Monthly Archives: August 2022

Ordinary, Scones

The Courtyard Tea Rooms

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Now you would think that the Courtyard Tea Rooms would be easy to find. They are on the High Street in Poole and that’s not all that long. How difficult could it be?

The High Street in Poole
High Street in Poole

You will see from the title picture, however that it is just a door sandwiched between a convenience store and an Indian restaurant. Just a little door with a little sign above … easy to miss. Not a lot of people miss it however because it’s very busy so it must have a good reputation. It’s over 500 years old, not the tearooms but the building in which they are housed. Entrance to the Courtyard Tearooms in PooleThe entrance is down a long passageway and then you emerge into a delightful little courtyard. There are several little sitting-rooms off the courtyard. But we chose the courtyard itself with its ancient stone slabs that many feet must have trod before us. In 1405, local lad come privateer Henry Paye had made such a nuisance of himself with raids up and down  the French coast that a combined French/Spanish naval fleet plundered Poole in an act of revenge. If this courtyard could talk it would have a few tales to tell. Don’t think the plunderers would have had scones here but we thought we had better check them out anyway.

Internal view of the Courtyard Tearooms in Poole

Hairsbreadth

In our previous post from the Kitchen we were served very disappointing scones. Hopefully they would be better here. The young girl looking after us was fantastic. Scones at the Courtyard Tearooms in PooleGood happy service can change a fairly mundane meal into something special but this time we had a really nice lunch which she made extra special. Unfortunately she couldn’t quite do it for the scones. Henry Paye would probably have bisected each scone with a swish of his cutlass but we just uses the knives we were presented with. Not so heroic, perhaps but we didn’t have a cutlass. They were almost topscones. Very good, with nice bowls of jam and cream but their overall consistency meant that they just missed out by a hairsbreadth. This is a really nice place, however, and we recommend that you pay it a visit next time you are in Poole.

Back in the USSR, you don’t know how lucky you are, boy

Normally, we don’t have much in the way of praise for politicians … maybe you’ve noticed? However, we feel that with the passing of Mikhail Gorbachev, the last President of the USSR, we should make an exception. When you think of Soviet Presidents the word ‘charming’ is not one that comes readily to mind … but he was! Not many people could honestly say they changed the world … but he could! Although he didn’t mean to dismantle the Soviet Empire, because of his actions, it happened anyway. Momentous, and with hardly a drop of blood being shed … contrast that with Putin’s Russia of today.

The USSR is something our children have probably only heard of through  a Beatles song. Strange words such as glasnost  and perestroika  became part of our everyday language. The collapse of the Berlin Wall … these were heady days indeed, full of optimism and hope … contrast that with the world today. If Gorbachev had been a scone he would have been a topscone … praise indeed!Sign for the Courtyard Tearooms in Poole

BH15 1BT         tel: ????            The Courtyard Tearooms FB

///mugs.vouch.scarf

Ordinary, Scones, self-service

The Kitchen

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After our previous visit to the Soup Dragon near Balfron today we are in a very different place, the Kitchen in Poole. About as far away from The Soup Dragon as you can get without leaving the UK. However, Poole is the most haunted town in Dorset … so spirits of a different kind perhaps. None of that for us today though. Poole Park which opened in 1890 is the place for us. It is over 100 acres of open parkland with lovely gardens and even a saltwater lagoon … fab!

