This film is part of Free

Hart's Ice Cream of St Ives

Tune down, turn off and scoop out as the famous outlet for ice cream closes its doors.

News 1983 4 mins

From the collection of:

Logo for South West Film and Television Archive

Overview

The famous outlet for ice cream closes its doors but not before one last rendition of the ditty Doble’s Wall. The wall is a famous location on the St Ives seafront in Cornwall and named after a man called Doble. Hart's Ice Cream is selling up and the secret recipe for creamy vanilla ice will go too. Made from fresh milk every day, people will have enjoyed Hart's brand of vanilla for almost a century. Two old photos show the delivery van and the family sitting on Doble's Wall.

Samuel Hart set up the ice cream parlour with his wife Miriam in 1895. Fresh milk and cream were hand churned and the business grew to include their seven children. The ice cream parlour moved to Back Lane and became famous in the region where they continued to hand deliver. Samuel Hart’s sons, Humphrey and Sam produced the ice cream and this passed on to Sam’s children meaning the family has been selling ice cream for three generations. The factory moved to Fish Street or Dick’s Hill and The Regal Café operated from the premises. After selling up, the dairy ice cream shop continued for some years under new ownership before closing for good. Ambrosia Creamery was opened by Alfred Morris in Lifton in Devon in 1917.