"My dad knows the recipe, he refuses to tell me it and keeps it in his head - he'll probably leave it to me in his will," jokes Louise Jeeves whose parents Mark and Mandy Paul run Hudsons ice cream parlour in Chatburn.
Mark uses the secret recipe to make fresh ice cream between 5am and 3pm every day. It is prepared completely by hand in a small dairy room at the back of the shop.
The Ribble Valley shop, which originated as a butchers in 1913 (there's still meat hooks on the ceiling), is housed within a historic 50p-shaped multi-storey Old Toll House, with a cellar, kitchen, ornate roof and also an apartment where Mark and Mandy live.
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Louise, a teacher, grew up above the shop and currently lives next door with her young family, helping her parents out during especially busy periods. "People come from all over the world to try our ice cream, from places such as Utah in America, Australia, New Zealand and Africa," Mandy told Lancs Live. "
"It is all handmade. There's no buttons pressed or machinery and is quite manual work. "We're a proud family shop and it has been passed down by several generations."
It has operated as an ice cream shop since 1939, when Barbara Hudson, the daughter of original owners, Sarah and Clifford, devised a recipe with her mother to celebrate her birthday. The ice cream grew so popular, it soon became a magnet for local school children who would flock to buy a cone.
The recipe was eventually passed on to the Pauls almost 30 years ago, who have kept it a close-guarded secret ever since. Its popularity has rarely faltered since, with long queues regularly snaking around the corner, especially in the summer months.
Mandy, who is also a practicing physic medium, says Sarah's ghost has been spotted in various rooms in the building on several occasions, including the cellar. "Louise's friends used to love coming to the shop after school, but one once saw Sarah and was a little put off after that," a beaming Mandy said.
"My granddaughter's Elsie (two) and Edith (six months) love it too, and Elsie enjoys help out her grandma. Her favourite flavour is strawberry with marshmallows.
Along with the frozen dessert main attraction of which there are several flavours including strawberry, gooseberry, blackcurrant and best-seller vanilla, the shop also serves 70 varieties of traditional sweets, hot food, sandwiches and homemade cakes.
The cakes are baked by Mandy and her vegan raspberry buns helped Hudsons to be ranked among The Guardian's 10 best best bakers in the north of England.
Mandy added: "People can come and get an ice cream, bags of sweets or a coffee and sit outside and enjoy the sunshine, whatever they like. Some will take a picture of our sweet jars on the wall and then print it on on a canvas to put up at home."
Hudsons is in a prime spot close to tourist magnets such as Downham, Sawley Abbey, Clitheroe, Pendle Hill and Whalley and is open every day but Tuesday, 10am to 5pm.
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