HIGH STREET · PATELEY BRIDGE
The Oldest Sweet Shop
in the World
Trading continuously since 1827. Old-fashioned jars, weighed out by hand, and a proper step back in time on the High Street.
Nearly two centuries of humbugs and pear drops
Tucked into the High Street, this little shop has been trading since 1827, which makes it, by most accounts, the oldest sweet shop in the world. Generations of visitors and locals have ducked through the door for exactly the same thing: a paper bag filled from floor-to-ceiling glass jars, weighed out the old way.
Inside, the shelves are lined with traditional boiled sweets - humbugs, pear drops, rhubarb & custards, sherbet lemons and all the rest - sold loose by the quarter-pound on old-fashioned scales, just as they always have been. There is no faster way to make a child's day, or to feel like one yourself for a few minutes.
It is a small shop and gets busy on weekends and during the summer, but the queue moves quickly and is part of the charm. A genuine Pateley Bridge institution, and one of the High Street's most-loved stops.
Plan your visit
- Address
- High Street, Pateley Bridge HG3
- Hours
- Standard High Street shop hours - check the window for today's times
- Best for
- A treat after a walk, or a gift to take home
- Parking
- Showground Car Park, a short walk away
What to try
- +A quarter-pound of humbugs
- +Pear drops
- +Rhubarb & custards
- +Sherbet lemons
- +A mixed bag for the car journey home
More on the High Street
Cocoa Joe's legendary hot chocolate, Wildish artisan coffee and boutique, Talbot House tearoom and Pateley Makers Yard are all within a short walk.