Time Tunnel fire photos

I've been back up there today and it seems the fire is still burning since midnight last night. The fire seems to have spread to neighbouring properties and businesses. The building may have had linked basements. I'm so hoping the other businesses are not affected, but even with this level of disruption it has got to have an impact. The police officer on the cordon that I spoke to said it was being treated as a crime scene. I've not got confirmation on that from anywhere else. Margate really is finding it hard to shake off this association with fires. Which is a huge shame.

Fire on Northdown Road

There was a big fire on Northdown Road tonight. In an arcade three doors down from Lovelys and two doors from the scooter shop. I'll post pictures tomorrow. It took a long time for the fire crew to get through the security shutters. When we left the scene the fire had spread to next door. I hope that it has been brought under control.

These arcades, eh. Very fire prone.

Favourite places - Batchelors Patisserie

I've been meaning to start posting about some of my favourite places in the area. Then I saw that ECR is calling for input for foodie reviews and it jogged my memory. So, here's the first:

Batchelors Patisserie in Northdown Road. Is a family run business. They freshly bake their own bread and cakes which I think are the best in the wider area, not just Margate. I was particularly impressed with their white loaf, which after a nice chat with the master baker himself, was confirmed as being fat free like it is in much of continental bread. None of their bread contains transfats. Their croissants are really lovely too. They do a nice range of cakes and tarts and some more unusual bread types, such as spelt loaves.

The shop also doubles as a cafe. It has a vintage look with original formica tables from Northdown Road's hey day. One word of advice, don't sit and wait for service, you need to order at the counter! If there were more high quality independent food shops like this in the area, I'd be exstatically happy. Batchelors is a shop that I'm proud to frequent. Couldn't do without it.
They're coming up for their annual holiday on the 27th and will be closed for a fortnight till mid Oct. What shall we do in the meantime? Time to stock up the freezer methinks.

Batchelors Patisserie
246 Northdown Road
Margate
CT9 2PX
01843 221227