Tag Archives: Kingdom of Fife

The Walled Garden

31st July 2016 billpaterson1@me.com 1 Comment

You know how you can drive past something on a regular basis without giving it a second thought. You see the signs but never venture. So it was with Devilla Forest, just a ten minute drive from where we live. Turns out that within the bounds of this relatively small piece of pine forest all sorts have happened.

There’s the ‘Standard Stone’. Its carved square holes are said to have held the standards of King Duncan and his lieutenants, Macbeth and Banquo in a battle with the Danes at Bordie Moor in 1038. There is ‘Maggie Duncan’s stone’. Maggie was a 17th century witch who tried to carry the boulder in her apron to the top of a nearby hill. However, it slipped and her apron strings cut strange deep grooves into the stone. You can also find the graves of children who died of plaque over three hundred years ago. There’s the remains of a WW II explosives research establishment .. oh, and lots of sightings of big black cats!! Goodness, we didn’t know the half of it … and virtually on our doorstep. As well as all that, and on a slightly lighter note, you can find red squirrels, otters … and scones.

The scones can be located at The Walled Garden, brainchild of the farmers at Righead Farm. They just wanted their own walled garden … so they built one about four years ago.

They started selling teas and coffees in the Potting Shed but it proved so popular that they have now built a large purpose built café and the Potting Shed is now a well stocked shop selling plants and knick-knacks. We were offered plain, fruit or date and apricot scones. Pat opted for the fruit, while I, living on the edge as usual, went for the date and apricot, a new and and untried sconological combination! Sitting out in the sunshine it did not take long before they arrived, nicely presented with little pots of jam and whipped cream. The scones themselves were delicious and we didn’t have too much trouble giving them a topscone award. By the way, the date and apricot combo works a treat!Black cats

If you view tales of large black cats with a slightly raised eyebrow, then both eyebrows will go into some sort of earth orbit looking at the current machinations of the Labour party. Unbelievable! When will they realise that Corbyn is not only their best bet at gaining power but probably their only one? Meanwhile, in Scotland, the Scottish Labour party continues its policy of self harming, abandoning everything. Corbyn, a chance at autonomy, and no doubt, all hope, if they side with the Tories again on Indyref2.

View to the north from the Walled Garden

No Cards

Besides all that, hats off to people who build walled gardens these days … it is open Wednesday to Sunday but, perplexingly in these modern times, does not take cards – cash only.

FK10 4AT tel: 07951 530571 The Walled Garden FB

Ordinary, Scones

Shieldbank Coffee Shop

21st July 2016 billpaterson1@me.com 3 Comments

Destination unknown

You know how it is … sometimes you set out with a certain destination in mind and then end up somewhere completely different. No … maybe it’s just us then. We do it quite a lot? A wrong turn meant we found ourselves in the pretty, former weaving village of Saline, in the Kingdom of Fife. Been here many times before, so we weren’t lost … just not where we thought we would be. Complete change of plan. Seeing a sign for the Shieldbank Coffee Shop, ‘third left then follow road for one mile’, we thought we would cut our losses and head for there.

The road goes from Saline to Blairingone and, were it not for that sign, we would never ever have been on it. As it turns out, however, it was the first ‘walking and cycling friendly’ road we have ever come across. A speed limit of 40mph along this lovely country road is all it takes. Can’t really see the police mounting speed traps but everyone seemed to be abiding by the rules anyway. Great idea. The good folks at Shieldbank don’t exactly go big on publicity and it certainly doesn’t jump out at you, tucked away among the trees. The weather has been hot and this morning saw some very severe thunderstorms and torrential rain. When we arrived they were still mopping out the café after their worst flash flood in over twenty years. The last thing they wanted was us arriving. They told us so! In spite of everything however we could not have been made more welcome.

Mopping scones

Shieldbank is actually a riding club where they specialise in horseback gymnastics. People like us have difficulty just sitting on a stationary horse. We view the whole concept as just plain ridiculous. However, for those who relish somersaults and handstands on the back of a galloping horse .. this is definitely the place for you. For the less adventurous (us) there is the coffee shop. Vic Beasley is the man in charge and responsible for handcrafting everything. He made the café itself three years ago and all of today’s jam, cakes and scones. There wasn’t a great selection on offer. Vic had been preoccupied with mopping duties, on his fourth change of clothing so we thought we should maybe cut him some slack. Nothing was too much trouble however, he provided a scone while we waited for him to prepare us a brand new carrot cake.

