Banbury, Chorley or Eccles

I am rather partial to Eccles cakes;

or are they Chorley cakes;

perhaps they are Banbury cakes. 










Anyway they are not really cakes but pastries.
Unless you shop at Greggs where they do not exist in any incarnation.
I know what I like and don't like.  I like them full of currants and peel and spices: I do not like them full of brown cake and dotted with currants. I prefer them with  flaky pastry but am content if they have short crust.  They are great with a wedge of Lancashire or Cheshire cheese but are acceptable solo.
Yesterday there were essential engineering works being carried out on the tram system in Manchester so our planned journey to Oldham was aborted and we went, instead, to Eccles.
There we had a cup of tea and an Eccles cake baked in Eccles.

O what a delight - warm and fruity .

This was not in Starbuckets or Costa Packet:  tea was 65p for a cup or 70p for a mug

 
This cafe - The Larder - had probably not been modernised since the 1960s

It was obviously built to last with solid wood furniture designed to facilitate the broom and mop.

Further up the street many shops had closed down and so we were pleased to be able to support an independent trader providing an essential and popular service.