2 days Ago
An award-winning ice cream parlour has established an amazing reputation for its bespoke handcrafted ice-cream flavours, luxury velvet hot chocolates, and locally sourced sweet pastries. As an avid sweet tooth, this was music to my ears. I couldn't wait to see whether the treats at Milk Maids on Deardens Farm lived up to expectations.
To say I was pleasantly surprised would be a massive understatement. Based on Manchester Road, Deardens Farm has been in the Partington family for generations and was initially taken over by Patricia and John Partington in 1955. The parlour and tea shop is currently run by Fiona Partington and her sister, Rebecca Partington, alongside a close-knit team of 10, as well as her parents Anne-Marie and Michael, Patricia and John’s son who was born on the farm, (a more comprehensive timeline can, very helpfully, be found on the walls inside Milk Maids).
The dedication to quality at Milk Maids is unmatched. What sets the store apart, Fiona adds, is Milk Maids’ dedication to high-quality fresh unprocessed milk that can be made from the farm's Ayrshire cow to coffee, freshly made ice cream or hot chocolate in merely a matter of hours. (Image: Leah Collins) "The difference can be tasted", said Fiona, who explains to me that the milk isn’t homogenised, just pasteurised, which makes it the perfect consistency for latte milk – smooth and velvety without becoming ‘scorched’.
She explains: “We milk twice a day, in the morning and in the evening. All or milk is whole milk, and it is as fresh as being in the cow that morning and straight into coffee for the afternoon.” The latte was the first thing I tried from Milk Maids and Fiona wasn’t wrong, I really could taste the difference – much more creamy than regular latte milk.
I chatted to the ice cream store manager, Polly, who explained to me the reason for keeping as much of the produce as locally sourced as possible. (Image: Leah Collins) “We want to keep our miles as low as possible, which is why we keep lots of the produce locally sourced and we make sure to give back. The ice cream sold and made on site is sold in the local green grocers.
“The sitting part of Milk Maids is actually converted from an old barn; we noticed that the people who came in wanted a place to mingle and chat. “It’s a great and friendly space for people to chat, work or even just have a moment to yourself. The people who come here always appreciate seeing our smiling faces.
“It doesn’t have to be complicated; so, we just keep the coffee simple. It really does speak for itself. We bottle and sell about 50 bottles of milk a day and they always fly off the shelves.
” (Image: Leah Collins) Even the coffee beans are as locally sourced as possible, Milk Maids sells a Bolton coffee brand called Oddy Knocky, which roasts the beans locally. “We have an Italian coffee machine and only use the house blend; people appreciate good coffee in a comfortable environment and that is comfortable. That’s what we offer.
“We want to be consistently good with what we do, we make sure the coffee is brewed for precisely 28 – 32 seconds per cup.” After conversing about the coffee, it was time to try the sweet stuff. (Image: Leah Collins) The ice-cream parlour makes freshly made ice cream every day on-site.
And it doesn’t end there, the 11-person team offers a range of flavours; everything you could imagine. Some of my personal favourites include Lotus Biscoff, Battenburg, creme brûlée, birthday cake, Daim, Passionfruit Pavlova, apple pie, salted caramel cheesecake, peanut M & M, lucky charms and Percy Pigs. Some of the more festive flavours include mince pie, chocolate orange and Bailey's Irish Cream.
(Image: Leah Collins) Customers can also choose to have their ice cream with a freshly-cooked waffle. Flavours are chosen by the Milk Maid’s social media followers and are revealed every morning. Polly added: “We compile the list of flavours every morning, to showcase what's available in store.
“Among the most popular flavours is kinder bueno, Manchester tart, pistachio and milky milkmaids, which we use as our original base mix.” (Image: Leah Collins) In the end I opted for one scoop of birthday cake, one scoop of sweet almond and caramel with a kinder-bueno coated cone. I was not disappointed.
The combination was the perfect balance of sweetness, I couldn’t get enough of it. READ MORE: Blossoms band to feature Bolton's Neon Creations artwork Poppywood Alpaca Centre celebrates planning permission Boyzone and Westlife guests join Chorley Christmas lights switch-on I can see why Milk Maids is becoming so popular and not just with residents. “We’ve had a few notable customers come in” said Polly “We’ve had Wigan’s rugby team here and also the Australian rugby team when they came to play, they ordered milk from us which was great.
"We've also had the Bolton Wanderers in to try the ice cream. “On Sunday’s we have a queue right around the corner, it helps that we’re dog friendly, so people like to come in after a walk.” (Image: Social media) Whilst I am chatting to the team, a local business owner comes in, Matthew Oliver, who owns Loft 24 in Westhoughton.
I ask him what he thinks of Milk Maids, from one local business to another. He said: “It’s fantastic, Milk Maids is the best about. “We make a Biscoff sundae with the ice cream, its one of our best sellers!”.
The popular parlour is also offering festive drinks for the winter season, all hot chocolates at Milk Maids are made using melted chocolate and milk, with no hot chocolate powder in sight. Flavours include S'mores, Malteser and even hot chocolate floats, melted chocolate mixed with fresh milk with a scoop of milky milk maids ice cream. The perfect combination – I will definitely be back again to try these! (Image: Social media) Polly added: “On December 1st we are having a ‘Farmer Christmas Grotto’ which will include a personalised chat with Santa in the big green tractor, an ice cream in one of our special cones! A goodie bag including memorabilia and an instant photo to take home.
"We also have a butcher's on-site, Bentham's, perfect for weekend easy teas or Sunday Roasts, so I'd definitely recommend people coming down and having a look." So, for anyone who has been meaning to try out Milk Maids, my words of advice would be to do so, and quickly – although, judging by Milk Maids vast range of goodies, there’s more than enough treats to go around. Got a story? Email me at Leah.
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