Pier 18 Gifts

General information

In 1911, Ernest Hodgson opened an emporium of rock and seaside novelties at 19-20 Prince Street in Bridlington. The premises (as shown above in the 1920's) was fitted with basic confectionery equipment to enable the staff to produce sticks of rock, giant and miniature humbugs, butter bonbons, fruit rock pieces and Yorkshire mint rock.

Ernest and his staff delighted his customers by demonstrating the art of rock making, and showing the viewing public the craft of creating letters in boiled sugar and assembling them into a giant stick of rock. They then stretched the rock into smaller lengths and chopped these into smaller sticks of rock similar to the ones we manufacture today.

The business then, as now, involved several members of the family. Ernest is shown behind the giant humbug in the centre of the photo, his son Norman is shown on the far right, and Leonard is shown standing to the left of Norman. They worked in the business from an early age and Norman took over the running of the shop in the 1930's. The family also owned a bakery on Prospect Street in Bridlington, and Leonard went on to run the bakery himself.

Leonard's son, Trevor, started his working career at Cravens learning the toffee trade as an apprentice toffee boiler. He later entered the family business in the 1960's and took over the helm in 1967.

Trevor expanded the business rapidly and opened a new dedicated 7,000 sq ft manufacturing site at Pinfold Lane, Bridlington in 1967, and then moved to a much larger site at our present location on Carnaby Industrial Estate in 1984. This site has since expanded to include biscuit and chocolate production, a public viewing gallery (John Bull Factory Tours), and a dedicated children's soft play area and cafe (Candy Kingdom).