Burrell Collection

25th May 2022 billpaterson1@me.com 3 Comments

We hear a lot about oligarchs these days but they are by no means a new phenomenon. In the 19th century, Glasgow had oodles of them but back then they were known as shipping magnates or tobacco barons. Sir William Burrell was one such shipping magnate and he is responsible for the place we are in today, the Burrell Collection in Pollock Park, Glasgow.

He had enough money to buy anything that tickled his fancy and, in his case, it was art that did the tickling. Buying his first piece aged fifteen kick started a life obsessed with travelling the world and shipping artefacts back to his home town of Glasgow. Because he had lots of big ships he wasn’t put off by size … everything from paintings, stained glass, tapestries to huge chunks of ancient buildings. We were last here at the Burrell Collection many years ago as guests at a dinner laid on by Astra Zeneca for the Scottish Therapeutic Endoscopy Workshop. A great night but, typically you might say, we didn’t do culture … only eating and drinking. This time we have a few hours to look around at the exhibits. There are a lot!

French arch at the Burrell Collection — One of may doorways on display. This one was made in 1100 to form the entrance to a church at Montron in France. Shipped back stone by stone.

Wisdom and understanding

If this post contains more than the usual amount of illustrations it is simply because the building and the objects it contains just beg to be photographed. It is amazing.

Budah at the Burrell Collection — The Luohan that Came from Afar. A Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) statue from south east China. Luohan means ‘one who is worthy’ and developed wisdom and understanding. That could easily describe this blog?

We were here early in the morning when there were few people around but by the time we left it was very busy indeed.

Internal view of the Burrell Collection — the tearoom

It has just recently reopened after a major revamp with lots of things for kids to interact with and opportunities to learn about other cultures. We are running the risk here of making this blog educational and interesting so perhaps we should just get on with the scones.

Catching up

We are not complete scone philistines though … that’s not the only reason for our visit. It was catching up with an old friend we hadn’t seen for many years that had actually brought us here. There were scones though … fruit and plain. They have a system. You have to find a table then give the table number when you order at the counter. Then they bring it over when it’s all ready. Everything was nicely presented and the scone came with plenty jam and butter. It was nice and we thoroughly enjoyed it but it wasn’t a top scone … pity!

Homeless

Child with rattle at the Burrell Collection — Child with rattle. Can you imagine getting your kids ready in the morning if they were all dressed like this?

Burrell believed in free education for all and in 1944 he gifted his entire collection to the City of Glasgow. It was so big, however, there wasn’t any where in the city capable of housing it. It needed its own building so a competition was launched that culminated in being opened by the Queen in 1983. The setting in the beautiful countryside of Pollock Park is perfect. Huge windows give a fantastic backdrop to many of the exhibits and it’s all completely free for anyone who wants to visit. Good old Sir William!. For us the takeaway message from our visit was clear. Today we think of ourselves as being terribly advanced.

Warwick Vase at the Burrell Collection — The Warwick Vase. This is a replica of a Roman original made in the 1st century.

Smart phones and rockets to the moon and all that. But actually, we haven’t really come that far. A thousand years ago they were doing things that we’d find hard or impossible to replicate these days. The workmanship and scale of some of the artefacts is mind blowing. No idea what value would be put on the Collection … probably too vast to contemplate.

Islamic tile at the Burrell Collection — A wall tile featuring a gazelle and a mountain goat. Made in Iran in the 13th century

Messes

When you look at the mess the world is in today it is not difficult to agree that we haven’t progressed that much. The UK has been responsible for creating a lot of the global messes and with Boris at the helm it has ended up in one almighty mess itself. If we were being generous we would say that he has had a lot on his plate … but we’re not! We are all heartily sick of the goings on in 10 Downing Street during lockdown and today the long awaited Sue Grey Report cames out. It hasn’t improved things. Boris, may have unwittingly discovered the holy grail on how to keep your job. Just make such a mess of it that no-one else wants it.

We’ve only made a mess of our table at the Burrell Collection. But it was wonderful to catch up with an old friend and at the same time get ‘cultured’. Having said that, ‘culture vultures’ we are not but this is a fantastic place. You should all visit if you get a chance.

G43 1AT tel: 0141 287 2550 The Burrell

///panels.films.shares

Scones, Uncategorized

Coffee 1

14th May 2022 billpaterson1@me.com 3 Comments

All good things must come to an end so this post finds us on our way north again after a fab time on the south coast. It’s bitter sweet … good to be heading home and at the same time sad to be leaving family behind. All we have to do is reverse the road trip we did to get down here. We’re taking a slightly different route and our first stop is in Warminster in Wiltshire … at the Coffee 1 café to be precise.

High Street, Warminster — Warminster High Street

In 1086 the Doomsday Book refered to the town as Guerminstre. so it’s not hard to see how it ended up as Warminster. It may be famous for many things but after this post it will also be famous for its lack of tearooms – one closed for refurbishment, one a huge chain that doesn’t do scones and this one. And this one didn’t do scones either! “We might have them in again for the summer” they said. Scones are not swallows for goodness sake, they’re not migratory. They are perfectly happy to be eaten all year round. (Please let us know if you sense we are getting grumpier, it’s difficult for us to tell).

