I have long loved fishing harbours. There is a particularly beautiful if run down example back home. Today I surveyed it in stunning sunshine for the first time since 2007. When I lived in Folkestone I always planned to watch the sun rise over that harbour but never really woke up in time. Much has changed since I moved on.
Some years ago the biggest local employer Roger De Haan sold his business for more than £1 billion. His next move was to spend a fortune doing up the east end long blighted by poverty and decay with the creation of the artists quarter. Now there are smart cafes, galleries and good restaurants all down there. But what has been swept away as we move on in the 21st century?
Working all years in the community with the mentally ill I learned all the cafes, parking places and lots of secret places known to few others. I have mentioned the English passion for fried breakfasts before. All over the country little greasy spoons serve up dirt cheap, fat laden food all doused with baked beans. Sound disgusting but it does work. Can't eat them too often as I would be the size of a house and wear 40" waist trousers. One of the finest such venues was the old fisherman's cafe on the harbour. Sadly that has been swept away.
In it's place is the well known Rocksalt. Yes one of those celebrity chef restaurants where you pay for the name of a celebrity who never actually cooks there. Miriam took dad there a while ago, seriously expensive. Maybe one day I'll try it but I will miss that old greasy spoon and their wonderful bacon.
I have moved on in my life since those days. Will I go back? I doubt it. But you never know, there may be something just lurking over my horizon. Let's hope so.
I Heard a Voice.
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