Breaking Bread is a project celebrating baking in Waltham Forest, engaging with businesses, residents and the breads of different communities. It explores this accessible and globally popular foodstuff, showing its importance in the history of Waltham Forest and the Lea Valley, something which unites communities across the world and shows skill and creativity in the many variations of its production, and shares the heritage and culture of bread, celebrating the skills of local bakers, sharing stories and histories. The project explores local baking now and in the past, mapping and exploring the breads made by different communities in the borough.
Lucy has worked with Victoria Dove, of Dove PR, who runs Instagram accounts for many small businesses in the borough, to explore local bakeries and run a Breaking Bread Instagram account and create of a map of local bakeries across the borough, distributed to bakeries and other locations in Waltham Forest.
In June 2025 there was an exhibition at Lea Bridge Library, a Walking Tour and a film screening at the Bakers’ Almshouses on Lea Bridge Road. In July 2025 the project was part of the Leyton Arts Festival, shown at Win’s Bakery and Gravity Well Tap Room.
Funded by grants from Arts Council England and Waltham Forest Council’s Make It Happen grants programme.
Do you have more bakeries to add to the map? Fill in this form to submit them.
If you have images to contribute please tell us in the ‘Other info’ box.