At the time of writing, it appears as though the summer of 2024 is unlikely to go down as one of the best.

However, even if the weather is unpredictable, you can always cheer yourself up with an ice cream and Cumbria’s crop of handmade manufacturers have just the ripple, gelato, cone or sorbet to do the trick.

For farmer Roger Sedgwick the decision to diversify into ice cream came in 2009 after Dairy Farmers of Great Britain, the cooperative he was supplying at the time, went into receivership.

Roger and wife Suzan struck on the idea of making their own ice cream and Howgill Fellside Ice Cream was born in 2011, producing a range of different flavours with milk from their herd of Fresians, Jersey and Jersey-Fresian cross cattle.

They joined the Ice Cream Alliance and took part in a course in ice cream making and were soon producing their own vanilla, strawberry and mint flavours.

Over the years the selection has grown to around 14 varieties including Howgill Hurricane, with cinder toffee and chocolate swirls, as well as toffee fudge, raspberry ripple, ginger and lime, whisky and marmalade, mango and raspberry and ricotta cheese and passion fruit.

The ice cream is made to order, using only milk, cream, sugar and milk powder, all supplied to local businesses and sold via its mobile unit at events or to visitors to their farm at the foot of the Howgill Fells.

“Sometimes we’ll get people who’ll have one on the way up and then call in and have another on the way back down,” says Roger.

“It’s all handmade on the farm, there is nothing mass produced. It’s a premium product and we get a lot of nice comments and people just keep coming back.”

(Image: Plain Creative LTD)

Further north, at Park House Farm, Torpenhow, Jenny and Mike Lee have also diversified by producing delicious gelato alongside their existing range of cheese.

The farm had already built a great reputation for its Torpenhow Cheese Company brand, making award-winning fare from their organic, 100 per cent pasture-fed dairy herd.

Two years ago they teamed up with Matthew Stockwell to start Three Hills Gelato on the farm, drawing on his experience making and selling gelato in Keswick.

Matthew first began making gelato at dad Andrew’s Italian restaurant Casa Bella 11 years ago, then via his own shop at the restaurant.

"Because it is an Italian restaurant it made sense to go down the route of trying to make an Italian product," says Matthew.

He completed a three-week intensive course at the Carpigiani Gelato University in Bologna, returning to the Italian city for a number of years after to hone his skills.

The business in Keswick grew and Matthew contacted Mark and Jenny two years ago with the proposal to go into business together by setting up a dedicated gelato making facility on the farm, investing in machinery to upscale production.

It now supplies gelato to catering company Caterite, in Embleton, food retailer Cranstons and hotels, restaurants and cafes across the county, all made from milk and cream from the farm.

Gelato differs from ice cream by having a lower percentage of fat and being denser, with less air whipped into the mixture, giving it a smooth, silky texture.

It is also served slightly warmer for extra flavour.

"It's a bit like cheese. You can taste the flavours a lot better when it's a little warm," says Matthew.

"Similarly with the fat content. When you have something that is really high in fats like an ice cream, which will be around 15 or 18 per cent fat, the large fat globules coat your tongue, which means you can't taste the flavour as well.”

Its range of 22 flavours use natural ingredients such as fresh fruit juices and locally ground coffee from Carvetii, in Threlkeld, or marmalade from chutney and preserve specialist Wild and Fruitful, based at the Lingholm Estate.

“For me it’s about using real ingredients rather than something made in a factory miles away,” he says.

“There's a real push away from ultra-processed ingredients. We go out of our way to make sure that we're not using any e-numbers and emulsifiers. We don't use any bought in sauces or syrups.”

In order to upscale the business Mark, Jenny and Matthew invested in a new separator for dividing cream and milk, as well as an ageing tank and freezers for storing the product.

"We're trying to do a little bit of wholesale, a little bit of direct sale and a little bit of retail," says Matthew.

"It's getting a good balance out of every scenario.”

The business currently employs five people in production and Matthew has plans to continue expanding its range and market.

"We'd like to increase production over the next couple of years,” he says.

“We'd like to do more with retail, really, that's a real growth area for us. There's a lot of potential there.
“There's a real gap in the market for a real premium quality product that's made within Cumbria.”
Steven Darvill, founder of the Handmade Ice Cream company, is also planning for steady expansion.

The business produces all of its products from a facility in Greenodd, as well as from its ice cream parlour and waffle house.

Steven worked as a chef before starting the Handmade Ice Cream Company on his kitchen table in 2012.

It now employs 10 people and sells products via wholesalers including Caterite and McClures, in Windermere, with a range of around 30 flavours, including around 10 vegan and up to eight sorbets.

The vegan option is also free of all 14 of the other common allergens which people avoid, such as gluten.

Like Matthew, he believes the growing awareness among people who want to avoid eating ultra-processed ingredients has created an opportunity for smaller scale producers.

“We avoid all of those and we like a proper, traditional ice cream,” he says.

"It's a lot more labour intensive. We set our stall out to be the Handmade Ice Cream Company and so we're keeping with that.

"Some companies can get a bit big, and they lose the direction of the quality of the product. So we're just trying to do it slowly.”