It’s about more than cake
Why local businesses are so important to social capital
I’ve been going to Peggy’s, a small independent bakery located in Glasthule, a one-road village/turned suburb in south county Dublin, for as long as I can remember.
It closed its doors for the last time on 31 May 2014, due to the retirement of its owners — a ‘sorry closed’ sign hanging in the door and a poster for a music of Edith Piaf concert ‘No Regrets’ in the window. I’m not sure what I’ll miss the most: deciding if I wanted the fluffy middle section or crunchier end of the turnover loaf, the smell of baking bread filling the nearby lane at 6am when I go for my morning walk or the lovely conversations, usually about the weather, work or how business was.
My relationship with Peggy’s, which made the most wonderful and simple things from from flour, butter, eggs and sugar, began many years ago on Saturday mornings — first holding the hand of my mother, then older sister then eventually being dispatched on my own. Every week we’d get a dozen scones (4 x white, 4 x brown and 4 x fruit), often still warm, packed up into a brown paper bag before walking around the corner to my granny’s flat in the Glasthule Buildings where they’d be sliced in half, buttered and added to the table of sandwiches and baked goods that had come out of my granny’s oven that morning (cake, homemade sausage rolls, apple tarts infused with cloves and so on).
After my granny could no longer make her glorious, and impossibly high, Victoria sponge cakes for family birthdays, Peggy’s took the job on — almost perfectly fulfilling the brief — creating old-fashioned, simple, but delicious sandwiches of sponge, strawberry jam and fresh cream topped with a thin layer of unfancy icing, each one perfectly dedicated with pink, iced writing.
In recent years, after I moved to Glasthule, my trips to Peggy’s became more regular, usually for a brown bread square or after I started working mostly from home the occasional afternoon donut, apple cake or iced biscuit (it’s a good thing I do that 6am walk!) . What I loved about Peggy’s, what kept me going back, was how good they were at making simple, traditional breads, pastries and cakes like turnovers, small and large squares of brown bread, milk pans (the fluffiest white bread ever!) and old fashioned ring and jam donuts. The quality of these items was always top notch and unmatched. There are too few bakeries making this unfussy, traditional and delicious fare.
More than the baking what I’ll miss just as much is the sense of community and belonging those simple interactions in Peggy’s gave. For me it was the last link to the older Glasthule of my childhood — the one where if you were feeling rich you’d buy a box of maltesers before going to a showing of something in The Forum cinema and where Peggy’s was a staple.
Glasthule isn’t the only place that has lost independent bakeries, small shops or cafés that feel so important to the social tapestry of the local community. And yet others are opening at the same time and will probably build the same kinds of associations for future generations. What is lost when these established independents close is the some of the connection those who loved them had with their community. It’s harder and takes longer for new businesses to create those links. Has our society become so won over by the culture of ‘start-up’ that we are ignoring the opportunities for continuation and reinvigoration that are presented by established businesses with retiring owners? It would be of enormous social and community benefit if more established businesses could find other options beyond closure after retirement.
I regret not asking more about Peggy’s … like ‘who was Peggy?’, not taking more photographs of their wonderful breads and cakes (I can’t find a photo of their amazing turnovers) and, like most people say after a beloved business closes, not doing more to promote it while it was open.
Thanks Peggy’s, you’ll be missed for more than just baking.
