Tag Archives: Arrochar

3 Villages Café

What a beautiful day to be in this part of the world. As we drove down from the Rest And Be Thankful with our ears popping it was great to suddenly come upon the open expanse of Loch Long. And, even better, the possibility of a scone in  Arrochar village on the opposite shore. On previous visits we have gone to the Arrochar Tearoom but this time we decided to go a little further on and try the 3 Villages Café which is right on the loch side. The view from the café towards the mist covered crags of Ben Arthur, better known as the Cobbler, is pretty good.View of the Cobbler from the Three Villages Café, Arrochar

Confusion

When the Arrochar and Tarbet Community Development Trust bought the Pit Stop Café they renamed it the 3 Villages Café. Its Post Office, it was intended to serve three local villages.Unfortunately it has all the hallmarks of a community run project where no individual is actually taking overall responsibility.  Although the locals may still call it by its old name ‘the Pit Stop’ the signage is confusing for tourists. It should be one or other. There also seemed to be no explanation as to why it was called the 3 Villages. We could only think of two. When we asked the answer was Succoth, Arrochar and Tarbet.

We’re not exactly strangers to these parts but even we had never heard of Succoth. It’s a collection of forestry houses at the head of the loch, which we had always assumed was simply part of Arrochar. Heyho, you live and learn but still a bit confusing for visitors. Internal view of Three Villages Café, Arrochar

Not doing the job

The café simply needs someone to cast a fresh eye over it. Empty the overflowing ashtray at the door, remove the weeds and litter from the outside seating area etc. A few minutes work would improve the look of the place immeasurably. When we pointed these things out to the very pleasant and friendly staff the answer was “oh, but we have someone who does that for us“! Well obviously they aren’t doing it! A scone at the Three Villages Café, ArrocharAnyway, we hoped that our scones would help improve on first impressions but no, it wasn’t to be. There was nothing particularly wrong with them but nothing particularly right either.

Torpedos

There are too many things wrong here, especially for tourists which is annoying because it has great potential. Needs to get its act together. Anyway, in our previous post we mentioned the Skelmorlie Mile and contemplated the potential need for its resurrection in the face of Britain’s increasingly belligerent attitude to our friends and neighbours in Europe. Twelve months of negotiations have produced absolutely zilch so maybe the old torpedo testing centre in Arrochar will need to be resurrected as well? History teaches us that Britain has been at war with many countries over the centuries. However, call us slow on the uptake if you like. We have suddenly realised that Britain only ever goes to war with countries that simply won’t do as they are told. Watch out EU!

G83 7AB             tel: 01301 702570          Three Villages Café TA

ps: If you have been enjoying the lack of telephone box news recently  … sorry ! In our travels we came across this one near Ardlamont on the southern tip of the Cowal peninsula. It’s quiet round here, we drove for about 40 minutes and only met one other car. By the looks of this Lion foundry K6 the last people to have used it may have been involved in what was to become one of Scotland’s greatest murder mysteries.A K6 near Ardlamont on the Cowal peninsula

Not proven

On August 10, 1893 one Cecil Dudley Hambrough was shot dead in a nearby wood, only a stone’s throw from this kiosk. Although his tutor, John Monson, was almost certainly the guilty party, because of a lack of evidence, the verdict at the time was the peculiarly Scottish one of ‘Not Proven’. Neither guilty or innocent. Nevertheless, Madam Taussauds in London placed a waxwork of Monson at the entrance to the Chamber of Horrors. Monson was enraged and after a court case was awarded damages of one farthing (£0.0001).

libel by innuendo

The case of Monson vs Taussauds, however, established the principle of “libel by innuendo” and is still used around the world in defamation cases. Not a lot of people know that! Great what you can learn from scones and telephone boxes!

Arrochar Tearoom

Unless you are a climber or hill walker, Arrochar is not a destination, it is somewhere you pass through on your way to other places. For hill walkers the view from the village across the end of the loch towards the Cobbler is exciting. You come on it suddenly. Round the corner and there it is, your target for the day. Over the years the Arrochar has changed little. Still busy with traffic thundering through on its way towards the Rest And Be Thankful and beyond to places like Inverary, Lochgilphead and Campbeltown. Internal view of Arrochar Tearoom

The young couple who run the tearoom are a delight, helpful and friendly and keen to chat. Somewhat oddly though, the scones on display are all individually wrapped in cling film, presumably to keep them as fresh as possible. Does anyone else do this .. does it work, let us know?  We think it detracts from the look of the scones. They should be out breathing the fresh Loch Long air. There were some slightly perplexed looks when we askedA scone at Arrochar Tearoom if we could have our scones with separate jam and cream. Their cream scones were already made up and you all know what we think about that!

 

Its all to do with the car park

Never mind, the scones were homebaked and very good with generous proportions .. not quite topscones but not too far off either. I had the cream one and Pat had a plain one.

Pat's plain scone at Arrochar Tearoom
Pat’s plain scone

 The tearoom is hard against the road, and if it wasn’t for a small parking area opposite, it would be very difficult to stop. It has had six successful years with the current owners however all is threatened by a proposal to build on the car park on which the tearoom largely depends. It only takes eight cars and has been used by the community for as long as anyone can remember. However, Luss Estates have discovered that they own it .. and now they have plans which, if successful, could completely scupper the tearoom. We don’t know the rights and wrongs of this particular situation but it does highlight a much larger problem.

Land Ownership

Scotland has the most concentrated land ownership in the developed world. Just 432 people own half of the private land. Land prices are far too high, rents are extortionate, and hence young people are leaving when they can’t even get a scrap of land for housing. The tearoom may have some sort of chance because at least they know who owns the car park .. sometimes it can be the devil’s own job finding out who actually owns

Arrochar Tearoom from the car park
tearoom from the car park

land. Much of it is held in tax havens like the British Virgin Islands.  The Scottish government is trying to do something about it with the Scottish Land Reform Bill.  It, amongst other things, is intended to increase transparency via a land registry and help facilitate community buy outs. Needless to say they are meeting vociferous opposition. It is actually starting to look as if they have already caved in to pressure from powerful lobbyists. Land held in tax havens will not now be affected in any way by the Bill. In fact, the Bill may end up so watered down as to be next to useless.

More backbone please

C’mon Holyrood, a bit more backbone please! Find out more at SLAM. Anyway, next year if you are driving through Arrochar keep an eye out for this tearoom. If it’s still open, use the car park, go in and have a bite to eat .. you’ll get a lovely welcome.

Saltire decoration at Arrochar TearoomG83 7AA           tel: 07585 709772           Arrochar Tearoom