From Maureen Donnellon, Birchip Probus Member, The Buloke Times

Friday, October 13, was a day 22 Birchip Probus members will remember forever as one of the best outings they have ever had, when they visited our own Sharp’s Bakery for a crash course in what a day in the life of the bakers could involve and to learn about some of the methods and machines involved and the sheer huge scale of the local business.

When our member Margaret told us that she had organised a trip to the bakery for a time when the main baking had been done, we were all keen to go, but none of us could imagine the wonders we would see or the treats to follow our tour.

After a short meeting, we met outside the shop and were escorted through the business to the heart of the bakery where giant mixers, cutters, rollers and a huge oven awaited us and an eating area was set out.

Sharps are very proud that the bakery has worked continuously for 95 years and we know from the history of Birchip, that baker’s operated in several other places in the town, one near the Church of England and one where the former Catholic Presbytery stands opposite the Museum. The first bakery mentioned in historical records was one opened in 1890, by Mr H.J.Onley, 8 years after the town actually began. He also opened a brickworks which soon failed as the limestone in the local clay caused the clay to crack and was unsuitable and the building collapsed. When the flour mill was opened in 1893, commercial bakeries were opened by several people.

In 1892 the “Star Bakery” was opened by James Murphy.

1893: The Birchip Flour Mill was opened near the present silos by Mr E. Richardson and taken over in 1898 by Sheean Bros. It was a large two storied building run by steam power. It was later destroyed by fire. “Orient” brand flour was well renowned for its bread making quality. Before the railway reached Birchip in 1893, all stores had to be brought to Wycheproof by a different rail line and carted by bullock and horse teams to Birchip and other goods, passengers and mail by Cobb and Co. coach, which had several routes. A train line was sought for many years between Birchip and Wycheproof but never eventuated.

1895: Mr Onley bought another oven and an ice-making machine.

1898: The great fire which burnt a lot of buildings in Cumming Avenue.

1909: J.T.Bales owned a bakery on the corner opposite the Museum / Courthouse. There was a bakery and cellar where the Catholic Presbytery was later built in 1960s and then he established a second premises in Cumming Avenue, with tea rooms attached serving light refreshments. He advertised wedding and birthday cakes could be made and decorated. Bread was delivered daily with horse and cart. Some readers will remember Mr Schofield delivering bread by that method into the 1960s, with his large basket and horse which moved from house to house in the town. He worked for Brown’s Bakery from the premises now occupied by Sharp’s. The shop/factory was only half the size and an adjacent shop was opened some years ago when renovations took place. Country people made their own bread, as also did many town dwellers. It took quite a few years to convince people that it was fine to buy bread. Bakery bread was used for catering purposes and Birchip bread was always known as good bread because the flour mill was renowned for its top grade flour.

Neylands had a bakery at 58 Cumming Avenue, another was in Campbell Street where Brian and Jan Jeffries now live, another was near the Church of England.

Sharp’s Bakery, the history books tell us, was part of “The Phoenix” Store, established by a company in 1880, which set up stores in the Mallee. It was a store and general newsagency and the business was sold to Mr H.Perrin by Mr H.A.Watson. In the 1911 “Progress of Birchip”, which described Birchip in its prime, it sold fruit, fresh daily, an assortment of fancy goods, confectionary, newspapers, magazines, and writing supplies. It was also the agency for the Lancashire Insurance Co., Wertheim’s pianos, sewing machines and milk /cream separators.

It is thought that the name “The Phoenix Building” was given as it was one of the many buildings destroyed in the great fire of 1898. After the “great fire”, all new buildings had to be built with an adjoining brick wall.

Brown’s had the bakery for several years and then Peter Van Vliet before Sharp’s bought the business.

The population had risen from 250 people in the 1890s to 1000 in 1911. There were three hotels, three butchers, several grocery shops with fruit and drinks, four churches, a primary school, several halls, a new Post Office and railway station. As people arrived, more bread was needed.

Our bakery tour highlights

Kevin and Brad proceeded to give us a quick explanation of the mixes and amounts, protein scales, types of flour and techniques used to make the many different varieties of dough needed for rolls, bread, and sour dough, which was specially being prepared after its long preparation time. We saw bread rolls being mixed and then formed and cut by Nick Noonan, who has spent 21 years honing his skills in the bakery. He has recently returned from an overseas trip, where I have it on good authority that he had to wash down the German bread with copious amounts of their beer. No competition to worry about there. 1000 dinner rolls are made for Christmas time and the recent Band S would have used hundreds of rolls for the popular roast meat rolls, let alone the football season which uses hundreds for savs and salad rolls.

