Portslade Station Cafe -- near the Channel seaside at Hove

Up at 5:00 am and out the door at 5:30 heading south to the English Channel. Around the edge of London on the M25, then south toward Brighton.  We're heading to Hove, just west of Brighton where Happy Husband's favourite plastic model shop is closing down -- hoping for some sales.  We've enjoyed Linda's Cafe on the waterfront before, but today we search out a new watering hole.

We discover the Station Cafe at Portslade Station, having opened at 7:00, five minutes before our arrival.  It's light and warm inside on this brisk winter morning.  A couple pensioners are already enjoying their mugs of hot tea.  By 7:30 every table is taken. 

We split the Number 7 Full Breakfast -- two of everything and beans for Happy Husband.  The Christmas decor enhances the old photos of Portslade hanging on the wall. A classic am radio carries music from the 1980's into the dining room.  The husband and wife team have been cooking breakfasts here for 10 years.

Sated, we head out.  The Portslade Railway Station sits across the street.  As I take a photo, a work crew in a fluorescent lorry query what I could possibly find of interest to take pictures of.  So I take their photo, too.

We enjoy numerous charity shops and, naturally, the sea.  We find several re-gift items for Christmas -- treasures of Merino wool and a year's worth of Sudokus  (don't tell Happy Husband until after Christmas!)

Another wonderful Breakfast in Britain.

Breakfast in Deptford -- noted for Christopher Marlowe's demise

Our Borough of Lewisham in Southeast London has been listed recently as the "least safe" community in the United Kingdom.  Gang violence and knifings raise the figures.  There's nothing new about this reputation for Southeast London.  

We dine this morning merely a stone's throw from the pub where Christopher Marlowe met his tragic end in Deptford, Lewisham.  (Truth be told, as the leafy trees attest, I'm late in posting this visit to Deptford!)

But first let us walk along the streets of Lewisham between here and there. Past the quaint worker's homes of old and the mansions of Wickham Road, divided into flats and bedsitters for the immigrants from the West Indies a half century ago, now being scooped up by young professionals starting families, happy for the new rail lines that link Southeast London to the City with an easy commute.  

Past Friendly Gardens and the Ravensbourne River which winds its way through Lewisham to finally feed into the Thames at Deptford, 

Today, as often, Mr. Heron perches on branches overhanging the quiet stream,urban sentinel.

Lush flower boxes fill empty sills and entryways.

Garden allotments flourish under the loving hand of those who still crave fresh vegetables on their urban dinner tables.

Dickensian chimney pots scallop the skyline. One might expect a chimney sweep to pop out any moment with a bright, "Chim chim cheree." 

The "least safe" community in the United Kingdom.  Ah, how relative statistics such as these are to us who grew up with guns on the streets of Chicago and Washington D.C., and then spent years under the cloak of the violence of apartheid in South Africa, and finally fled Zimbabwe because of the government-condoned "thugs" ravaging our community in Plumtree, street by street, house by house.  "Least safe" in a land where even police officers do not carry firearms, and where we do not expect our neighbours to have a gun in the house.  Where we walk the streets at night actually expecting to arrive home without incident.

Except living in rural Mfanefile, Zululand, South Africa in the 1980's, I have never felt so safe in my home community.  We're not naive, but "least safe" in the UK means something different than "least safe" in the USA or South Africa!

We slip into Bianca Cafe on Deptford High Street, quiet now in the early morning hours.  Good hot food -- nothing like chips and beans for breakfast in Happy Husband's opinion!  I stick to my 2x2.  

Waves of customers fill the 18 seats. This place sparkles!  The premises are seriously clean -- even the seam where the tile floor meets the tiled wall! Our only complaints: Table 5 rocks, and the teabags arrive in our mugs, 

When shops open, we explore. High Street becomes an open-air market with tables laden with fish, plastic ware and fresh fruit and vegetables from foreign lands.

An unexpected treasure trove are the charity shops full of Ghanaian finery and saris.  

As we walk toward the Thames, hidden galleries and street arttreasures abound.  We'd heard that Deptford is famous for its Arts, but this is our introduction. Street art abounds -- murals, sculpture!  Quirky, moving, historic, beautiful!

Last, but not least, we "discover" the Parish Church of St Paul, hidden behind Council apartment blocks (public housing), almost upon the river bank, surrounded by a rose garden -- an oasis in the "least safe" corner of the UK.

We continue to the banks of the Thames, Greenwich to the east, Canary Wharf to the north. New expensive apartment highrises line the river.  Ah, Southeast London, rich and poor, old and new, side by side.  A great place to call home for a while.

Another delightful Breakfast in Britain!

Piggy's ressurrected in Chatham

Looking back toward Rochester

Arriving early in Rochester, we decide to walk toward Chatham and Piggy's Cafe where we ate breakfast several years ago.

We curve around the boat harbour, pass a synagogue, and admire the surviving pre-war buildings along the high street.
We look back and see the spire of Rochester Cathedral and the keep of Rochester Castle behind us.

The Old Piggy's of Chatham

New Piggy's of Chatham Cafe

To our surprise we come upon Piggy's re-located in a smaller venue.  Ted, the proprietor, greets us merrily and takes our order.  Turns out that two years ago he was forced to move from the larger premises by the Town Council -- and what's frustrating to Ted is that the building still stands empty, along with other spaces along the row of store fronts where several businesses used to reside.

Pizzazz in the Old Piggy's

He tells the story that initially no compensation was offered, and then denied when requested.  Finally "after a fight," he received some compensation.  But the other closed businesses, those that did not query the eviction and did not seek compensation, received none.

Giant pig at previous venue

The previous Piggy's of Chatham Cafe displayed numerous ceramic pigs; now there is room for only a few.  A sad turn of events for Ted and Piggy's.

But gratefully he still flips tasty soft fried eggs, and brews a strong cup of English tea.

The Piggy's Cafe we remembered

An interesting Breakfast in Britain.

Paul's Cafe, Greenwich UK

 Ah, the simple pleasures of a sugar-shaker that pours.  Little did I know, as I do not eat sugar, that  Happy Husband notices the flowing quality of the sugar-shakers.  And here at Paul's Cafe in Greenwich -- the sugar pours freely!  

Thursday Breakfasts in Britain have not faltered; it's the posting that has.  Between a daughter's wedding and the temptations of summer, I've been away from my computer.  Now the dark is returning to London, and my cozy computer corner welcomes me.

We'd spotted Paul's Cafe months ago, walking home from Greenwich via Deptford, crossing the Ravensbourne River bridge closest to the Thames.  

Nestled on a side street (18 Haddo Street, SE10 9RN) and hidden from tourists,  Paul's business is hopping. The proprietor of nine years, from Capadocia,Turkey, explains that the cafe is busy all day, catering to young professionals from the surrounding new high-rise flats springing up in Greenwich at an amazing pace.

Somehow we forgot to take photos of the food -- I'm not a fan of food photos anyway.  But it was hot & tasty -- no complaints.
After our meal we walked the short jaunt to historical Greenwich and enjoyed a self-tour through the Cutty Sark, fastest ship of its day!

Our recomendation:  Paul's Cafe is clean, friendly -- we enjoyed the quirky collection of teapots on the window sill -- a place to which we'll return for another delicious Breakfast in Britain.