Cromlix House Hotel

28th July 2018 billpaterson1@me.com

Cromlix used to be one of our favourite haunts. Many happy evenings have been spent with family and friends in the Red Dining Room, the Conservatory and the upstairs Library. Sadly, after it was taken over by tennis superstar Andy Murray in 2013, they have all disappeared. It’s in the name of progress and by command of Chez Roux. It’s not Andy’s fault. He has Inverlochy Castle Management International managing the place while he is away doing something else. Although famous for his service you won’t find Andy bringing you a scone or anything else for that matter. Although you never know, considering the way his game has been going recently!

The tennis courts at Cromlix House Hotel, Dunblane — Tennis courts at Cromlix

Lowly cottage

Cromlix itself was built in 1874 as “Cromlix Cottage“. Surely only someone with too much money and too much property would build this as a “cottage”. You can get some idea of what life was like simply by looking at the servants call boxes in the hall.They weren’t exactly roughing it in their lowly “cottage”. We used to have a similar but much smaller call box in our own Victorian house. We did away with it, however, because it wasn’t working. Mainly due to the distinct lack of servants.

Anyway, since Andy took over, Pat and I have fallen out of love with Cromlix. You didn’t actually speak to Cromlix when you phoned but to some centralised answering service. We used to get some weird replies like ” we are fully booked for afternoon tea for the next seven months??” We tell you this simply so that we can let you know that these problems are in the past. They seem to have sorted themselves out. Very welcoming with all the staff apparently local and speaking English. We were ushered into an area with which we were very familiar, the old reception hall.

Would Cromlix rehabilitate itself in our affections … it all depended on the scones …. ooooh! The young lady who took our order for a cream tea was very pleasant and while she was away getting things organised we took the opportunity to have a look round. The bar area is very chic though we preferred the old more homely look of it predecessor.

Picture of a shoot at Cromlix House Hotel, Dunblane — The unlucky object of this day’s “sport” may have ended up in this glass case

Cromlix’s hunting and shooting pedigree was also much in evidence.

Rehabilitation

Anyway, it wasn’t long before we were provided with our scones all beautifully presented as befits such a place. Had the scones been freshly shot? We ended up with a difference of opinion. Pat was a tad disappointed saying her scone was ever so slightly doughy whereas I thought mine was just right. However, considering the service, the presentation and the surroundings we eventually decided that a topscone was well deserved. Well done Cromlix. We still hanker for the old place but consider yourself rehabilitated!

Weather and scepticism

Meanwhile back in the real world outside the these pampered confines, the news consists entirely of the weather. People dying, planes cancelled, trains late, moors on fire, places flooded, water shortages. All due to this period of fine weather. We are almost tempted to think that it has all been organised by the Conservatives to divert our attention away from the ongoing fiasco that is Brexit. But that would require a degree of scepticism!! In the interests of balance we cannot just blame the Tories. Labour (the red Tories) are just as bad. How we long for the days when there was an opposition worthy of the name. Now, all our beloved politicians are off on holiday for the parliamentary recess. To enjoy the weather!FK15 9JT tel: 01786 822125 Cromlix House Hotel

Ordinary, Scones

Kerrera Tea Garden

20th July 2018 billpaterson1@me.com

When it comes to Scottish Independence many people who voted NO in the 2014 referendum have been posting on social media “My Journey to YES”. Well this is similar but, of course, it is more “Our journey to a SCONE”! Let us explain. Some scones can be relatively difficult to come by but that is generally down to cost e.g. Claridges, the Connaught, rather than geographical location.

Gallanach Ferry from the Isle of Kerrera — Gallanach Ferry only takes 12 people, no cars. If you are number 13 you have to wait for it to come back. We had to wait for it to come back three times

Getting there

Getting to the Kerrera Tea Garden however involves a road trip to Oban, a ferry and then an hours walk over rough hill track. That’s just to get there … and the same back! There is nothing along the way other than sheep but luckily they have easy to follow signposts to guide the weary traveller. Although the day was quite cloudy it was hot so by the time we came on that last sign we were extremely relieved. Stomach and arthritic joints were screaming for sustenance and rest.