Semolina was sprinkled on the sour dough loaves after their familiar slash was made on the top of the dough already waiting for the oven on their trays. Then steam was sprayed on them, the oven was set at 250 degrees for 2 minutes then set on 200 degrees for 40 minutes while baking took place. We were told that the loaves are made by hand and as they take 28 hours, I think, from beginning to end, they are not made every week, so ours was a special batch.The loaves have a special sound when tapped as they finish baking. When the first sourdough loaves were made, 30 were ordered. That has now increased to 120.

Meat pies

We watched the pastry rolled out for a batch of meat pies and the cut, and pressing into the tray of tins, and found that the tins are not individual tins but joined like our patty cake pans these days, so much less turning out time. Everything is on a massive scale, so the huge pot of meat was the size of a witch’s cauldron and the spoon of similar proportion. The meat takes up to 4 hours to cook before being put inside the pastry for its final bake. Very interesting to see that the old scissors that snip the “V” in the top of the pastry, once belonged to former owner of the bakery and baker in the ’60s and ’70s, Peter Van Vliet. Check your next pie. There are up to 20 different varieties of pies made these days, the curry and various beef pies being the most popular, as well as potato topped beef pies.

Vanilla slice

Of course you will be curious about the vanilla slice and if we now hold the secret to success, but no! The tray of the famous delicacy was carried out carefully from the fridge and Kevin appeared with another silver container of the white frosting which he carefully poured on top of the pastry and creamy custard filling. He then proceeded to “trowel” the icing on top and it was popped back to set for several minutes before a clever roller cutter measured and marked the slice, which was then cut by knife into its customary shapes. Our local butcher sharpens all knives used, while new knives are used for competition. We found that the success of Nick’s cooking is the ham and onion sandwich and outside edge of the vanilla slice which he has polished off for his nightly meal for his whole time there. But the rest remains a secret.

The ROTEL oven

The great oven, which can be programmed for all sorts of bakery tasks, takes pride of place. It is the aim of every bakery to have a ROTEL oven, which is made in New Zealand and cost about $50,000. Considering the amount of food it bakes, it is really a bargain when compared to some vehicles people drive. The huge number of pies, pasties, sausage rolls and bread in football season requires an oven of its capacity and can be used 24 hours a day. The first oven used in 1928 was wood fired, then an oil powered one in 1962, the first ROTEL in 1985 and the fully computerised ROTEL used now is only a few years old.

Cross grain moulding

One of the most interesting “tools” was the home-designed gadget used to twirl the dough into twisted circles then placed in the baking tins. Known as “cross grain moulding”, this enables loaves to rise more evenly so they can be sliced better. It was invented by a farm neighbour and is a “one of its kind”. Its pattern is probably as highly guarded as the vanilla slice recipe.

Changes in fashion

Fashions and tastes change. Honey and chocolate rolls are very popular, while jam rolls have faded away. I remember when bags of offcuts of jam rolls were keenly sought for making trifles, while donuts were something Americans ate. Various varieties are made on different days.

The sheer magnitude of the work done to bring our bread and baked goods to us is mind blowing. I gave up trying to scribble down measurements and protein levels, times and amounts very early. I then took photos which I think show some of the progress that has been made since the old brick oven, still installed in a wall in the building, was the sole oven used for the daily loaves, which were once delivered by horse and cart and carried in a large cane basket to homes.

But what else do the bakers do?

The family and busy staff fit in a lot of community work too, from being CERT members, to executives on the Birchip-Watchem Bulls, and the B. and S. Ball committees, the Harness Racing Club, Community Forum, Bowling Club, Australian Fistball, children for our school help other organisations which keeps the town going.

Guests for lunch

Just when information overload was about to hit, we were all invited to take a seat and the busy staff appeared with large trays and platters of fresh sandwiches and an assortment of small pies, pasties, pizza and sausage rolls, followed by trays of beautiful cream cakes, eclairs, cream puffs and vanilla slices, all especially made to the same dainty size and served with drinks of our choice.

Fortunately Kevin, Brad, Tara, Nick, Bernadette, Carly and Gail could share a few minutes with us all, to tell us some of the bits and pieces of news that keeps the bakery and staff going, such as their few and far between holidays, the many apprentices they have employed, functions they have catered for and even a few horse tips and colourful jokes. Dorothy Jolly received a special presentation of scones for emergencies, and Lorna received a parcel of vegetable pasties for her mum. While we enjoyed a little “downtime” with staff, Tara and the other girls in front of shop kept the customers happy.

Thank you gifts

Just in time for our departure, the vanilla slice was ready to be individually packaged for us all and the sour dough bread was baked to perfection and bagged so we all got to take a loaf home too. It isn’t hard to see why people travel from far and wide to partake of the beautiful food available. We are so lucky to have Sharp’s Bakery in Birchip and the family who love to call Birchip “HOME”.

This article appeared in The Buloke Times, 10 November 2023.