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The much awaited Ham and Jam coffee shop in Lancaster Road is almost ready to launch with a format that should suit most people. Owner Richard Lowthian said: “We are now finalising the remaining building work and the dining furniture is well underway, being specially hand made to create a perfect ethos for the coffee shop”.

One of Ham and Jam’s policies is sourcing food and supplies from local stockists and traders. Richard went on to say: “This part of Lancashire has some of the finest produce available and we want to tap in to that resource and at the same time we are keeping the money flowing within the local economy; that way everyone benefits, customers and traders alike”.

When we asked Richard where the unusual name of the coffee shop came from he said that it was a code originating in the second World War. Ham and Jam were D-day code-words used to inform headquarters that two bridges had been captured; ‘Ham’ indicated a certain canal bridge was captured and ‘Jam’ a nearby river bridge.

Many Prestonians may well recall that the premises of the coffee shop were occupied by the Val Murray cosmetics business for quite a time and previous to that this building was the premises of Prince’s Trophy Shop for many years.

The site of the new Ham and Jam coffee bar in Lancaster Road – Lord Street, Preston. Pic: Beth Hayes PHS 1984

Ham and Jam will be opening at the end of October 2015 with full menu in operation and free wi-fi available, along with customer facilities of power points for laptop and phone charging.

You can find out more about Ham and Jam at their Facebook page here or their website here.

Will you go and try out the Ham and Jam coffee shop? Let us know in the comments below.