The Kerrera Tea Garden is exactly what it says. A fairly large garden in which there are lots of tables where you can sit and have tea. If the weather ever gets inclement, perish the thought, there is the Byre, a rustic but charming converted cowshed.

Inside the Byre at the Kerrera Tea Garden on the Isle of Kerrera — The Byre

Sacre Blue

We were attended to by a very mannerly young chap who was obviously not a local. He was from Singapore and was studying law in London. Goodness knows how he found his way here for a summer job? The scones are made fresh every morning so after a light lunch we thought they should be sampled. We couldn’t come all this way and not sample the scones after all! Unfortunately they were a tad disappointing. Just a little on the solid side and with a slightly sweet taste that wasn’t to our liking. They weren’t bad but not a topscone. Pity, because everything else about this place is fantastic. If you ever get the chance you should definitely visit, it’s worth the effort.

When we arrived there was a party of six French folk who were explaining that they just wanted coffee because they had their own sandwiches … mais non, sacre blue, mon dieu! Perhaps it is just as well we are leaving the EU! They were politely told to take themselves off to thonder distant hill to have their picnic. When we were leaving they were making their way back for their coffee and didn’t seem at all put out. The Auld Alliance is intact!

View of Gylen Castle on the Isle of Kerrera — The ruined Gylen Castle overlooking the Firth of Lorne

buy cialis pill cute-n-tiny.com The blood supply into the erection containers made of spongy tissue called as corpus cavernosum to relax and smoothen. Epillsrx.com offers levitra best price at a 100% lowest-price guarantee, which ensures customers that they have received from the online course and it remains fresh and clear in the mind. Hair follicles have a sensitivity to DHT – so when the DHT is present in discover address now cialis cheapest the follicles, it makes them miniaturize – resulting in an abnormal production of the hormone adrenocorticotropin. This issue cialis canada generico might not be a matter of life and death in some extreme cases. We finished off our visit with the short walk from the Tea Garden to Gylen Castle which sits on the southern tip of the island. It was built in 1582 by the Clan MacDougall but was besieged then burned by Covenanters in 1647. Ironically the siege was successful because of a shortage of water. The castle’s spring was insufficient in the prevailing dry spell so the MacDougalls surrendered. The same would have happened today where we have almost forgotten what rain looks like! When William Turner visited in 1831, he was fascinated by the ruin and made several sketches of the castle which are now in London’s Tate Gallery.

View of Ben Cruachan from the Isle of Kerrera — Looking east with twin peaks of Ben Cruachan in the middle distance

Sheep talk

On our return walk to the ferry we were almost deafened at one point by sheep baaing to each other … baa, baa, baa, baa. The noise was incredible! We came to the conclusion that they must have been discussing the effects of Brexit on the Common Agricultural Policy. They were making much more sense than our Westminster parliamentarians! After Trump’s visit to see May in London and Putin in Helsinki, I said to Pat “I think Trump’s a very clever man”, then, when I saw the look on her face, had to explain that I had misspoken and what I actually meant to say was that he was a complete and utter idiot.

Ex KGB, Vladamir Putin is beginning to look like the only sane politician around and that says something! Our “journey to a scone” was one of the most enjoyable in a long time. A big fat YES to the Kerrera Tea Garden.

PA34 4SX tel: 01631 566367 Kerrera Tea Garden

ps: This is the only telephone box on the Isle of Kerrera and as you can see it is a K6. No manufacturer’s badge so it could be either Falkirk, Kirkintilloch or Glasgow in origin. Now it functions, not as a telephone box, but as the only shop on the island … selling postcards.

Telephone cables

If you found that interesting here is another little snippet that will be of interest to all those who have spent restless nights wondering where the first subsea transatlantic telephone cable came ashore in the UK. Well wonder no more, it was here at Little Horsehoe Bay on Kerrera in 1956. It operated until 1978 and the other end was in Clarenville, Newfoundland. You can now rest easy.

