What does a Cambridge ice cream seller make of the heatwave?

The hottest weather ever recorded in the UK was in Cambridge just three years ago. What does an ice cream seller and his soon-to-be refreshed customers make of the current heatwave?

For Nick Caporaso, his ice cream cart offers a unique window on the world.

The 46-year-old is a third generation seller of ice cream whose base of operations is between St John's College, Cambridge, and the city's 12th Century Round Church.

"When it is like this, you can't really beat it," the father-of-two says.

"I'm working outside with the public. And look at my view - I've got the church there, I love to 'people watch' and from behind here I get to see and meet people from all over the world."

Staying cool is perhaps far easier for Mr Caporaso than any of his customers because he spends his day next to an electric-powered freezer.

The freezer itself is something of an ice cream Tardis. It contains 72 different tubs from which he can scoop out eight of his regular flavours and four 'specials'.

"The last time I actually sold out was during the Easter weekend this year. I got down to just two or three tubs. It was hectic - but a good day."

Trade at the two carts he owns in the city centre ebbs and flows throughout the day.

Many minutes can pass without a customer. But then one person steps forward and that can spark a sudden rush.

And in a peculiar quirk better explained by retail psychologists, Mr Caporaso tells how "queues build queues" - with people being mysteriously lured into standing in a line by the sight of others standing in a line.

"Here's a recent example," he says, showing a photograph on his phone of a line of customers stretching off into the distance, seemingly without end.

With the temperatures rising at the weekend, Mr Caporaso is expecting the coming days to be very busy.

"For this one, yes it is chocolate," says Kelly, who has just bought her daughter Jasmine a tub of chocolate ice cream

"My oldest, a 10-year-old, quite likes raspberry or a mint chocolate-chip," she says.

"I don't always have ice cream - I tend to finish off theirs - but if I had to choose a flavour, then salted caramel.

"Jasmine struggles with the heat so yesterday we spent the day inside. We have the fans on but when it is hot she doesn't eat much - so yesterday she just had two bites of a croissant and some ice cream."

Jasmine says she is managing the heat OK and is letting her doll share the shade from her favourite hat.

Lee Welham, who opted for raspberry sorbet, runs the Big Issue office for Cambridgeshire.

"I stand out opposite Nick, so whenever it's hot like it is today he always looks after me with all sorts of ice cream."

Like Nick he spends most of his working day standing outside. Does he have any tips for managing the current heat?

"We're expecting it to go above 30C (86F) so I'm telling my vendors to drink plenty of water and, naturally, eat plenty of cream," he says.

"Oh, and wear a hat."

Tavia Hancock works as a hairdresser in a city centre salon.

"I like chocolate, strawberry, pretty much any ice cream to be honest," she says. "But girls love chocolate."

She says the salon currently has its air conditioning on.

"If we don't have it on it does get boiling hot," she says. "Especially when you're on your feet all day."

Asked whether, given the heat, clients are coming in with sweaty hair, Ms Hancock says: "Yes, always. But you know, that's all OK, because for hairdressing the dirtier the hair the better, especially if we are going to colour it."

She says the current temperature in Cambridge is "actually quite nice and not too hot".

"But then I absolutely love the sun and I've just come back from holiday, so this does not feel too hot at the moment," she says.

As for the man himself, Mr Caporaso's favourite ice cream flavour is one that features a popular brand of hazelnut spread.

Beyond putting smiles on the faces of countless strangers, he says one of the best parts of the job is that his children - son Luca, eight, and daughter Lottie, five - love what he does for a living.

"My daughter thinks this is the best job in the world," he says.

"Out of the two of them I think she will be the one who takes this business on."

Is he really thinking already about the fourth generation of Caporaso ice cream vendors?

"You've got to," he says. "I won't push it, of course.

"I used to think my dad had the coolest job in the world. He used to pick me up from primary school in the ice cream van - we called it Miss Buttercup - and my pals just loved it."

Should his daughter, or son, follow in their father's, grandfather's and great-grandfather's footsteps, what lies in store for them?

"Well I'm up at 05:30 BST each day," he says. "With two ice cream carts and a van I load them up, take each one into town and then open up at about 10:30 and close them at 17:30, go home, have a bit of tea, go to bed and then do it all again the next day.

"And that's seven days a week from March until October.

"This is my peak time now.

"In October, at the end of the season, I will have a couple of breaks - one with my children and then one on my own, because after a full season, I always need a little bit of 'me' time."

Photography: Laurence Cawley

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