Bishop Auckland ice cream cart transformed into Scotch egg stall

Andrew Harvey, 42, who runs the Bishop Auckland business Cassie’s Kitchen, has transformed a 1950s ice cream cart into “Edith the Egg Cart” in memory of his grandma, Edith, who died in January aged 91.

The business has been trading around the North East for the last six years, selling handmade Scotch eggs at markets and food festivals.

Andrew Harvey, 42, who runs the Bishop Auckland business Cassie’s Kitchen, has transformed a 1950s ice cream cart into “Edith the Egg Cart” (Image: Cassie’s Kitchen)

Andrew said he had been keeping an eye out for “something a bit different” to help the stall stand out when he spotted the vintage cart on social media about two years ago.

He said: “We usually sell from a market stall or a gazebo, and I’m always looking for a bit of a quirk.

“I saw the ice cream cart online and thought, it’s different, it looks cool, it’s got that old style with glass all the way round.

“I bought it thinking we’d do something with it at some point, but with a couple of tough years in business, it just kept getting put off.

“We’d say, ‘If we have a good December, we’ll sort it,’ and it never happened.”

The cart, which was originally used by Coxon’s Ice Cream in Seahouses, had spent decades by the harbour (Image: Cassie’s Kitchen)

However, that soon changed after his grandma suddenly passed away at the start of this year.

He said: “In January, we lost my gran, and it was a bit of a kick to get it finished.

“I thought, that’s it, I’m going to do it. No more excuses. I’m going to name it after my gran, and that’s what we did.”

The cart, which was originally used by Coxon’s Ice Cream in Seahouses, had spent decades by the harbour and was in a bad state when Andrew bought it.

Cassie’s Kitchen is known for its scotch eggs. (Image: Cassie’s Kitchen)

The 42-year-old said: “It was completely ruined.

“The chassis was rotten, one side had snapped, the axle had snapped, and the roof beams were gone. You could tell which side had been facing the sea.

 “We put a new floor in, stripped it right back to the metal, repainted it, replaced all the roof supports and took out the old ice cream freezer. Apart from the body and the glass, everything is new.”

The refurbishment became a family project, with Andrew’s mum and stepdaughter putting in hours of work to get it finished.

The cart made its first appearance on the May bank holiday at the Great North Feast in the Park at Bents Park, South Shields (Image: Cassie’s Kitchen)

The cart made its first appearance on the May bank holiday at the Great North Feast in the Park at Bents Park, South Shields, which was deliberately chosen so Edith’s hometown would be the first to see it.

Andrew said: “Most of our family is still in South Shields, so on the Saturday when the festival opened, they all came along to see the cart.

“It was quite emotional. They were all really proud and said Gran would have loved it. It was a really special moment, and I’m glad I could share it with my family.”

The cart has his gran’s name on the back (Image: Cassie’s Kitchen)

Andrew said since debuting the new cart, the response has been “amazing.”

He said: “People love it. You get a lot of older people saying they remember seeing carts like that at the seaside when they were little.

“They come over out of nostalgia and then try the Scotch eggs.”

Cassie’s Kitchen now plans to take Edith the Egg Cart to food festivals and events across the region, with the trailer set to become “the face of the business.”

Andrew set up the new cart in memory of his gran Edith (Image: Cassie’s Kitchen)

Andrew said: “Logistically, we can’t take it everywhere, but the idea is it replaces the gazebo at most places and becomes the face of the business.

“I’d have loved to have had it done in time for my gran to see it.

“That was the original plan. Even though that didn’t happen, it’s still really nice to do it in her honour and for the family to see it out on the road.”