Tag Archives: Ochil Hills

Scones, Top

Tilly Tearoom

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It’s a week since our last post at Another Tilly Tearoom and here we are now at the original Tilly Tearoom in Tillicoultry. It’s also been a week since the start of the war in Ukraine. What a week of absolute horror but it has also showcased the best and worst of humanity! It’s embarrassing that we seem to be so helpless in the face of such unprovoked Russian aggression and the UK’s mean spirited attitude to refugees is even more embarrassing. The Little Englanders seem to think that these people actually want to come here? They don’t, and the few that do will undoubtedly return to their homeland just as soon as they safely can. Poland and the rest of the EU are putting the UK to shame! But honestly, what can we expect when so many of our MPs are funded with Russian money?a sign at Tilly Tearoom, Tillicoultry

Size doesn’t matter

Anyway, we also experienced the best of humanity in another area completely. Yes, in this place, Tilly Tearoom. If we had decided to do both of these tearooms we should probably have started with this one , however, given that we didn’t know that either existed you will just have to put up with them in the wrong order. This place is obviously similar to Another Tilly Tearoom but is even smaller. There’s nothing fancy, just simple food served by friendly, enthusiastic staff.Internal view of Tilly Tearoom, Tillicoultry

A delight

Laura was looking after us and she represented humanity at its best … young, pretty, enthusiastic and oozing kindness. I had to ask her what colour her hair was because I couldn’t quite place it. Pointing at her head, she said “my original colour, or this?” I said ‘this“, to which she replied “well, I’m actually blonde but I had too much time on my hands during Covid so this is Flamingo Pink“. Of course it was. Her eyelashes were so long, one careless flutter could have blown the froth off our coffees! She was a delight!

After some lunch she offered us a plain scone but “there’s one banoffee (banana and toffee) scone left if you would like that?” A scone at Tilly Tearoom, TillicoultryWe were sharing … I wanted the banoffee but Pat wanted plain. So plain it was … it’s good to know your place! It came with generous portions of jam and cream. Once again Pat had the top half and I had the bottom. It was lovely and we didn’t hesitate to award a topscone. In 2019, the Tilly Tearoom won an award as the Most Welcoming Café of the Year and we can easily understand why. When we were leaving we told Laura that the scone was the best we had had since we were at Another Tilly tearoom. She promptly asked “which was best?“, oh gosh, talk about being put on the spot?

Daring do
External view of Tilly Tearoom, Tillicoultry
Tilly tearoom with the Ochil hills in the distance

Every time I’m in Tillycoultry I think back to the the Great Tin Tray Championships of 1967. A small group of us climbed the grassy slopes of the Ochil hills that provide a backdrop to the town. We were all carrying tin beer trays. Mine was a black and gold Guinness tray, built for speed. The idea was to see who would be fastest to the bottom while sitting on the tray. Suffice to say that this side of the Ochil hills is entirely friction free. We were back at the bottom in seconds having experienced a completely uncontrolled hair raising ride. No idea who won but we all survived. Those were the days!

Make tae not war sign at Tilly Tearoom, Tillicoultry
This sign in the Tilly Tearoom makes perfect sense

 

The pictures of Mad Vlad sitting at one end of a table  with his generals sitting about half a mile away at the the other end, speaks volumes. He is unhinged to put it politely. But, with a fair wind, this should be the end for Putin!

It’s easy to feel pessimistic with everything going on in Ukraine so it seems slightly absurd to be talking about scones in such circumstances.  However, as long as we have people like Volodymyr Zelenskyy and she of the Flamingo Pink hair in Tilly tearoom, there’s hope.

FK13 6DP    tel: 01259 752642.     Tilly Tearoom

///weary.evidently.cocoons

ps: as we were leaving a small boy was tucking into the one and only banoffee scone. Annoyingly, he looked as if he was really enjoying it!

