Tracebridge Sourdough & Fermenteria

Gordon Woodcock and Katie Venner built an oven in the woods above Tracebridge in Somerset in 2008. They made sourdough breads and pastries to sell in the village shop and opened their garden on Fridays for pizzas. The wildly popular Pizza Night ran from Good Friday through the Summer and with other local producers they started an award winning Farmers’ Market in Wiveliscombe.

Katie’s enthusiasm for sauerkraut, Kimchi and Kefir developed from a love of sour tastes and a desire to improve her digestion. She started selling her sauerkrauts and Kimchi’s alongside the bread and the Fermenteria was born. In 2018 Katie and Jo Webster led a team of volunteer fermenters into the Guinness Book of Records for the largest dish of sauerkraut - weighing in at 359.6kgs.

In 2016 Gordon and Katie handed the day-to-day baking over to their ex-apprentices Fleur Hoyle and Adam Lawrie. Fleur and Adam established White Post Bakery at neighbouring village Langford Budville, which they ran until January 2018. After taking a break and gaining more experience from working in other bakeries in the UK and abroad, Adam and Fleur returned to Tracebridge teaching our popular classes for the home baker and, for more experienced bakers, our advanced sourdough and Viennoiserie classes.

Katie teaches our fermenting classes, and together with Gordon running the oven, they hosted Tracebridge’s seasonal Friday Pizza Nights at the bakery spilling out into the gardens.

The end of September 2020 we celebrated our final Tracebridge pizza evening with regular customers and friends. Last year was a very different year and Katie, Gordon and Fleur with the help of baker Marlies worked hard developing the bakery and fermenteria into an online shop and delivery service.

There have been lots of changes, the bakery is no longer in production and the house is sold. However we continue to have roots in Tracebridge and for now, will run the business remotely, delivering online courses and when able, hosting classes in guest venues across Somerset and Devon.