was evidently the post and telegraph office, a general store, savings bank and money lender's. A Hovis sign suggests it might also have been a bakery.

The property, including a garden pig sty, air raid shelter and cart shed, is due to be auctioned by Griffiths & Charles at the Talbot Inn, Kempsey, on Tuesday, March 26, at 6pm.

In need of complete renovation it has a guide price of £90,000 to £100,000.