Breakfast

C.U.S. loved an occasion, any occasion was suitably celebrated, be it birthday, mothers day, anniversary, Lone packing up smoking, Garth loosing his virginity, (I had it when I was in The Anchor last night and when I woke up it was gone!) in fact there were times when occasions were invented just so that C.U.S. could celebrate.
Whatever the occasion, the one constant was it started with a breakfast in a transport cafe. All the transport cafes en route to Rolls Royce were explored. Some had more character than others. The Britannia Cafe had and owner who C.U.S. dubbed "Orpheus" after an engine that was produced at R.R. and fitted into the Britannia Aeroplane. This engined was oily and smoked just like the proprietor of the cafe.
However his sales technique could not be faulted. You would be stood in the queue say five or six in line. The first person would ask for bacon and eggs and tea and he would respond smoking a fag and pouring the tea at the same time, "Sausage?" Then next person noting the sally would be prepared. "Eggs, bacon, Sausage and tea!" He would say smugly "Fried bread?" the fag would move up and down as his spoke but the ash would magically stay on the end. By the time he got to your plate it would be piled with every conceivable thing that could be placed in a frying pan and the £2.99 breakfast would cost you twenty quid.
There was one cafe called The Cup and Saucer who never batted an eyebrow when we turned up in dinner suits and the Molls in full length ball gowns. It had a stack of eggs, in their trays, on the counter. There must have been over a hundred eggs stacked vertically. One day we marked an egg about three trays from the bottom with a felt tip. Two years later it was still there.
Every birthday C.U.S. would assemble in one of the cafes at circa 0700 sometimes wearing party hats with streamers and at Christmas there were crackers. The truckers would take one bemused look and then get back to the Sun or Mirror. The need to start a occasion with a fried breakfast led to the celebration of C.U.S members fiftieth birthdays........