A North Tyneside mother has launched a retro-look ice cream business after discovering her Italian ancestors sold ice cream in Newcastle more than a century ago. Amy Bastianelli, 39, from Marden Estate, was researching her family tree when she learned about her great-great-grandparents, Benedetto Bastianelli and Angelina Valente, who left Italy in the early 1900s and settled in Newcastle, where they began selling ice cream and hot chestnuts.
Family legacy uncovered
Benedetto died young, at 28, of pneumonia, leaving Angelina to continue the work and support the family. Amy found a photo of Angelina and an old newspaper cutting referencing her selling ice cream and roasted chestnuts outside the former Glendale pub in Byker in 1934. Angelina also helped support and provide work for other Italians arriving in the North East.
“It wasn’t simply an ice-cream business; it became part of the local community and a new beginning for other Italian families too,” Amy said. Inspired by the discovery, she decided to revive the family legacy.
Vintage trike and traditional outfit
The idea began with a £50 purchase on Etsy—a vintage tricycle that is now being restored with Bastianelli Gelato Italiano branding. Amy is assembling a period outfit, including an A-line knee-length skirt, cream shirt, cap, headscarf, and boots, topped with her great-great-grandmother’s brooch.
The business will launch at Salt Market Social in North Shields on September 4, with authentic Italian gelato and artisan sorbets supplied by Cremoloso, a London-based family-run business. Flavours, such as hazelnut, Sicilian lemon, vegan pistachio, and yoghurt and wild strawberry, will be named after family members—vanilla is called Angelina, Belgian chocolate is Benedetto, and a salted amaretto, chosen as the UK’s number-one flavour at the 2021 Gelato Festival, is named after Amy’s brother Mario.
Family connections and future plans
Amy’s social media posts have uncovered more relatives living locally, and her grandfather Ronald Sebastenelli senior, 87, who knew nothing of the family history, is “over the moon.” Research also revealed that Benedetto is buried in Heaton Cemetery, and Amy is considering buying him a plot. She hired a private investigator in Italy and traced Benedetto’s birthplace to Sant’Elia Fiumerapido in the Lazio region.
Amy, who has health challenges that make conventional employment difficult, hopes to supply local cafes with gelato and is looking to secure a pitch in Cullercoats. The launch event at Salt Market Social runs from 6pm to 11pm on September 4.
