A FAMILY owned gelateria in Lochmaben is celebrating four generations of ice cream making.
Crolla’s was founded in 1915 by Jeremiah Crolla after he and his wife Maria immigrated from Picinisco in central Italy.
The shop has been a staple of the town ever since with locals and tourists alike enjoying Crolla’s flavourful ice cream.
Over 100 years later the shop is now run by Jeremiah’s great-grandson Martin, who hopes to keep the business going for years to come. He said: “I don’t really know why my great-grandfather chose to live down here, maybe he just thought it was a nice destination. But the shop is something that has always been important to me and my family.
“My dad worked here from when he was younger all the way up until the start of the pandemic and being able to carry it on is something special.”
The Crolla family also used to own the chip shop next door and were recently reunited with a 100-year old sign, which according Martin’s father Lorenzo was returned to them after being found in a house in Moffat.
Now Martin’s two-year-old Enzo is getting his first taste of the family business and will hopefully continue the family legacy, as Martin jested: “Hopefully he’ll make this carry on, unless he wants to be a footballer then I’ll forgive him and let him do his own thing.”
