A brand new bread is launched created by a Forest bakery looks set to be the toast of Gloucestershire.

The Forest Bakehouse in Longhope created the loaf celebrating the county’s produce for the Gloucester History Festival

It will be officially launched today (Friday,April 17) for the opening of the three-day event.

Baker Craig Fishpool created the recipe for the sourdough loaf highlighting produce from across Gloucestershire.

There is organic flour from Shipton Mill near Tetbury where milling dates back 1,000 years to the Domesday Book.

The loaf is enriched with Double Gloucester cheese from Smart’s Farm at Birdwood, the third-generation family business which supplies the cheeses that tumble down Cooper’s Hill every year in the world-famous cheese rolling competition.

The cheese is made by hand using the milk of rare breed Gloucester cows, one of Britain’s oldest breeds. The loaf also includes red onions inspired by the original 14th century Newent Onion Fayre.

Chris Hill, from the Forest Bakehouse which was set up in 2013, said: “‘The Festival Loaf is Gloucestershire through and through – it has heart, heritage and honesty.

“It’s baked with love and tastes great, so it’s just what history fans ‘knead’.”

The new loaf will be on sale for the first time at the Gloucester History Festival Spring Weekend in Blackfriars Priory from Friday until Sunday.

It will take pride of place at one of the Festival events, Breaking Bread with baker and author David Wright, tracing the history of loaves which includes a bread and pastry tasting.

The programme features 28 events and a host of household names including TV historian Mary Beard, broadcaster Edward Stourton, Britain’s best-selling female historian Alison Weir, BBC Coast presenter Mark Horton, prize-winning author Tharik Hussain, poet Pam Ayres and Gloucester historian Tony Conder.