Eats

Loafi – The Ramsbottom bakery thrilling customers with its old-fashioned northern bakes

Custard tarts, Eccles cakes, flapjacks, butties, and more

Daisy Jackson - 13th March 2026

There’s a bakery in Ramsbottom that’s been making waves since it opened last year – but it’s not for cutting-edge bakes or trendy desserts.

Nope – at Loafi, it’s all about stripping things back to basics, with a properly northern menu of old-school bakes.

The bakery may be new, but the baking is not. You’ll find nothing but traditional favourites, including Eccles cakes, shortbread, and cornflake tarts.

And then as your eyes rove across the counter, you’ll land on the star of the show, and the one that’s got everyone (us included) travelling all the way up to Ramsbottom. The custard tart.

Loafi’s custard tarts are tall, like a pastry shot glass filled with just-set egg custard filling.

You can get them classic, or in a Manchester tart format with coconut and raspberry jam, or catch occasional specials when they have surplus ingredients to spare (we got lucky with a lemon meringue custard tart).

None of us should be surprised to find that this bakery is excelling in this particular field, because the man behind it is chef-turned-baker Rich Sharples, who was previously the executive chef of Gary Usher’s Elite Bistros restaurant group.

One of those restaurants he was a mastermind of was Hispi, which is known across the region for its perfect wibbly-wobbly custard tart slices.

The custard tart at Loafi feels more nostalgic and approachable though, and the stream of customers pouring through the doors clear each tray within minutes of them landing.

Beyond that, you can pick up a whole host of bakery bits with proudly northern roots, like individual loaf cakes made with Irwell Works stout, and mini carrot and walnut cakes.

There are others that will whisk you back to your childhood, such as a pineapple and brown butter upside-down cake, and a banana sponge with toffee and cream.

Plus expect treats such as bakewell slices, tiramisu roulade, and flapjacks.

Loafi has a fabulous savoury offering too, like sausage rolls made with meat from Walmsley’s Butchers, and bacon butties on soft milk rolls.

Around four different sandwiches drop onto the counter at 11am every day, each of them guilt-free, fuss-free, and affordable. Rich believes that getting a butty for lunch shouldn’t feel like a special treat.

The fillings change regularly but are always local ingredients, prepared and made right in front of you, from cured hams and corned beef to coronation chicken.

During the weekday, you can get this as a meal deal with a sandwich drink and a bag of crisps for £7.95.

There are proper cups of soup served with a wedge of sourdough too, which changes regularly – at the minute, Rich is utilising the stock from his potted ham to make a ham, lentil and tomato soup.

Loafi isn’t setting out to reinvent the wheelhouse, but rather to wind back the clocks to create a nostalgic, quality, Lancashire bakehouse. It’s being incredibly well-received already.

You’ll find Loafi in Ramsbottom – just follow the call of the custard tart.

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Featured image: The Manc Group