Internal view of the Kitchen in Poole Park

Sharing again

The Kitchen is at its centre and provides sustenance for many of the parks users. It has a large restaurant area as well as an outdoor waterside terrace. There’s also Scoops ice cream parlour. It seems to have everything but what about scones? Yes, there was, fruit and plain! A scone at the Kitchen in Poole ParkWe had had lunch elsewhere so it was just a fruit scone to share and some tea. Sharing was a great idea because neither us wanted to finish even the half that we had. They were fairly obviously shop bought and probably not bought this week judging by the rather stodgy texture. Ah well, you can’t win them all! Shame though, because everything else on offer is probably very good and it’s a great facility for the park.The terrace at the Kitchen in Poole Park

Hanging by a thread

One of the benefits of staying down here with family is that there is not much time for news. So no rants this time you might think. Well no, when we do get a glimpse it’s the same old, same old. The BBC interviewing innocent passers-by about the cost of living. Typically it goes like this “You’re already struggling to make ends meet and now the government says that cost increases will double over the next few months. How do you feel about that?” What? Are they really expecting someone to say “Oh, I’m absolutely delighted“. And yet they go on doing it … endlessly. And, now it appears that their ‘Director of Impartiality’ is a died in the wool Tory, surprise, surprise! Our BBC licence fee is hanging by a thread.

Incomprehensible

The current cost of living crisis is incomprehensible.  Britain is, to a large extent, self sufficient in energy  and the same goes for wheat, yet we are told it’s all the fault of the Ukraine war.  Our energy costs are to go up 200% … in France it’s 4%. Scottish energy producers have to pay massive amounts of money to feed into the grid yet producers in the south get paid massive amounts to do exactly the same?? Could it all be caused by nothing more than systems designed and developed by the wealthy to make themselves even wealthier? Surely not?

Incomprehensibler

Meanwhile we are assuming that the lightweights vying to become the next PM are still arguing about everything. Liz Truss, still the Foreign Secretary but with ambitions to become a mini Boris, saying that she doesn’t know if the French are friend or foe while simultaneously dumping tons of raw sewage into the English Channel. And Sunak is about as far away from the man in the street as its possible to get. One of them will soon be running the country because 0.2% of the population voted for them. Fantastic! 

Two K6s in Poole Park
Two K6s in Poole Park. One made in Falkirk (on the right) and the other in Kirkintilloch

Anyway, the cost of living crisis doesn’t show too much down here but, of course, it is one of the wealthiest areas outside of London. Still can’t produce a topscone though!

BH15 2SF          tel: 01202 742842           The Kitchen

///notice.sleep.motor

Scones, Top

The Soup Dragon Café

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Sign at the Soup DragonFor those of  a delicate  disposition and for those who might believe some or indeed anything on allaboutthescones, let us assure you that the dragon in the title picture isn’t real. It’s real only in the sense that it does exist. It lives round at the back after having been adopted by the owners of the Soup Dragon café. They adopted it after a festival where it had been destined for the scrap heap. The title picture is merely a confection from the writer’s rather over active imagination. So where are we?

Our kind of place

Tir na Nog logoIronically, after saying in our previous post that we had never been to Balfron we are back again. At Tír na nÓg,  a holistic healing centre to be precise. In Celtic folklore it is described as an island paradise of everlasting youth, beauty, health, abundance and joy. Sounds precisely like our kind of place.  All a bit weird but rather wonderful at the same time.

Courtyard at the Soup Dragon
The courtyard with the Wishing Tree on the left

Our Trossachs correspondents had brought us to Tír na nÓg but, of course it was the Soup Dragon Café that was the main attraction. There’s loads of other things here – treatment and consultation rooms, a couple of shops as well as an animal sanctuary and enchanted forest walks.

Wishing and hoping

In the courtyard they have a Wishing Tree. We all selected a ribbon to tie to it. The ribbons all meant different things according to the colour. Wishing tree at the Soup DragonPat chose blue which represents ‘spirituality, tranquility and peace‘. I thought I should have green ‘prosperity, abundance, healing and luck‘ but there were no green ones left. Orange stood for ‘creativity, self-expression, joy and vitality‘ but none of them left either … argh! I was taking so long choosing, the lady behind the counter eventually leaned over and said “it doesn’t matter which colour you choose, just make up whatever you like“. Thoroughly deflated I chose blue … same as Pat.

