Borders Railway Archives - Scones, history and a dollop of politics

For a very long time we have been promising ourselves a visit to Abbotsford House. It was the home of Sir Walter Scott … poet, nove

Statue of Edie Ochiltree at Abbotsford House — Edie Ochiltree statue

list, historian, biographer and inventor of the shortbread tin view of Scotland. If he was alive today we’re sure he would have been a blogger of note! The new Borders Railway took us from Waverley Station in Edinburgh (named after one of Scott’s novels) to Tweedbank where there was a complimentary bus waiting to take us on the five minute ride to Abbotsford itself.

Scott died of typhus aged sixty one but left a lasting legacy of literature as well as this house which he spent much of his life building at huge expense.

Clarty Hole

For readers who think that financial crashes are a relatively modern phenomena, in Scotland it’s a bit of a long standing tradition. Scott was caught in the crash of 1825 and was ruined, owing almost £10m in today’s money, It says much for the man that, rather than become a bankrupt, he placed his income and property in a trust belonging to his creditors, and decided to write his way out of debt. Ironically, this strategy only succeeded after his death, due to the continuing sales of his literary works. Anyway, back in 1811 he purchased the old tumbledown Cartley Hole Farm. Locally, the farm was known as Clarty Hole (dirty hole) so Scott determined it should be renamed Abbotsford after the nearby ford used by the monks at Melrose Abbey.

External view of Ochiltree Dining, Abbotsford House — Abbotsford Visitor Centre and Ochiltree’s retaurant

After Brexit?

Today the house is a major tourist attraction and of course comes complete with its own rather swanky visitor centre and cafeteria known as Ochiltree’s at Abbotsford after Edie Ochiltree, a beggar, and one of Scott’s favourite characters in The Antiquary. Yet another hot day so we decided to sit out on the spacious balcony. We could look over towards the house nestling in between the soft borders hills on the banks of the river Tweed. We were taken care of very well, mostly by folks from eastern Europe. Who will do that after Brexit? Will we have to carry our own scones? Perish the thought! Pat elected to have a cream tea which consisted of some sandwiches, a scone and a piece of lemon drizzle cake whereas I was not so ambitious and simply went for a fruit scone. We actually shared everything!

The whole Abbotsford experience is wonderful. We didn’t go into the house – not enough time. However the gardens and walks through the woods down by the riverside are fabulous on such a fine day. And to top it all off with a topscone. What more could you ask?

External view of Abbotsford House — Abbotsford House from the banks of the river Tweed

Rubbing along

Today England is being Trumped and tomorrow it will be Scotland’s turn …. arrgghh. Are we starting to warm to the man, however?? Perhaps he is the only honest politician around these days? Even though you don’t like what he is saying, or the way he is saying it, he just says it and doesn’t really care what anyone thinks. Quite refreshing when compared to most of his mealy-mouthed counterparts. Yesterday he was saying Theresa May was a complete waste of space. Tell us something we don’t know Donald. Today he will probably be praising her. Make of it what you will. Apparently our beggar, Edie Ochiltree told it like it was so we have a sneaky suspicion that even though Scott was an educated man, he and Trump would have rubbed along okay. Maybe over a scone at Ochiltree’s at Abbotsford

TD6 9BQ tel: 01896 752043 Ochiltree Dining

ps: A notice board on the pavement outside the Cafe Royal in Edinburgh, now in its 155th year. Scott may have gone to the original which was on the opposite side of the Register Place. Do you think they could say the same about scones … perish the thought!

We thought it would be nice to try out the new Borders Railway and visit Gal

the downstairs deli at Turnbull's Coffee Shop, Galashiels — the downstairs deli

ashiels. A town in which neither of us had previously spent any time. What we were totally unprepared for was the scale of the railway’s success and the effect it has had on the town.

The last scone

There are not that many tearooms here but having tried several that had completely run out of scones, in desperation, we ended up here at Turnbull’s. It’s a long established coffee house and probably the best. The girl in the ground floor deli said she thought there was a cheese scone available upstairs, so up we went and there it was … we could see it across the room, in splendid isolation under a glass dome. The last scone. We ate it, so as of that moment, scones became an extinct species in Galashiels.

Day trippers

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They also make a range of their own unique blended whisky but unfortunately we did not get to sample any. However you can order it and other stuff online. Wonderful to be in place where good old fashioned principles of quality and service still seem to count for something.

Forgotten principles

Jeremy Corbyn, visited Scotland this week but seemed to have forgotten to pack his principles. Maybe, after the party conference, he just didn’t have any left! Great toilets; always a good sign, and although there is no wifi at the moment, we have been promised that it’s coming very soon. In case you are wondering, the last scone in Galashiels was excellent; topscone award. Did not see any scenery on the way home because we fell in with a couple of mad women who just talked incessantly about scones. Just joking, whoever you were, we thoroughly enjoyed the craik!

TD1 1SD tel: 01896 750577 Turnbull’s FB

Scones, history and a dollop of politics

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Ochiltree’s at Abbotsford