The recession has had many casualties over the past few years. Boo to the pesky recession!

However, I’m not sure that we can blame the credit crunch (I never did find out why they named the recession after a cereal) for the latest shop-based closure in the borough.

Regular readers with very long memories (hello Leon) might just recall one of my first columns for the gorgeous Gazette in which I pondered the existence of a mysterious new pancake house in Finsbury Park.

We only dedicate one day a year to pancakes in this country (and that day happens this week, topical column fans!), so I wondered whether anybody would want to eat them all year round.

Well, sadly it turns out that I was right. Nobody was interested in the pancakes and the pancake house has now gone for a burton.

Where a pancake house once stood now stands some shutters with graffiti on them and a notice directing you to the nearest available pancake house. I suspect that few people will be bothered about the notice. If they didn’t want to eat pancakes in their own neighbourhood, they’re not going to get on a bus to travel to enjoy that special mix of flour, butter and eggies.

I’m no financial expert, but I do have tastebuds, which is why I’m blaming this on the pancakes (sorry, pancakes) rather than today’s fiscal shenanigans.

I have never met anybody who wanted to eat chicken and cheese in one pancake. The restaurant was full of such oddities, along with some very sad-looking staff gazing forlornly out of the window, waiting for the diners to arrive. Good luck, sad-looking staff! I hope you find nice new jobs soon.

In almost the diametric opposite of pancakes, an Islington gym is holding free Power Plate sessions for women throughout March. New River Fitness is giving the free sessions to celebrate International Women’s Day, which also takes place this week.

Power Plates are vibrating platforms that you exercise on. They make you wobble. A lot. The gym manager says that Power Plates help you “achieve double what you would in a normal workout”. For me, that would mean double the amount of whinging as I collapse out of breath in a heap. Nice work the gym though. Getting fit is super important – especially if you have pancake flab to get rid of.