No slowing down for sweetmaker 'Toffee Ron'

A popular confectioner from Wigan, whose family have been handcrafting sweets in the town for more than a century, said he has no plans of slowing down.

Ron Westhead, 73, known as "Toffee Ron", learnt the almost forgotten art of sweet making as a 14-year-old apprentice.

Using homemade machinery, he makes and sells traditional favourites, including pear drops and 'curley aniseed' from the town's Victorian Makinson Arcade.

"Because it's low scale there's nothing rushed," said Westhead. "There's nothing mass-produced, which makes a big difference to the quality of the sweets."

The family line of confectionery dates back to Ron's grandfather, who got a job at a small Wigan company called Edwards Confectionery in about 1898.

When the First World War broke out, he joined up. After surviving the war, he returned to find the factory closed.

According to Ron, the owner then married into a wealthy family and no longer needed to work.

"But he found where grandad was and gave him the factory and the machinery and said, 'There you go, you've got a ready-made business'".

The family tradition was then passed down through the generations.

"I learned how to make sweets from my dad," he said.

Toffee Ron keeps the recipes close to his chest. "They 're completely secret. I've recorded videos for my grandchildren should they ever want to make sweets properly."

His nickname and business name also stems from childhood.

"My name 'Toffee Ron' comes from a nickname I used to get from my pals at school because I always had toffees with me, so it made me popular," he said.

"When I was a teenager I wasn't too happy about that nickname."

And while his sweets may have given him kudos among his school friends, Ron is keen to make one thing clear when it comes to football and toffees.

"I support Manchester City - not Everton," he said. "I do sell Everton mints though."

For Ron, staying small is an important part of preserving his art.

"This is just what I like. Making the sweets that people enjoy.

For a confectioner who has spent almost six decades honing his craft, the slogan "fettled" in signage above the counter is fitting.

"Fettled means to do something right or put it right," Ron said.

"It's an old Wigan expression and you do it well."

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