Internal view of the Soup DragonHaving tied our ribbons and made our wishes we headed for the café to wait for them to come true. It’s quite a big place and there are tables outside in the courtyard as well. The young girl looking after us was a delight. She brought water for the table without us even asking. This being the Soup Dragon, we thought some soup would be appropriate. She said they were famous for their spicy lentil so that’s what we all had. Accompanied by home baked bread it was delicious. We were really beginning to warm to this place. 

Unanimous

Eventually, after some other stuff to eat, it was the turn of the scones. A scone at the Soup DragonPat and I were sharing one between us because the soup and lunch had been quite substantial. Our friends were doing the same. The scones came with nice little pots of jam and cream as well as a wee plastic pot of Danish butter. It would have been nice if the butter had been Scottish but heyho! When you look at all the kiddies starving in Afghanistan we should just be counting our blessings rather than moaning about trifles like butter. The scones were still warm from the oven and tasted wonderful. Just the right consistency and with that slight crunch that we like. A unanimous topscone, well done the Soup Dragon Café.

Curiosity

Meanwhile the café had filled up and the courtyard tables were also taken. Our girl turned out to be the only person there other than the chef. She was coping fantastically well. Snickerdoodle cake at the Soup DragonEarlier I had noticed a rather enticing cake which was labelled “snickerdoodle”. Curiosity sparked, I asked what it was. She explained that it had been made earlier by the chef but that she had completed it with the butter icing. It had to be done. We ordered one slice and four forks. Sign at the Soup Dragon

Then the problem was that two of us had almost finished our coffees but neither wanted another full cup in spite of it being Henry’s, our favourite. We asked for an Americano to share. No problem. However, rather than having us messing around trying to split a coffee she appeared with two small cups, brilliant. We have had some grim waitressing experiences recently so it really was an absolute pleasure to be served by this girl. The snickerdoodle cake was nice but although the icing was expertly done it was a little on the sweet side for our taste. Curiosity satisfied though!

Ornaments at the Soup Dragon
A shelf of things for sale
Eternal youth

Ornament at the Soup DragonGosh, the Prime Minister of Finland may have to resign because she has been photographed dancing. They really need to try a bit of British politics if they want to know what serious partying is all about. Wouldn’t it be great if the world was a bit more Tír na nÓgish and the people were more like the girl at the Soup Dragon. Not sure how much faith we can place in all this candles and crystals stuff but suffice to say that by the time we were leaving Tír na nÓg we did feel a lot more joyous than when we went in. Not sure about the eternal youth … we’ll let you know. Logo of the Soup Dragon

G63 0NF               tel: 01360 440756.                 Dragon Cafe

///darkens.retail.banquets

Scones, Top

The Courtyard Café revisited

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The last time we were here at the Courtyard Café in Fintry was in 2016. Back then we said we liked everything about the place and that we would love to come back … so we have. This is ‘the Courtyard Cafe revisited’, would it still be as good?

Quite often we just get in the car and see where it takes us. Today is one these days. We took the road to Carron Valley which as well as being a lovely drive is also Falkirk’s water supply. In spite of the dire warns of impending disaster down south due to drought, the reservoir looked pretty full to us. We were reassured.Internal view of the Courtyard Café, Fintry

Not far beyond the end of the reservoir you come to Fintry a lovely little village nestling in the Campsie Fells. 

Waterloo and all that

Remarkably, the village has a connection to Napoleon and the Battle of Waterloo. Over 200 years ago, Peter McNee, a local teacher, was concerned about the living conditions of the local mill workers. He protested so loudly, he was eventually obliged to leave Britain and settle in France. There he changed his name,  joined the army and quickly rose through the ranks. As Marshall Ney he became Napoleon’s right hand man. After Waterloo he was executed by firing squad in spite of Wellington pleading for clemency. Rumour has it, though, that his death may have been faked. Gosh, he might be in the café?

Internal view of the Courtyard Café, Fintry
The shop area where they sell their own milk, ice cream  and other farm produce

Once you have parked and walked past the neat orchard and the beautiful chicken enclosure you just get the feeling that this is a well run place.