View of first trans Atlantic telephone cable landing point on the Isle of Kerrera — Little Horseshoe Bay with Oban in the distance. In 1263 Horseshoe Bay housed a fleet of one hundred and twenty longship galleys under the command of Norwegian King Haakon 1. More recently, it provided all the lobsters for Cunard’s transatlantic liners.

Wilting

We met loads of tourists, some walking, some on bikes, all were complaining about the heat! They said that the publicity for holidays in Scotland had not prepared them for weeks of hot dry weather. C’est la vie … haste ye back!

Scones, Top

Ochiltree’s at Abbotsford

13th July 2018 billpaterson1@me.com

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!

Scones, Top

Café Mimi’s

9th July 2018 billpaterson1@me.com

In the late 19th century, Spring-heeled Jack was a notorious fiery eyed demon of English folklore. He could leap over high objects such as hedges and scare the living daylights out of the good folks of London. And latterly of most of England. There are, however, several accounts of him having been spotted north of the border. In Perthshire near Auchterarder to be precise.

We cannot vouch for all the sightings but one at least proved to be false. What the locals initially thought was Jack turned out to be a young Auchterarder lad who was besotted with a lass from the neighbouring village of Aberuthven. In an attempt to dissuade rival suitors he took to leaping out on travelers on the road between the two villages under cover of darkness. Hence it gained the reputation of being haunted. No one knows if this strategy got him the girl but you’ve got to admire his determination, not to mention imagination. We hope it did, such is love.

Quiet calm

Anyway Spring-heeled Jack has nothing to do with anything other than to say that, if he did indeed terrorise the area around Auchterarder, then Café Mimis, with its orderly air of quiet calm, would be the ideal antidote to his antics. On our last visit to the village we had been recommended Café Kisa. At the time, we reckoned it to be the best in town and we would happily have gone back there. However, our mission is to relentlessly go forward and explore the nether regions of such towns and villages. And to report back to our readers on our findings. Hence we ended up here in Café Mimi’s. With the local hotel being Gleneagles, would Mimi’s live up to the local area’s reputation for high class produce and service? No problem, was the answer.

Beautiful toilets

With temperatures hovering between 25 and 32 °C for the past few months in these parts, Café Mimi’s felt more like this picture which was hanging in their delightful toilet. We don’t normally comment on toilets but Mimi’s is definitely worth a mention. Wouldn’t go there just for the toilet, you understand. However, if you have to go it’s one of the nicest we have ever come across. And that is always a good omen for everything else.

Cravings

The café itself is quite small, only a few tables but everything is spotless and beautifully laid out. We were looked after by a very friendly and humorous lady and her compadre, an equally pleasant lady called Morag. Turned out that she was the one responsible for baking all the fabulous looking cakes … and the scones! They only had four left, enough to give Pat a cheese one and me a plain. Both were absolutely delicious with the crunchy exterior and soft center that we crave. Together with the generous helpings of jam and cream it was an easy topscone. Their afternoon tea, which some ladies were enjoying at the next table, looked excellent as well.

Chequers fudge

It’s not that Café Kisa has been knocked off the top spot but more that it has been joined by Café Mimi’s. For a small village like Auchterarder to have two such good scone emporiums is quite something! Spring-heeled Jack may not have been the most level headed sort of chap but what would he have made of today’s news: the tragic death of a person in the ongoing Novichok affair that simply makes no sense whatsoever. The resignation of David Davis, our chief Brexit negotiator, in the face of an equally senseless Chequers fudge. The imminent and senseless Trump visit. His fiery eyes would be even more ablaze. He wasn’t that daft!

PH3 1BJ tel: 01764 664671 Café Mimi’s TA

ps: On the pavement just outside the Sugar& Spice bakery next to Café Mimi’s we came across this sage advice … consider yourselves, warned.

Scones, history and a dollop of politics

Monthly Archives: July 2018