Our Ice Cream Story
Words by Rebecca Wilson | Founder and managing director of Jolly Nice | previous life as an organic farmer in the Cotswolds | Pictured below sometime in the '80s
We began making ice cream over 20 years ago...
This year we are celebrating our heritage as farmers and makers - proudly presenting our new summer ice cream parlour, open daily from May until the end of October. We began making ice cream over 20 years ago and it got me thinking about how it all started.
Long before the doors opened here at Jolly Nice, we were organic dairy farmers, working a small farm just down the road in Westonbirt. Our herd, a gentle line of rare breed Shorthorns, was tended to daily by me and my husband Simon, a third-generation farmer whose care for the animals shaped everything that followed.
Above: Our old shorthorn dairy cows, grazing permanent pasture in front of Westonbirt House. Below: My husband Simon, often found with an ice cream or milkshake in hand...
The experimenting began with a £12 ice cream maker from a car boot sale and organic milk from the farm. My freezer got repurposed and then the whole kitchen, so we cobbled together a little space next to the milking parlour, painted the walls bright pink and got churning.
We started creating unusual flavour pairings inspired by the seasons, picking damsons from the neighbour's garden and scraping each vanilla pod by hand.
Trekking up and down the country with an ice cream tricycle in tow, Simon milked the cows, I drew up plans for the farmshop, and the whole family served up scoops at local farmers' markets and summer festivals.
We won lots of awards along the way, with our Salted Caramel and Gooseberry & Elderflower both winning 3 Gold Stars at the Great Taste Awards, one of the highest and most respected accolades in British food.
Today, our ice cream is still made in-house by a small team, with Oli, our head pastry chef, at the helm for almost a decade. Every batch is still uncompromisingly delicious, made with fantastic local ingredients and always with local organic milk.
Above & Below: The Jolly Nice team with cones, shakes and baskets of ice cream.
In 2013, after losing the family farm, we opened up the farmshop and Jolly Nice was born. Dedicated to supporting local farmers, growers and artisan producers - and the only place you’ll find our ice cream.
Our new summer ice cream parlour will be open every day from May until the end of October. Found just off the path on the way into the Cafe & Bar, serving Ice cream cones, pots and milkshakes...
