In July 2020 as the country emerged from the first COVID lockdown, Jess was furloughed from her job in the lovely cafe at Caudwell’s Mill in Rowsley. She was taking advantage of being allowed out and visited Weave Knit It and got chatting to Sarah who said to Jess “The Cheese Shop in the yard is for sale – Why don’t you buy it”. Jess came home and said to me “The Cheese Shop at Cromford Mill is for sale – Why don’t we buy it”. Four weeks and a day later we re-opened Cromford Mill Cheese Shop.
We’ve had a roller coaster ride negotiating the rest of the COVID years and thanks to all of our amazing customers the business is doing well.
In 2023 we heard the very sad news that Caudwell’s Mill in Rowsley had gone into administration and was closing down. As we live in Rowsley and with Jess having worked at the Mill cafe this was a shock and meant I would have to source a new supplier of flour to try and keep my sourdough starter alive. Like many people I’d started experimenting with sourdough during lockdown and I’m now on Tutankhamun the Third as the first two gave good service but I left them for too long between uses. Apparently your sourdough must have a name and as Ash is hugely interested in ancient Egypt this seemed an ideal name.
We then investigated where the flour that was sold at Caudwell’s Mill was sourced from and found that Nelstrops in Stockport, who are a sixth generation family milling business were the principle supplier so we started stocking their flour in the Cheese Shop. The Muesli that was sold in Caudwell’s Mill was supplied by Lembas in Sheffield and has an almost devout following so we that was added to our stock list.
Fast forward to the summer of 2024 and a change of circumstances meant I had more time to devote to the business (as the reality is that the success of Cromford Mill Cheese Shop is mostly down to Jess’s brilliance at running the business) and we started looking for a unit where we could bag more flour in order to develop an online selling business. In the way these things often develop we then got chatting to Keith and Gill at Gallerytop Art Gallery on Chatsworth Road and found out they were planning to retire and after many conversations we decided that it would make an ideal retail shop to resurrect the Caudwell name with flour selling in Rowsley.
On Tuesday 22nd October 2024 Caudwell Flour shop open its doors and we have lots of exciting plans to develop our product lines.
On Tuesday 30th September 2025 Caudwell Flour Shop closed while we deal with a family health issue.