Sunshine and showers in Bury St Edmunds Town Centre

Poor old Bury St Edmunds has looked a bit of a ghost town over the last week or so. It must be a combination of the the three Rs I guess. Rain, Recession and Retail outlets. The latter, I noticed today, were most uninviting.  I couldn't be bothered to go in any 'proper shops' and made do with the post-office, a charity shop and a necessary trip to Iceland (if only). To add a bit of excitement to my day I checked my bank balance.

It amused me slightly that often when I go into the town I don't see anyone I know. Yet today it seemed as though I only saw people I know..... and they were all in the post office.  I feel very sorry for the bars and restaurants in town. Any I've passed in the last week have appeared empty .

Still, tomorrow I'm looking forward to returning to the Wednesday market to see Thomas who runs the Caribbean Food stall. Last week I bought this amazing piece of cake there. I'm not sure what was in it (mostly chocolate, coconut and orange I think) but I couldn't stop eating it. It was a huge piece for £1.50 and if I had been able to resist from consuming it all myself, I would have shared it between about three friends. I think it was intended as a single portion but would have made a good dessert with fresh cream. I also bought a savoury item from the stall which resembled a large donut.  I thought I had read 'Jerk chicken' over the display. Don't know what I was expecting but although I detected a highly spiced element in the doughy content, I couldn't swear it was in any way related to chicken.

Tomorrow I will learn more about Thomas' products... and enjoy further testing. I can't believe he's been on Bury market for 15 years and this is the first time I've bought something from him. He is a real ray of sunshine on a rainy day. Last week the market was bleak and deserted. I commented to Thomas that he must be fed up with it.  He laughed off my comment saying that that was the ways things go and you have to make the best of them.  When I mentioned my experience to friends last Friday, one of them said 'Oh Thomas - he's lovely. Always so positive'. That's just what we need to brighten our town centre - bring on the sunny outlook.