Wallpaper at the Courtyard Café, Fintry
Wallpaper at the Courtyard
Our window at the Courtyard Café, Fintry
The window at out table … the walls must be a metre thick!

It was going like a fair but they managed to find a table for us quite quickly. We had noticed on the way in that the scones were quite big so we decided to share … but only after a delicious light lunch. When our scone arrived I was a bit disappointed. It looked a little bit on the solid side. What do I know? It was fab! The texture was great and the whole thing was incredibly light. Along with plenty jam and cream it was an easy topscone. We will be back!A scone at the Courtyard Café, Fintry

Questions

We left Fintry and decided to go home via Kippen where we visited the Rhubarb & Lime Coffee Shop. We reviewed it in 2016 as well. It was just the same, friendly people, and after buying a couple of bottles of Italian wine we were on the road again. On the way I thought it would be a good idea to get off the main road and go through some of the local villages. We turned off the A811 into what was signposted as Glinnes Road. Almost immediately it turned into single track with passing places. Undeterred we  kept on going even though it was obvious we were  heading in the wrong  direction for home. Then there was grass in the middle of the road. Pat asked “where exactly are we going?” Always difficult when you have no idea. She’s asked the question many times before and is still waiting on a satisfactory answer.

Pat opening gate on Glinne's Road
My trusty helper opens the first of several gates

Eventually, many bumpy miles later, we emerged into Balfron, a village we’ve never visited before. Needless to say, there are much easier ways to get there. Just before we reached the village we came across Lou’s Bake Stop. Lots of fresh baking, coffee and cold drinks … just leave the money in the basket … fab! We like these honesty places.Honesty hut near Baslfron

Honesty

Scotland has just had the pleasure of a visit from Liz Truss, one of the contenders to become PM of the UK. She promised to work flat out for Scotland. This, in spite of saying a week before that the best thing to do with Scotland’s elected representatives was to ignore them. Maybe she should spend some time in Lou’s Honesty Hut.

We got home. We always get home … eventually!

G63 0LN        tel: 01360 860132        The Courtyard

///ballots.plump.exists

foreign, Ordinary, Scones

The Coffee Pot

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External view of Bootleggers in Hopeman
Bootleggers in Hopeman

Since our previous post from The Royal Oak in Cullen we have been to Hopeman, a seaside village next to Burghead. When we are in Burghead we particularly enjoy the Bothy Bistro, one of the best restaurants we know. Now they have opened a new venue in Hopeman called Bootleggers and, although it is still a work in progress, we wanted to see it. It’s a beach cafe so you have to park at the harbour and walk along the beach to get to it. It’s still something of a building site but we do recommend you try and go there if you are in the vicinity, we’re sure you won’t be disappointed. Unfortunately we couldn’t hang about because we had to get home so this post is from the Coffee Pot in Dufftown.

High Street, Dufftown
Dufftown
No excuses

In Dufftown there’s a saying – Where Rome was built on seven hills, Dufftown was built on seven stills. The stills in question are Mortlach, Glenfiddich, Balvenie, Dufftown, Glendullan and Kininvie. Another three: Convalmore, Parkmore and Pittyvaich are not producing at the moment. The town’s six working distilleries account for more than 10% of Scotland’s whisky production. Pat’s bound to find something here!

The Coffee Pot seemed to the only place open so in we went. The wee lass who came to serve us looked as if she would rather be anywhere else but here. Not even a hint of a smile. We asked what kind of scones they had. She replied ” plain, charry, cheese”. We said “what?” She repeated what she had just said. Then we realised  it was our fault for not being fluent in Dufftownspeak.  ‘Charry’ was actually ‘cherry’.  We opted for a cheese and a plain.Internal view of the Coffee Pot, Dufftown

The cafe recently made headlines because it was bought by a nineteen year old local girl, Chloe. She had worked there for several years and when it came up for sale she bought it. A scone at the Coffee Pot, DufftownWell done Chloe, a big step but good luck with it all. It’s definitely a ‘no frills’ kind of place but we think it could do with a few more frills. The decor just makes it look fairly spartan so hopefully she will do something to make it a bit more cheery. The scones were okay at best … a bit ‘no frills’ as well. Maybe our server was just having a bad day but we really hope she brightens up soon.

