After the cream tea we went to…
I’ve just realised I didn’t give you a proper report of the cream tea. I don’t seem to have photographed the fully assembled tea either. Sorry about that. The scones were nice and light, the cream unbranded (but none the worse for that, and it used less packaging) and the jam was the equal of any we’ve had recently. Having said that, most jam is just fruit and sugar so it’s hard to get it wrong. What made it better than most, was the view of Southwold in the sparkling summer sun.
I’ve been reading about how things like description and presentation can make food taste better. It seems wrong, and suggests humans are weak-minded, but it does seem to be true. It also seems to suggest that an average cream tea in a cafe with a great view can become a great cream tea.
I also forgot to tell you about the grandmother/mother conversation about beach huts. You can get one for about £10,000, which is small change for a millionaire, but a lot of money for a £500 garden shed built where gales tend to blow. They agreed that some beach huts were ridiculously expensive, which is true – some of them are. They also agreed that beach huts would be better with showers and toilets. This is probably true too, but really misses the point of the beach hut, which is really a throw-back to the 1950s.
From there we moved on to the Under the Pier Show, an arcade featuring the work of mad inventor Tim Hunkin.
The Under the Pier Show
You may remember him from various TV programmes and Sunday magazines. He’s clearly unhinged but very funny.
In many ways it sums up the pier – inventive, funny and original.
The theming of waste bins, food carts and cafe lamp shades is another nice touch.
Looks like this is going to run to three parts. Here’s a taster of what comes next.
Eric Blair lived in Southwold – he liked Suffolk so much he took the name of the River Orwell as his pen name. As a Socialist he probably looked into the future and decided being called Blair was just too embarrassing.