14) The Ecumenical Centre and Russian Roulade

What can I say about the Ecu(menical Centre)?  I could tell you that its so good that I have found people sleeping outside in winter mornings desperate to get in.  I went in and had cake and a cup of tea for just £1.20.  I am on a roll,  both the tea and the cake are fine.  What a bargain.   I could come here four times instead of going to the Boatman's and still have change.

The downside, I asked Jerry who served me what type of cake it was and he did not know.  He said that "Mavis" who makes them does so, cuts them up and them wraps them in cling film without labelling them, so he does not know what cake it is he is selling.  But he thinks its a mild ginger.  How fabulous is this?  We are playing a sort of russian roulade with cake.  It's like picking Revels without looking, with the danger of pulling the coffee one out.   Of course "Mavis" is not her real name, I have called her this to avoid the danger of her being poached, grilled or roasted by another cafe.

Now as you know I regard having something to read as an essential part of a good cup of tea and a nice piece of cake.  And the Ecu knocks the spots of absolutely everywhere else I have been to in West Lancs.  It has hundreds of books and all are free to borrow to the visitor.   There's also a lot of care given to the visitor.  

As we are deepening our relationship reader I can admit to you that I suffer from OCD, Obsessive Cake-Eating Disorder.  It's because of this that I indulge in another obsessive habit each time I visit The Ecu.  Every single time I go there I have a piece of "Mavis'"cake and I read just one page from a chosen book.   Why do I do this dear reader?  Well I estimate that there will be two benefits to this approach:

1)  By the end of three years I should have finished a very sizeable book
2) I should have figured out what bloody cake it is that "Mavis" has been making all these years.