The Oldest Bakery in Belfast

Before anyone talked about peace, they talked about their piece. That is, their sandwich, traditionally wrapped in grease-proof paper, with a variety of fillings – cheese, ham and butter, brown sauce and corned beef – or a sweet option.

“You’d ask your mother: ‘can I have a sauce piece? Or ‘can I have a sugar piece?’” (Bread with HP sauce or bread with sugar.) -- Brian Ervine.

Jordan’s Bakery at TK Newtonards Road opened for business in 1905 and has been run by four generations of the Jordan family. The original building was knocked down after it was damaged in a nighttime bombing raid by the Luftwaffe during the Belfast Blitz. The bakery opened for business the following morning. It is currently the only shop still operating on the block.

Ronnie Jordan, now 77, was born above the bakery, which was founded by his grandparents. That was back when the Harland & Wolfe shipyards nearby were going strong. His earliest memory, he said, was lying in bed listening to “the tromp tromp of 1,000 men going up the road to work.” Now a statue stands in their place, marking the once mighty working class that built the ships of empire.

Ronnie apprenticed at a larger bakery for 6 years before taking the reigns of the family business. The apple tart recipe they use is his grandmother’s. He’s watched as the changes that have come to the lower Newtownards Road closed down several other bakeries. But his customers keep coming, “People still want home baked products,” said his son, Paul Jordan, 42.

Jordan’s Belfast Bap is one of their most popular sellers. The flour-dusted crust has just the right crunch, and the middle is soft and airy. Perfect for dipping in a stew or slathering with butter.

The majority of tourists visiting Belfast take in the murals on the west side of town, enamored with the republican narrative. Yet East Belfast’s large working class Protestant population has many murals of it own, commemorating both their industrial past, their military service, and their paramilitary ghosts.

Maybe it’s because of treats like these that Jordan’s has endured through many upheavals. “Through the air raids, then the Troubles, customers from both sides of the community continued to support us,” Ronnie said. “We owe a lot to our customers.”

Jordan’s is the last bakery on this stretch of the Newtonards Road, where there used to be four or five. Many of the shop fronts up and down this once bustling thoroughfare now sport fake frontages, to hide their derelict status. Five minutes up the road is the sprawling Connswater shopping centre, home to a Lidl and a McDonald’s, sucking shoppers into its vortex and leaving small businesses out in the cold. “Connswater is the worst thing to happen to this road,” said a bakery employee. But still the customers keep coming. On Saturdays Jordan’s has queues out the front door.

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