Tag Archives: halloween

Morrisons Café

Back to reality. Our previous post from the Scotch Tea House on the French Riviera  seems like a distant fond memory as now we are in a supermarket in Falkirk … Morrisons Café to be precise. A bit of a come down. There is a perfectly logical explanation however.

You may remember that last year when we were at the Scotsman Grand Café we had a mini five year old person with us. She kept us amused with her weird and wonderful observations through all the problems we were having just ordering a scone. This time, on our return from France, we picked her up in London and brought her and her wee sister back to Scotland with us. Of course, she is six now and and her sister is four. Oh joy! Between them they have enough energy to light up Blackpool!

Scary!

As it’s Halloween, we needed some appropriate costumes so that we could go guising and scare the living daylights out of our friends and neighbours. Hence we found ourselves here in Morrisons buying two spider witch outfits … really scary! The real horror of Halloween is, of course, that Brexit hasn’t happened and Boris Johnson hasn’t died in a ditch as he promised. Guess we can just add that to his ever lengthening string of broken promises. It really is all just a game for these guys!Internal view of Morrisons supermarket, Falkirk

Anyway, having got suitably kitted out we decided to go for a cuppa and some lunch in the café. A scone at Morrisons supermarket, FalkirkIt’s probably fairly typical of supermarket cafés though maybe slightly better than some others we have been in. What it lacks in ambience it makes up for with low prices and edible food. We were surprised to find scones so, of course, they had to be sampled. We shouldn’t really have preconceived ideas about places but suffice to say, we do. Expectations were not exactly soaring. They came with lots of butter and jam, however, cream was too much of an ask. The scones themselves were actually quite nice … nice texture, lots of fruit and only £1 each.  Even at this price, however, a topscone was also too much of an ask.
Old photo of Brockville foorball ground at Morrisons supermarket, FalkirkThis supermarket is built on a site once occupied by Brockville Park, the stadium of Falkirk FC. It’s biggest ever attendance was 23,100 in 1953 for a match against Celtic. In 2004 the football club moved to a new site on the outskirts of the town. For some, however, this is still hallowed ground. For others, of course, Morrisons seems like a much better use of the space.

Eating pancakes?

We know it’s Halloween but horror of horrors, we are going to have a General Election on 12th December … hurrah! Who knows what tall stories we will be told in the coming weeks. After years of austerity there will probably be more money than we can possibly imagine to spend on pretty much anything we want. Life will be good! Everything in the garden will be rosy. Doubtless, however, on December 13th that will all change. Boris will doubtless win but that will say more about the opposition than anything else.Internal view of Morrisons supermarket, FalkirkMeanwhile we have our own somewhat smaller horror show … we must go and scare the neighbours before returning to dook for apples and try to eat pancakes covered in treacle hanging from a string with our hands tied behind our backs. What? It’s just as senseless as having a General Election but way more fun.

FK2 7EU           tel: 01324 639321         Morrisons

///insect.both.nasal

Stirling Highland Hotel

Internal view of Stirling Highland HotelIt’s Halloween, a celebration of ghouls and ghosts that we are at a loss to understand. We were brought up on Guy Fawkes and bonfire night, ‘penny for the guy’ and all that. However, we don’t remAfternoon tea at the Stirling Highland Hotelember such a brouhaha about halloween. Could it just be us being completely out of touch? Or could it be, perish the thought, just another hellish import from the US? Whatever it is you would not think that it would have any impact at all on, the altogether more wholesome world of, sconology. But you would be wrong! If you come here to the Stirling Highland Hotel and book an afternoon tea for two you will understand.

Discord

Afternoon tea is supposed to be civilised and civilising, relaxing, romantic even. In this hotel, however, some twisted, devilish mind has designed an afternoon tea with three of everything. It has to be some sort of macabre joke? If anything is going to produce disharmony and discord it is providing three scones for two people. What on earth are they thinking about? Guess you could decide to have one and a half each … but really? A scone at the Stirling Highland HotelThere was also three of each kind of sandwich? Luckily we survived the experience without any blood being spilled. In fact, overall it was quite enjoyable but definitely not one of our finest afternoon tea experiences. And we’ve had a few!

This building used to be the High School of Stirling. The original school was situated in Castle Wynd for over 300 years (now the Portcullis Hotel) and moved here in 1854 before moving to a brand new building in Torbrex village in 1962. The Torbex building was demolished in 2008 after a mere 46 years, so, if history teaches us anything, it certainly doesn’t teach us anything about building schools.

The view towards the Wallace Monument from the Stirling Highland Hotel
View from the hotel towards the Ochil hills and the Wallace Monument
Lord North and Madrid

To prove the point, the current school, near the University of Stirling, was built under one of Labour’s dreaded PFI initiatives. So no matter how long the building lasts we will be paying for it whether it stands or not … heyho! One thing which sets the Stirling Highland Hotel apart is a fully functional observatory on the roof. Not a lot of hotels can boast of that.

External view of Stirling Highland Hotel
The entrance to the hotel

If history does teach us anything, it has to be that history doesn’t teach us much at all. When America declared independence in 1776, Lord North’s UK government made exactly the same noises, almost word for word, as the Madrid government is making towards Catalonia today … and see where that got us! Happy halloween!

FK8 1DU    tel: 01786 272727     Stirling Highland Hotel