Snugburys

As we all know - it's not summer until you've dripped ice cream on your shoes and today The Optimist is introducing you to a better class of ice cream: ice cream so moreish you'll just want to shove your face in it. If the picture above hasn't convinced you already, read on ...

This, is Snugburys. Doesn't look like much does it? But this quaint, little ice cream parlour, inside a converted barn, in the middle of the Cheshire countryside gets visited by 200,000 people every year. On a hot day, the queue stretches across it's courtyard, along its driveway and into the carpark. "What's so good about it?" I hear you cry. One scoop of their sticky, homemade ice cream perched precariously atop a sugar cone and you'll understand.

I'm not prone to exaggeration, but ... SNUGBURYS IS THE BEST ICE CREAM PARLOUR IN THE ENTIRE WORLD! Let's just take a moment to talk about some of the flavours on offer ... there's honeycomb - ridiculously gorgeous clotted cream with humungous chunks of cinder toffee buried inside; Creme brulee - rich vanilla ice cream sprinkled with crunchy bits of caramelised sugar; White mountain; Salted caramel and macadamia; Flapjack; Death by chocolate: Toffee crumble; Raspberry Pavlova - am I making you hungry? Well, trust me, it tastes as good as it sounds. And if, after your visit, you're overcome with love for this award winning ice cream, as so many have been before, you can buy it in tubs to take away - dreamy.






But it's not just the frozen stuff people flock here for. Have you ever been to an ice cream shop with one of these outside?

It's a Da-lick! Snugburys have been creating enormous sculptures out of straw since 2002 as part of their quirky plan to raise some money for charity. They've done Big Ben, a Meerkat, the London Eye, even an Olympic velodrome, but last year they outdid themselves when they decided to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who with a 35ft straw Dalek. It even talks and moves its head! And once you've seen this unusual outdoor art installation, you can take your ice cream on a picturesque walk along the Llangollen Canal by following Snugburys' countryside trail.

Like I said - best ice cream parlour in the world. As a cross-stitch on the wall of the shop says:

"Money can't buy you happiness, 

but it can buy you Snugburys ice cream ...

and that's kind of the same thing!"