Northgate wakes up early for bread. These are the five bakeries we would set an alarm for, in the order we would walk between them on a Saturday, the one morning all five are open.
The wood oven on Tanner's Lane
The oven behind the yard gate is lit before dawn, and the rye comes out dark, dense and sour enough to stand up to a slab of butter. Buy a whole loaf: it keeps for days and slices better on the second.
Halden's on Market Square
The cardamom bun sells out by eight, and the queue knows it. Ask for one still warm from the tray, and take the seat by the window if it is free.
The corner shop on Ferry Road
For most of the week it is an ordinary corner shop. On Saturdays the family who run it bake flatbreads and sesame rings in the back, and the smell reaches the bus stop before the shutters are fully up.
Mill Road Bakehouse
The newest of the five, in a former bike shop along from the letterpress printer. The sourdough is reliable and the morning buns are better than they need to be.
The hatch by the swing bridge
A window in a wall that sells the day's loaves from bakers along Quay Street, with coffee for the walk home. Leave it until last: by mid-morning the river is busy and there is always something left.