He is the fourth generation to make bread and cakes for the people of Uppingham. Walking into the shop on High Street West is like going back into a byegone age.

There are few remaining traditional small family bakeries like this one left and Richard is determined to keep it going.

He starts work at 5.30 every morning and he clearly has a real passion for baking in the old fashioned way.

"I like the creativeness of what we do," said Richard (62). "Starting from Monday morning, we make everything from scratch using four basic ingredients – yeast, salt, water and flour. We end up with something which smells lovely and is really tasty. People prefer fresh bread and one of the key factors for us is our old brick oven which has 50 years of flavours in it."

Richard was in his early 20s when he began to learn the trade from his late father, Maurice, who continued to work in the business into his 80s.

"When I left school most people were becoming accountants or enroling in business college but my mother said 'you need to go off and learn how to bake a loaf of bread'," recalled Richard.

"It was entirely my choice to go into the family business – it has to be or you wouldn't survive in it."

Back in those early days, Richard remembers they delivered bread door to door and sold much more wholesale. There were no takeaway sandwiches. The main constants over the years are the recipes for bread, cakes and puddings – Christmas puds, for example are made to a century-old recipe.

"We used to sell cake by the slice – they would all be lined up and we would ask a customer how much they would like," said Richard.

"We don't do that anymore though because everything has to be wrapped these days because of the health and hygiene regulations."

Richard is a committee member for Uppingham Fatstock Show, which was held for the 102nd time in November this year.

Richard was involved in the lengthy logistical planning for the event, which saw sheep, cattle and pigs exhibited in the market place.

The Baines family got involved because of the family farm at Braunston, where Richard spends his afternoons looking after the pigs, which eventually provide meat for products in the shop.

"My grandfather used to show pigs at the show and I gradually got involved on the committee side," he explained.

"I think it is a great tradition. It's great for the town because people come to it from all over the area."

The Baines family business was originally set up by Richard's great-grandfather, Senior Baines, who traded from a premises on School Lane from 1867.
They operated a farmhouse shop there for 34 years before transferring to the present location in High Street West which became a bakery.

Leaflets were handed out to townsfolk advertising bread, biscuits and muffins. Richard's father, Maurice, a student at Oakham School, got involved in the business in the 1920s after his eldest brother was killed in a road accident.

Today the Baines' Uppingham empire extends to a bookshop, run by Richard's brother, Edward, a tea shop next to the bakery which the family franchises out, as well as the 60-acre farm at Braunston.

"I love being hands on at the bakery," said Richard. "We do start early but you get used to it although it can be very cold in the winter. We must bake 200 to 300 loaves of bread a day during the week and double that on Fridays and Saturdays."

Richard, who is married to Karen with a daughter Kate, is confident the business will continue after he retires. He is adamant that won't be anytime soon, such is his enjoyment in his work.

"You don't exactly make a fortune but it is a way of life," he added.