Also, only one toilet in the entire place, what’s that all about? Do you know how long a woman (or a man) with a baby can be in a toilet? If you need to go it can seem like an eternity and unfortunately for us there were several women with babies ahead of us in the queue. We’re not sure what should be banned – places with only one toilet or women (men) with babies? Okay, we do sense an increase in grumpiness!

Sconeless

In the absence of scones we had little choice but to opt for a teacake. A poor substitute but what can you do? As it turned out our teacake was rather good and they had even toasted it for us so we really have a cheek to complain. But it wasn’t a scone!! If you ever find yourself in Warminster, be warned, it is a sconeless place!

Song contests

Walking through Warminster we came on a rather nice little arcade. Warminster folks are obviously getting geared up for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

Elsewhere things are gearing up for that surreal of surreal things, the final of the Eurovision Song Contest. As if the planet didn’t have enough problems, it’s being broadcast across the world tonight. Russia has been banned … is this the reason for Putin’s inexplicable fury?

BA12 9AN 01985 213118. Coffee 1

///steepest.incomes.careless

Ordinary, Scones, self-service

Gee Whites

12th May 2022 billpaterson1@me.com 8 Comments

Having been in Poole for a few days now we are getting to know the place quite well. Did you know that this town has produced some of the most beautiful women in the world? Yes, not a lot of people know that! How else would you explain the fact that two of the five British Miss Worlds have hailed from here? It’s also renowned for attracting the rich and famous … we’re here after all! On Panorama Road the property price-per-square-foot has exceeded that of waterside streets in Miami and Monte Carlo.

Resisting schoolboy humour

We don’t want to start any arguments but today we are trying to circumnavigate the largest natural harbour in the world, Poole harbour. Other places have tried to claim this title e.g. Sydney harbour. But that claim is usually made by Aussies and we all know what they are like when it comes to bragging! Poole harbour has an area of fourteen square miles and a coastline that extends more than one hundred miles. It also has a single access to the sea … the very definition of a ‘harbour’. Rest assured, if you heard it on allaboutthescones, it’s correct! The harbour is fed by four rivers, the main ones being the River Frome and the River Piddle. The Piddle is actually quite a bit bigger than you might expect!

One of the main streets in Swanage — The High Street, Swanage

Fossils

Circumnavigation involves quite a long drive (not by Australian standards obviously) but it cannot be done without ending up here in Swanage. This is the first town at the eastern end of the Jurassic Coast, a World Heritage Site. But with no time to go scavenging for fossils we ended up here at Gee Whites scavenging for scones. It’s an odd sort of place. They have a roof terrace but it wasn’t open. In fact, there did not appear to be any inside seating at all. So outside it had to be … at the mercy of the seagulls. We ordered tea and a fruit scone at a sort of kiosk window. When we asked if the scone came with jam and cream “That’s a cream tea if you want that” was the reply “Okay, can we have a cream tea then?” We triumphantly transported our ‘cream tea’ to a table by the water’s edge.

View from Gee Whites in Swanage — View from our seat … some folks fishing for crabs

This was not at all unpleasant.

Although overcast it was warm and nice to sit and watch all the activity that typically goes on in all such seaside places. Rather oddly the jam and cream came packaged together in a little plastic tub. Perhaps that should have given us an early warning on the scone. It was a disappointment and worst of all it had a soggy bottom and we all know that soggy bottoms are never desirable. Inevitably perhaps, It became fodder for some of the man-eating seagulls that surrounded our table. One gull swallowed what was left in one gulp. We were impressed by its swallowing skills but mostly by its ability to fly off afterwards. It seemed to thoroughly enjoy it so maybe we’re just getting too fussy?

Another cruise

In spite of this scone setback we were happy to be in Swanage, a place we never ever expected to visit. It had taken us a good hour or so to drive round to here but to complete the circumnavigation we had to take the Sandbanks Chain Ferry across the 242 foot harbour entrance. Another four minute cruise for Pat, I know, I spoil her! First time on a chain ferry and it meant that we were home in no time at all … brill!

Unexpected consequences

Finland has applied for NATO membership after many years of steadfast and proud neutrality. The 830 mile border with Russia will achieve the exact opposite of what Mad Vlad intended and couldn’t have been achieved without his crazy invasion of Ukraine. Funny the way things turn out sometimes!

Our time in the soft south is coming to an end. Shortly we will be heading back to the wild and woolly north.

BH19 2LN tel: 01929 425720 Gee Whites

///requiring.paint.rated

Scones, Top

Branksome Beach Café

10th May 2022 billpaterson1@me.com 4 Comments

First leg of our road trip completed, we couldn’t get a more extreme contrast between our last post from Tebay Services and this place, Branksome Beach Café. One set amongst wild rugged moorland and the other on a beach looking out towards the Isle of Wight.

A different life

We are visiting our daughter’s new house. It’s big compared to the tiny one her and her family had in London and it’s in a very quiet street in a beautiful forested area. Without having to go on any roads at all you can take Branksome Chine (a very pretty wooded gully) down to the beach. The path drops you out right at Branksome Beach Café … how neat is that?

