Our Story
At Lenton Bakery, we believe good food isn’t just about how it tastes — it’s about the ingredients that go into it.
Our story began in February 2016, when we moved to Lincolnshire and built a tea room called Watts For Tea in the outbuildings of an old mill in the village of Grainthorpe. Over the years, the building and the business has evolved with changing circumstances to suit our needs – both for economic sustainability & to manage life with a long-term autoimmune condition. We closed the tearoom in July 2021 and moved from our rented accommodation to create our home in what was the tea room space. We tried our hand at markets for a while, but the inconsistent results made it unsustainable.
So in January 2024, we came back to where it all began, launching Lenton Bakery as a pop-up takeaway bakery from our dining room, open only on weekends. We created a purpose built bakery shop in one of the old stables and since we opened, our little micro bakery has gone from strength to strength — so much so that in September 2026 we closed for a couple of weeks to make our shop space bigger and more efficient.
Chef Pete
HUSBAND. FATHER. BROTHER. UNCLE. GRANDFATHER. GREAT UNCLE. CHEF. KITCHEN MANAGER. QUALITY CONTROL. MASTER OF SARCASM.
Pete began his journey in food when he trained as a chef at Henley College in Coventry, graduating in 1981. After spending 6 months on work placement in Oberammergau, Germany he worked around the UK in various hotels eventually reaching the position of Executive Head Chef in charge of 2 Forte Hotel Kitchens at Impington, Cambridge & Peterborough. He then moved into industrial catering which offered more sociable hours. He has a wealth of knowledge in food preparation, stock management, menu planning, leading a team, and recipe development.
Pete Lenton – Co-owner
Baker Shell
WIFE. STEP-MOTHER. SIS-IN-LAW. AUNT. GRANDMOTHER. GREAT AUNT. BAKER. RECIPE DEVELOPER. WEBSITE BUILDER & MAINTAINER. CRAZY CAKE LADY.
Shell is a self taught baker who didn’t learn how to bake properly until 2012! She has a great deal of hospitality, administrative and business management experience having worked in the airline industry, bars & hotels, and the IT industry. She really enjoys pairing new flavours together, recipe development & learning new patisserie techniques.
Michelle Lenton – Co-owner