WYEVALE GARDEN CENTRE, SOUTHERN BYPASS, SOUTH HINKSEY 01865 730793.

A hearty all-day breakfast hits the spot for PAUL STAMMERS.

CHEQUES! Remember them? According to APACS, the UK Payments Association, only 2.8 per cent of retail spending by value is now paid this way, rather than 65 per cent by debit or credit card.

Which makes it all the more remarkable that I had my cheque book to hand at Ridgeway, the caff at Wyevale Garden Centre in South Hinksey. I can’t recall why I was carrying it, but possession of this almost-obsolete artefact meant I got a whopping plate of grub.

The fact is, like a dwindling number of enterprises, the café doesn’t accept cards and I was a quid short if I wanted to order breakfast.

Most of the main meals here are £6-7 and although there are a few smaller items available, such as baguettes, I wanted something more substantial.

It being about 11am on Wednesday, a curry or plate of chips wasn’t quite what I had in mind.

An all-day fry-up costing £5.95 was what I was after.

A good old-fashioned, politically incorrect dish devoid of greens, with little by way of fibre, and almost certainly a family-sized ration of salt just in the bangers.

To be fair, I had done some exercise beforehand – some bigwig at Wyevale has decided to muck about with the layout, so I had to walk for all of an unnecessary 30 seconds. As well as switching the entrance and exit to the car park for a bit of fun, the chain is now forcing punters to traipse around the side of the garden centre rather than walk in the front door.

WHAT WAS IT LIKE?

The café was rather quiet, as one might expect at this time of the week, with the soft burble of a radio in the background and creak of the roof complementing the clink of kitchen equipment.

There were several small round tables in front of the serving area, beside a book stand featuring a selection of titles about old railways and aircraft (as you’d expect, in a garden centre).

The menus were displayed prominently on blackboards, although the breakdown of exactly what was offered wasn’t provided.

But I learned from the friendly lady at the counter that the brekkie comprised tea or coffee as well as fried egg, bacon, sausages, toast, fried bread, mushrooms, tomato and baked beans.

When it arrived after a few minutes, I was pleasantly surprised at the dimensions, as well as glad that the tea (in a pot) was builder’s strength. Two wide rashers of bacon and a couple of sausages as fat as a navvy’s thumb stood out, as did the lagoon of baked beans. The toast (with jam of my choice) was served a tad later to give me time to tackle the main dish – a nice touch.

VERDICT: Tasty all right, but man, it was greasy. However, if you insist on quiche and lettuce, get yourself down the A40 to Burford Garden Centre instead.