View from Branksome Beach — View from our seat on an overcast but warm day. France just over the horizon

Indoor beaches

In the 1930s Branksome Beach Café was Britain’s first functioning solarium. Intended to provide a year round sunbatheing facility it had an indoor beach complete with deckchairs behind huge glass windows. Now the sand and deckchairs have long gone and it has developed into one of Dorset’s landmark cafés. It also makes a claim to be the home of the rock cake! My mother made rock cakes in such a way that you never had to question how they got their name.

External view of Branksome Beach — Bill board outside the café and an actually rock cake … neither to scale

Such a claim obviously requires testing so we got a one to share with everyone at our table. Whether the claim is true or not doesn’t really matter .. it was delicious and not too rock like! Luckily, they are not claiming to be the home of the scone … that would be simply ridiculous!

Local produce

Of course, we had to test the scones. We were sitting outside on the terrace overlooking the beach but on the way in we had noticed the scones. They were quite big so having already scoffed some rock cake we opted to share one. It came complete with a pot of jam and the ubiquitous Rodda’s Cornish Cream. Since we are relatively near Cornwall we have dropped our customary objection … it’s a local product down here!.We’re sure that the excellent service, the views out over the beach and the sea were all contributory factors in our decision to award a topscone. Well done Branksome Beach Café.

Prince Charles substituted for the Queen today at the State Opening of Parliament. It said nothing and perhaps the biggest news was that Kate, Duchess of Cambridge had travelled to Manchester on a charter flight in a Michael Kors outfit. Goodness, she’s almost common! Somehow all the pomp and pageantry seems hugely incongruous in times where more and more people are being forced to use food banks. Not that we have much room to talk, sitting here eating rock cakes and scones by the beach.

BH13 6LP tel: BH13 6LP Branksome

///water.singer.cared

ps: our fabulous Toowoomba correspondents have sent us scone pictures from Angie’s Country cafe in Toogoolawah. Hands up everyone who knows where that is! Okay not too many.Presentation looks good as does the scone so if you ever find yourselves in Toogoolawah you know where to go.

Ordinary, Scones, self-service

Tebay Services

8th May 2022 billpaterson1@me.com 4 Comments

We’re on a road trip … yeah! A bit like Easy Rider but without the motorbikes … and everything else come to think of it. It’s the M6 and we’re on our way to Poole to see our daughter’s new house …. exciting. Everyone has a favourite motorway services … don’t they? Is it just us? Anyway, if you are going to have a favourite, Tebay Services in Westmorland does it for us!

Bladder stops

Tebay Services was established in 1972 by the local farmer when the motorway was driven straight through the middle of his farm. A case of, if you can’t beat them join them. The farmshop features much of their home grown meat and veg and the whole place specialises in locally sourced produce. It’s just a bit different from the normal soulless motorway services. They even have a duck pond.

It’s about two hours drive from home and that’s roughly how long we can go these days without a bladder stop. Too much information we know but unfortunately that is just the harsh reality.

We’ve never had a scone here before so there was a degree of nervous anticipation. It’s all self service , of course, so we had to help ourselves from a box of scones and then fill a wee tub with jam from one of the large pots available. Not exactly the Ritz but the scones looked good and we soon had ourselves sorted out with everything we required.

View from Tebay Services — View over part of the duck pond towards the Westmorland moors

Road trips

As scones go this one was above average but, what with it being self service and all that, even with it’s nice little pat of Cumberland butter, it was never going be rated as a topscone. Maybe a top motorway services scone but since we are very seldom on motorways that is not one of our categories. It’s a long time since we were last here and somehow it didn’t seem as good as we remembered but that might just be our memories playing tricks. This was a southbound scone, we may do a northbound one on the way home? Or maybe not. After an hour or so we felt suitably refreshed and ready to take on the next 350 miles. We’re sure our Australian correspondents would not bat an eyelid at such a journey but it seems like a long way to us.

Voting for anyone but the Tories

Over the past few days there’s been local council elections held over the whole of the UK. Although not all results are in, it seems that the Conservatives have taken a bit of a drubbing … surprise, surprise! They now seem to be trying to portray Boris as a great wartime leader. Are we at war … news to us! Labour and the Lib Dems are saying that the political tectonic plates have shifted without realising that folk simply could not bring themselves to vote for scandal ridden Conservatives.

Scotland continues to see the SNP still riding high after fifteen years in power. Scotland uses the STV (single transferrable vote) system otherwise known as the “vote ’till you boak” system. You order the candidates in order of preference until you cannot vote without feeling sick. But perhaps the biggest change is being seen in N. Ireland where Sinn Féin has become the largest party at Stormont. Could this herald the ‘anomaly’ that is N. Ireland being solved democratically without resorting to violence … let’s hope!

On the road again, wind in our hair, Born to be Wild by Steppenwolf on the radio … this is the life!

CA10 3SB tel: 015396 24511 Tebay Services

///atlas.flaking.take

Scones, history and a dollop of politics

Monthly Archives: May 2022