Abbott Lodge Jersey Ice Cream
WHAT
Ice cream parlour
WHERE
M6, Junction 40; 9 minutes
WHEN
Mon–Sun 11am-5pm
Dog friendly
Kid friendly
Disabled access
Free WiFi for visitors
Vegetarian or vegan options
Gluten-free options
Parking available onsite
Recycling/sustainability practices
A family-run dairy farm at the edge of the Eden Valley and Lake District, people flock here for the ice cream – all 40 fabulous flavours of it. Choose from Just Jersey classic, mint choc chip, tiramisu, passion fruit, trifle, raspberry pavlova and a host of other delicious concoctions.
The charming, circular café is housed in a former gin case (horse-powered engine house: ask farmers Steve and Claire how it used to help thresh the harvest) and serves good tea and coffee along with traybakes and freshly made waffles; you can watch the milking on cow cam which shows the three robots that work 24-hours a day milking the free-range cows. Kids can burn off the ice cream in the playground at the front, which has a large, wooden play frame, ride on a tractor circuit for under-eights and charge about in oodles of space.
Be sure to visit the adorable calves in the barn alongside the café to meet the next generation of ice cream makers.