Their story dates back to 1907, and Ringtons still remains a family business today. If you look at their website you can read all about their journey through the years. They also mention five interesting facts about their business that most of us probably didn’t know.
1. There isn’t a Mr Rington. Sam Smith founded Ringtons with an initial investment from his business partner William Titterington. The name Ringtons was formed from the last half of Willliam’s surname and the ’S’ from Smith.
2. Their roots are in Yorkshire. Sam came from Leeds. He moved to Newcastle upon Tyne in 1907 and began selling tea from his horse and cart. In the 1930’s Sam went back to Leeds and built a brand new Ringtons factory on the site of his former home.
3.The last horse in the Ringtons fleet, Monty, retired in 1962. The only reason Monty kept going was because the van lad didn’t want to drive a motorised vehicle.
4. In 1961 they aired their first TV advert, which showed salesperson Cliff Taylor roll up his trousers and wade across to St Mary’s lighthouse in Whitley Bay, Northumberland to make a doorstep delivery.
5. In 2007 they celebrated their 100th birthday and were awarded the Honorary Freedom of the City of Newcastle. I really hope that they keep providing such a great service for many more years to come.
Apart from tea, my mum always buys their ginger biscuits which are a firm favourite with everyone. They are larger than a packet of ginger biscuits you would buy in a supermarket. Years ago, we used to make a ‘Sherry Log’ with them, which basically consists of three ingredients:
Ginger biscuits, sweet sherry, and cream.
Put some sherry in a bowl. You can add more sherry as you go along, so as not to waste any. In another bowl, whip up a tub of double or whipping cream until firm. Take a packet of Ringtons ginger biscuits, or any large ginger biscuits, and dip one biscuit at a time in the sherry and then spread with cream. Continue until you have used all the biscuits and made a log shape. Cover the whole thing with cream, sprinkle some grated chocolate, and put in the fridge for a few hours to allow the sherry and cream to soften the biscuits.
A very quick and easy dessert which is absolutely delicious; and one which I need to start making again.
Author: JANE FERGUSON
Jane Ferguson worked in the food industry and ran her own successful business for six years called ‘Pink Leaf Catering’. She loves trying new recipes, and believes that delicious healthy food need not be complicated or take hours to make.