The Watchers

To get home we decided to take the notorious A939 from Tomintoul to Cockbridge. It is billed as one of Scotland’s great and most dangerous drives. Every year without fail it is the first to get blocked with snow. Since the temperature was about 25C we reckoned it would be safe enough. It’s a great road. Soon we came to the Watchers a sculpture which mimics many of the prehistoric standing stones in this part of the world. The Watchers at CorgarffThey are actually made of folded sheets of steel that form a cowal with a seat to provide shelter from the elements as well as a fantastic view over Corgarff Castle.

Corgarff Castle
Corgarff Castle in among the heather

The castle was built in 1530 and burned down a few times before eventually being used to suppress the illegal traffic in whisky. Did we mention that Dufftown had quite a few distilleries and that it would difficult not to buy some there? Well, she did … woohoo! Finlaggan whisky labelI am now the proud owner of a bottle of Finlaggan whisky. Appropriate because my middle name is McDonald and Finlaggan, on the Isle of Islay, is the seat of clan Donald, Lords of the Isles! Problem … it appears to be prone to evaporation because the level has gone down quite a bit in the short time I’ve had it.

Home

We continued home at the end of our time away on very ordinary undangerous roads. It’s been great!

AB55 4AB     01340 820246      Coffee Pot FB

///renovated.edicts.decency

PS: Now you’ve all heard of Oberon, the King of the Fairies. Well the other day we heard from our Bathurst correspondents who were actually in Oberon, a village about a three hour drive from Sydney. Turns out that many years ago they befriended a Vietnamese girl called Quit (pronounced Whoot, as in soot). We think Quit (pronounced as in quit) should be Boris’s new name. Anyway Quit has just opened  Café Oberon so they decided to visit.External view of Cafe Oberon

This is in spite of the the pretty half of our correspondents having broken her leg … that’s dedication. We wish her a speedy recovery. 

They report that their scone was excellent.Well done QuitA scone at Cafe Oberon

Pronunciation

On the subject of pronunciation they also report as follows:

“On the subject you raised recently regarding the pronunciation of “scone”, I can advise that the town so named to the north of us is pronounced like “phone”. Some hoity-toity people in our part of the world also pronounce the edible version the same way.  Not us, of course.

PS – your last post featuring Speyside Coffee shows a picture of The Sydney Harbour Bridge on the packet. What is the connection , if any. Perhaps it is the bridge in Newcastle which rumour has it, was a trial of the design of our SHB”.

Coffee at Speyside Coffee RoastersWe are happy to report that the bridge in question is in fact the Spey Viaduct only a few hundred meters from the cafe in Garmouth.

130 Oberon St, Oberon NSW 2787, Australia

Ordinary, Scones

The Royal Oak

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Logo of the Royal Oak HotelOkay, our previous post from the Garmouth was a bit heavy on the historical side so this time we thought we would come here to The Royal Oak in Cullen. Not for the history of Cullen, no, we came for its soup … and scones, of course. Anyone who departs this earth without having tried Cullen Skink hasn’t really lived at all. It’s made from smoked haddock, onions, potatoes and milk … food of the Gods! And, the only thing better than trying a bowl of Cullen Skink is trying it in Cullen itself, where it actually comes from. Hence we are here at the Royal Oak, only a few yards from the beach.Internal view of the Royal Oak Hotel

We had heard that there were several cafe’s in this little fishing village but for some reason we couldn’t find them and eventually ended up here. With a population of just over 1000, it’s hardly enough to support a thriving cafe culture.  

Obligations?