Vic is one of these guys who proclaims to hate people and would dearly love to be left alone on a mountain top. However, we don’t think he would last five minutes without a good blether. Everything he gave us was excellent, including the scones. Not quite topscones but pretty close.

A nice touch in the cafe is the ability to look through a window directly into a stable. Great for kids. Interesting place, particularly if you are the horsey type. Although hard to find, it was definitely worth it.

Vanishing warships

Talking of things ‘hard to find’ … after the botched military coup in Turkey, fourteen warships, including a frigate, have been reported ‘missing’! What is it with disappearing warships? Before the Scottish independence referendum in 2014, fourteen warships were promised to be built on the Clyde if we voted ‘no’. They have disappeared as well. No doubt they will reappear just before Indyref2. Then disappear again along with all the other promises.

Because they are trying to fill the bottomless Trident pit and keep the US in the manner to which it has become accustomed, perhaps the government cannot afford anything other than weapons of mass destruction? Apparently, HSBC, Barclays and RBS (the bank that we own) all help fund both the British and Russian nuclear deterrents. What’s that all about? With only one Scottish MP voting to renew Trident … Scotland really really really wishes it is one thing that would disappear.Anyway, we wish Vic and his venture every good fortune and now that we have found it we might even go back. Hopefully when it is not flooded.
KY12 9LN tel: 01383 852621 Shieldbank Coffee Shop

Scones, Top

Harvey Nichols Forth Floor

21st June 2016 billpaterson1@me.com 5 Comments

Absolutely fabulous, darling!

It’s not everyday we are in Harvey Nicks. It is more the domain of those who seek a decadent champagne lifestyle, a description that could never be leveled at us?? We do, however, feel a certain obligation on behalf of our readers, to explore every avenue and if you are looking for a ‘fabulous’ scone this would seem like an obvious avenue to try. And the rain had just come on so we had to find shelter … that’s our story and we’re sticking to it! Expectations were pretty high. They have had 185 years since the business started on a corner in Knightsbridge, London, to get their scones right.

The Brasserie looking out towards the castle

It’s not easy though. To get to a scone you have to go all the way to the top floor through masses of ridiculously priced goods. Easy for me but a nightmare for Pat. Having said that, there was a ‘50% SALE’ throughout the store which thankfully had the effect of reducing prices to merely ‘extortionate’. Eventually you reach the Forth Floor Restaurant … on the 4th floor with views over the river Forth. You can see what they have done there. Dashed clever those posh folk!

Part of the Terrace with the river Forth and the Kingdom of Fife in the far distance

There are several eateries on this level including a YO! Sushi where you can eat raw fish off one one of those carousel conveyor belt thingys. What is really interesting though, is another carousel called the Chocolate Lounge which does exactly the same .. but with cakes … aaarrgghh! How dangerous is that? Just as well there were no seats available.

Melville monument and St Andrews Square with the castle in the background

We headed for the Brasserie where, even although it was raining, we were able to sit on the Terrace. It has great panoramic views over the city. No ‘50% Sale’ on scones. Turns out though that it is one of these places where the scones come in twos. So it’s a kind of 50% deal. We were informed they came as a brace because they were ‘quite small’ but when they arrived with their accompanying little pots of jam and clotted cream they were actually quite big. At £4 we thought this was pretty good value … especially here! At Harvey Nicks they don’t bother with parts of £s, everything is either £3, £4, £5 and so on … keeps things simple. When it comes to paying the bill, however, they add on an automatic service charge … boo!

Soft and fluffy

Anyway, the scones were actually rather fabulous. Soft fluffy and sweet on the inside and slightly crunchy on the outside, just how we like them. Service was friendly and the excellent coffee came with a round of crisp shortbread. There really wasn’t anything not to like … topscone, darling!

The EU and Australia

With only a day left until the EU referendum, things are reaching fever pitch. Will we be in or out? We think the Ab Fab pair Edina and Patsy would be ‘outers’ while the sensible daughter, Saffron, would be ‘in’. Whatever happens we will end up like Australia. ‘In’ as in Eurovision or ‘out’, as in reality, and the result will be ‘absolutely fabulous’ for roughly half the population!

EH2 2AD tel: 0131 524 8350 Harvey Nichols dining

Scones, history and a dollop of politics