Frederick's Ice Cream Parlour, Chorley

Frederick's has always been there. All through my childhood and into adulthood, it's one of those places that has never really changed, and is as enjoyable now as it was when I was six. My parents used to take my brother and I if we were in the area, so it was often a pit stop on the way back from Blackpool, as a reward for enduring shopping in Chorley or a birthday treat. Looking back, they knew how to shut us up. Two squabbling gobshites were instantly transformed into mute little angels. 

Frederick's has been there since 1936, and the Federici and Massa families have been making ice cream since 1892. These chaps know a thing or two about ice cream. Whilst other parlours in the area have long since closed (mainly Feretti's in Horwich), Frederick's are as popular today as they were 70 years ago.

Strange flavours of ice cream are fairly commonplace these days, but when I was younger only Frederick's made it in the flavour of your favourite drinks, sweets and desserts. Nowhere else had violent colours and things like Curly Wurlys worked into the ice cream. I seem to remember being rather fond of their Vimto one! They don't seem to have suffered at the hands of other retailers like Moo2You and Mrs Dowson's. That's probably because Frederick's will always be an institution to those who have been going for generations. 

We decided we needed a ride out on Saturday and since we had been reminiscing about Frederick's the week before, we headed over to Chorley. We went at about 11:45am as it can get really busy and the weather was looking rather nice. We had a bit of lunch first in their little cafe. I had a jacket potato with cheese and beans and my husband had a ham and peperoni pizza. Neither were anything fancy, but both were enjoyable. However, we weren't really there for their savoury offerings...

We decided on a take-out box because we just couldn't decide which flavours to pick! I got a lemon meringue cone to keep my energy levels up whilst we chose ten scoops to take home. They put them in a nifty little polystyrene freezer container which keeps it cool until you get it home to the freezer.

Our take away box

We picked the following (clockwise from the top left):

• Strawberry
• Fredibo Starmix
• Jammy Dodger
• Eton Mess
• Creamy Vanilla
• Cookies and Cream
• Rice Pudding
• Popcorn 
• Apple
• Mint Choc Chip

On Saturday evening, we sat with a spoon each 'testing' and giving them a score out of ten. It was a very serious business!

	Rachel	Paddy
Strawberry	9	10
Fredibo Starmix	4	4
Jammy Dodger	4	4
Eton Mess	9	8
Creamy Vanilla	8	8
Cookies and Cream	7	7
Rice Pudding	8	7
Popcorn	5	7
Apple	9	7
Mint Choc Chip	6	8
Lemon Meringue	10	9
Total	79	79

Without a shadow of a doubt, my favourites were Eton Mess, Strawberry, Apple and Lemon Meringue. They are utterly outstanding! All Frederick's ice creams are made by the family, and have won countless awards over the years. Here's a list of flavours from the Frederick's website, although they have more depending on the season.

I'll always love going to Frederick's. If you've never been and live in the area, you must try it!

Frederick's website

Other parlours around the North West

Please leave your own thoughts and memories below... x