h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Up the road from me is a Turkish Cypriot run shop that is the hub of the community, since I moved here 20 years ago, (yes they are British citizens of course).

It's run by a big extended family..and also several generations. It's something pretty special.

It's quite a big shop as local shops go. They sell all manner of fruit, veg and herbs. And there's always, especially this time of year, something exotic and unusual. Last week they had in lots of top quality Italian grapes..big fat things with the seeds still in. Pomegranates and stuff I don't know what, is for sale. And fresh bunches of parsley are available all year.

Actually they seem to sell *everything*, like a supermarket. But not a hundred different brands of the same thing.

All the servers at the long counter are the men of the family. And what lovely people they all are...(bar one..okay he's not nasty, but he's a bit macho and arrogant..the only one).

They will always chat and have a laugh with you in a way that seems totally genuine. And they are right into our indigenous Anglo culture as well.

You'll get all manner of brilliant fireworks for sale leading up to bonfire night. Lots of England flags before a big footie tournament. But Turkey will be on the telly there, as well as England.

The main thing is how warm they come across.

Of course it's a business....but they are even caring about the way they pack your bag. It's a little intimate thing they always do with heart..and pleasure.

In the evening the old man of the family will sit on a stool in the centre of the shop and chat away. He must be in his eighties now..and a bit disabled.

And in the holidays the children have a bit of a go behind the counter with their parents.

During the summer riots here, they were the only shop in this area to stay open after 5pm. Half the males of the family were outside watching out for any problems..and happy to chat with you to reassure.

I always tell them they are the best shop in Peckham; they are.

Thank you for this posting I wish I could walk into that shop right now, the warm shop after the cold street.

It reminds me of some stores I've been to in Edinburgh, so now I have all sorts of memories overwhelming me.

Bugger

The Cypriots are, indeed, a wonderful race.

Yes they are. A friend and his partner have a house in Polis. I stayed there a couple of times with a former girlfriend.

It's quite sad when you venture up into the hills and see all the deserted Turkish Cypriot houses..and that whole thing.

A strange co-incidence is the Turkish Cypriot family up the road originally lived in Polis.

Do you think that will ever get sorted?