Ordinary, Scones

Café Belgica

Admittedly, this is not the first place that comes to mind when seeking out a good scone. First of all, it’s a huge furniture warehouse. Secondly, it’s situated in a pretty uninviting industrial estate. But, like us, you might be surprised. We used to come here quite often looking for the odd quirky piece of furniture. Hallelujah, since our last visit they have reorganised everything and added Café Belgica. And it seemed like the busiest part of the store. Internal view of Café Belgica

Plonkers

It’s well set up and there is a good range of food and drinks on offer … including scones. Ours fruit scones were good and served with a generous tub of clotted cream. The friendly lady who was looking after us, however, was having to work very hard negotiating a rather odd table layout. Definitely something they need to look at in future. A scone at Café BelgicaNot topscones unfortunately but enjoyable nevertheless.

Café Belgica is providing something of an oasis in what is really a huge refreshment desert. A place to chillax away from the cares of the outside world and, perhaps more importantly, away from the Winter Olympics. Never mind the brouhaha about Kim Jong-un’s sister making Mike Pence look like a bit of a plonker. Or the fact that banned Russia is competing … but not as Russia? Even more ridiculous is the sight of commentators working themselves up into a lather over whether Team GB might beat Team Nigeria by 1/1000th of a second … at sledging! Does anyone seriously care? Maybe we just don’t understand.

Brexit Olympics

In common with 99.999% of the population we don’t know anyone involved in ‘skeleton’ (head first on a sledge) or ‘luge’ (feet first on a sledge) so are not in a position to discuss the finer points. As youths we used to take part in our own Tin Tray Championships which consisted of a group of idiots sliding down the Ochil hills on beer trays totally out of control, A bit like Brexit negotiations! Could Brexit become an Olympic event? A gold medal to anyone who can find a way to keep us in the EU.

EH51 0PU     tel: 01506 243954     Café Belgica

Ordinary, Scones

Mona’s of Muckhart

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We are very familiar with Westminster Bridge so our thoughts go out to all those caught up in yesterday’s tragedy. A kind of re-enactment of the horrific events in Nice which are still very fresh in our memories. In spite of our frequent moaning about Westminster we have to hand it to all the MPs who seem to have responded admirably. At the end of the day it’s virtually impossible to protect against religious zealots whose mindset is totally irrational. It is important however that the Palace of Westminster, as far as possible, remains a public place.

Anyway the village of Muckhart is about as far away from such events as it is possible to get. A sleepy little corner of Clackmannanshire in what is known as the ‘hillfoots’ of the Ochil Hills. It actually consists of two small adjacent villages – Yetts of Muckhart and Pool of Muckhart. The ‘Muckhart’ bit seems to refer to the surrounding fields being used for pig farming at some time in the past.

What happens in Muckhart? Well, not a lot. It does have a 27 hole golf course. Also a nice wee pub whose doorstep is exactly the same height above sea level as the Wallace Monument. Not a lot of people know that! Today however we are in Mona’s in Pool of Muckhart on that never ending quest for topscones. Interior view of Monas of Muckhart

What’s in a name?

It is difficult for someone of our age to utter the name “Mona” without getting an immediate rush of nostalgia for the Rolling Stones and their Bo Diddley track of that name. Don’t worry if you’re under sixty, it’s a generational thing. This Mona has nothing to do with the Stones but everything to do with the current owner’s grandmother. Her name was Mona Cram.

You enter into a nice little shop selling jewellery, knick knacks and lots of home baking before continuing through to the café area where we discovered a solitary plain scone with three cheese scones keeping it company. All they had left! I decided to put the plain one out of its misery leaving Pat no option but to go for cheese. A scone at Monas of MuckhartThe lady looking after us was a joy. You know how it is when you meet someone and you just know that nothing is going to be too much trouble. Even if it is, it will still be done cheerily and with a smile. She was one of those!

My scone arrived with generous pots of jam and cream and Pat’s had been nicely warmed up and came with butter. In other words, everything was just as it should be. We enjoyed them but Pat felt her cheese one was slightly doughy and try as I might I just couldn’t raise mine to topscone status either.  The friendly atmosphere more than made up for any disappointment with the scones. Mona’s is definitely worth a visit. Here in Muckhart on a lovely day it is impossible to even begin to imagine what possesses someone to perpetrate the events of Westminster Bridge yesterday. Long may it remain so.

FK14 7JN     tel: 01259 781322      Monas of Muckart