Elizabeth de Burgh, Robert the Bruce’s wife fell off her horse and died here while visiting Cullen Castle in 1327. The locals removed her organs and buried them in the local church yard. Then they sent the rest of her to Dunfermline Abbey, the official burial place of Scottish Kings and Queens. Bruce was so grateful to the town for its treatment of his wife that he arranged for an annual payment to be made to the village. Obviously, expectations of how the dead were dealt with were different back in the day. In 2000 the government tried to stop the payment but a court case found in the villages favour. The princely sum of £5 per annum is still being paid every year. Okay, okay, it was a small fortune in 1327 and there’s a principle involved!

Oatcakes

Enough history, what about the skink we hear you cry! When we arrived we asked if the Royal Oak had the best skink in Cullen? Cullen skink at the Royal Oak HotelThe look we got said “obviously!”. They are a friendly bunch here and they soon had us sorted with a nice bowl of the ambrosia complete with some oatcakes. It was only me, Pat is not a skink appreciator! It was excellent and the oatcakes were a perfect accompaniment. Having said that I don’t think it was any better than the skink Pat makes for me at home … just need her to get some oatcakes.

Afterwards, we discovered that the World Cullen Skink Champions were Buth Bheag’s Fisherman’s Kitchen, Kyle of Lochalsh. Nowhere near here Cullen!

A scone at the Royal Oak HotelAfter the Cullen Skink it was the turn of the Cullen scones. They were nice but we were a little disappointed to find that, this far north, they felt they had to get their cream from Cornwall. We had a really nice time at the Royal Oak and for me it was a box ticked … Cullen Skink actually in Cullen. No topscone, but hey, you can’t have everything!

Brightly coloured house in Cullen
One of the brightly coloured houses in Cullen
Backbones

Meanwhile, rudderless Britain is suffering a major energy and cost of living crisis. Boris Johnson is still Prime Minister but on holiday! in spite of much cajoling he has declined to intervene. David Cameron did a similar disappearing trick as soon as he realised what a mess Brexit was. David and Boris were in the same class at Eton … presumably they were both off the day they handed out backbones.

Still no sign of that promised bottle of whisky …. time is running out!

AB56 4SD.    tel: 01542 842762        Royal Oak

///farm.reverted.mandates

Ordinary, Scones

Speyside Coffee Roasters

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Okay, this scone deserves a bit of historical background. In 1649  Charles II had had to flee to France after his dad was accused of treason and decapitated. England became a republic under the rule of the thoroughly objectionable and infamous arsonist Oliver Cromwell. Sign for Speyside Coffee RoastersThe following year though Charles decided to try and regain the throne by overthrowing Cromwell’s Parliamentarians. He sailed in from France and started his campaign here at Speyside Coffee Roasters. Okay, perhaps not exactly here but certainly within 100m of here. That same year, 1650, according to Samuel Pepys, coffee had started to be enjoyed in the Grand Café in Oxford. Charles, however, would have been oblivious to the joys of Starbucks and would have been totally flummoxed by Speyside Coffee Roasters. Exactly why he chose to start his campaign here in this pretty little village where the River Spey joins the sea, we have no idea. Internal view of Speyside Coffee Roasters
Back to France

As soon as he stepped ashore he signed the Solemn League and Covenant and set about raising an army. It was all for nought, however, in 1651, Cromwell’s New Model Army showed him the way back to France after a comprehensive defeat at the Battle of Worcester. When you are here in Garmouth it’s almost impossible to believe that this sleepy little backwater saw the beginning of such momentous events. . Coffee at Speyside Coffee Roasters

Charles II was known as the Merry Monarch. He left no legitimate children but acknowledged twelve by other means. They were all given dukedoms and the current Duke of Buccleugh, who owns much of Scotland is a direct descendant of one of them.

Enterprising

The cafe is run by a lovely young enterprising couple who seem to be running a successful business roasting coffee for all the local cafes and restaurants as well as their own.

