Part 2

David: Lynda, are you the one who creates the cakes, designs and makes the cakes?

Lynda: No, I used to, but I don't anymore. Fingers aren't quite as nimble, but my son does. Yeah, he took special classes for that.

David: There are some cheeky bakeries that, you know - have you ever been involved in designing cheeky delights?

Lynda: Absolutely. [laughter] I know what you mean by cheeky. Yes, we have.

David: Could you delicately explain who wants these things, and what they are? Delicately.

Lynda: Delicately? Okay. Some - a lot of - wives come in and want something a bit risque for their husbands, or for a stag party, and it involves the upper part of a woman's body, usually. [laughter] I've had one or two other things, but I don't think I care to elaborate on that. David: So it doesn't challenge your ethics when they ask you to do that? Lynda: Oh, no. I mean, you know, you've got to do what the customer wants, within reason, obviously. You do draw the line at certain things, but most people are quite good about that. They'll ask for something a little bit risque, and you'll suggest to them, and they're usually quite happy to go along with what you figure to be relatively decent taste. [laughter]

David: You mentioned that your son is now quite an expert at making cakes and such. What got you into the baking industry? Is it something in your family, or what inspired you to be a baker?

Lynda: What inspired me? Well, I married a chef many moons ago, then I started into the business, and been in it now for too many years to remember. Probably about thirty-five years, I suppose.

David: Is that right?

Lynda: Yeah.

David: Does it get repetitive at all?

Lynda: No, because there's always something different. You can always create something a little bit different, depending on your customers, of course. But you try different things and then certain things go, certain things don't. But you know, you've got to sort of always broaden your horizons, you know. David: It smells so delicious in here. From being a child, there's one thing that I've always loved more than anything else, the traditional gingerbread men. Do you sell traditional gingerbread men?

Lynda: At Christmas we do. We don't do them through the year, but we do gingersnaps, which - again, not quite the same as gingerbread men, but as I say, through December we sold hundreds of them. Through the rest of the year we do gingersnaps, which are just as good.

David: Indeed! Where were you born, and what brought you so far away across the Atlantic, leaving your home, to come to this place?

Lynda: Well, it gets a bit complicated, because my dad was Canadian. My mom is English, but she came over here as a war bride in 1946, and since then, we've been back and forth across the ocean too many times to remember, so I actually got your nationality. So I can cheat a little. I can work here and over there.

David: Which part of England was it?

Lynda: The south, about forty miles from London.

David: Where, specifically?

Lynda: In Essex, close to South End.

David: Is that near Coventry at all?

Lynda: Actually, no. Coventry is north, so in England, they think north of Watford Gap is north. [laughter]

David: My mom spent some time in Coventry, too, when she left Edinburgh.

Lynda: Oh really? It's a beautiful city. David: Thank you, Lynda. This was very enjoyable. Thank you for talking with me.

Lynda: Oh, you're welcome, thank you.