A scone at Speyside Coffee RoastersThere is a large outdoor area to the side of the cafe where you can eat your bacon rolls or toasted panninis. Part of the building is dedicated to their roasting business and the rest is the cafe. They have a good selection of cakes for sale as well as their range of different Brazilian and Guatemalan coffees. Our coffee was great … almost as good as our favourite, Henry’s. The scone was great as well and almost a topscone but not quite. It had good texture and the crispy crust we like but the overall presentation let it down a little. However, we thoroughly enjoyed everything about this place and wish the owners every good luck with their enterprise.

External view of Speyside Coffee Roasters
outside seating area
Making sure

By the way, Charles II went on to issue the Royal Declaration of Indulgence in 1672. You would have thought that a declaration like that would have made mention of scones … but it didn’t. All boring stuff about religion! He did regain the throne again after Cromwell passed away peacefully in 1658. The fact that he was already dead didn’t stop Charles beheading him and displaying his head on a spike. Aah, the good old days!

The last time we were in this part of the world was back in 2017 in Burghead, just along the coast from Garmouth. There are lots of distilleries around here but Pat still hasn’t bought me a bottle of whisky since our abortive attempt at Dalwhinnie. She has bought me a jar of marmalade infused with whisky though so I suppose that’s progress. 

IV32 7LU     07772 402451       Speyside Coffee

///broke.grew.installs

Ordinary, Scones, self-service

Loch Ericht Hotel

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What’s the coldest village in the UK? A clue, it’s well over 1000ft above sea level and has a mean annual temperature of 6.6 °C. One April it even managed to record a high of −1.0 °C for the month … brrrr!. Okay, we’ll tell you … it’s Dalwhinnie! What’s more, we’re here at the Loch Ericht hotel and it’s actually quite hot! The village also has a distillery.

View of Dalwhinnie distillery
Dalwhinnie distillery

We are here because we decided to take a slight detour off the A9, the road that runs from Falkirk to Scrabster in the far north. This section of the road was opened in the 1970s and had the effect of bypassing Dalwhinnie. At the time, many thought it would kill the village off completely.  Actually, back in our early days when we decided on the Cairngorms rather than Glencoe for our weekends we would pass through Dalwhinnie quite a lot. Back then there was only one road and it went straight through the village. Gosh, how old are we?

Crushing

It was a military road built by General Wade back in 1731 so that the English army could have better and quicker access to the Highlands. You know what those pesky Highlanders can be like! They thought the Highlands belonged to them and, of course, that sort of thing had to be discouraged at all costs. Wade is actually the only person named in the National Anthem:

Lord grant that Marshal Wade
May by thy mighty aid Victory bring.
May he sedition hush,
And like a torrent rush,
Rebellious Scots to crush.
God save the King!

Tumbleweed

We could easily have whizzed past but today we decided to see what affect the bypass had had on the village. We fully expected tumbleweed and the odd highland cow wandering about aimlessly on the road. Not a bit of it … it was buzzing!  The hotel doesn’t exactly scream out at you, in fact we struggled to find anything indicating it was a hotel at all.  There were lots of cars though and when we went into the restaurant area it was big and very busy.Internal view of the Loch Ericht Hotel

The folks behind the self service counter were very smiley and friendly. Soon we were kitted out with some lunch and a scone to share and went off to find a table. It was surprising that so many others had taken the trouble to come off the main road to visit the village. It has a distillery, did we mention that?

Must be love

Lunch was excellent and then we turned our attention to the scone. A scone at the Loch Ericht HotelThere wasn’t any cream but it did come with some nice Scottish jam and Irish butter. Pat normally takes the top half but this time she cut it the other way so I could have a bit of the top as well. Must be love! It was all very nice but what with it being self service it was never going to make topscone grade. Very enjoyable though.View of Dalwhinnie distillerySign for Dalwhinnie distillery

Fancy stories

When we were leaving Pat suddenly announced that she wanted to buy me a bottle of whisky at the distillery … hurrah! Did we mention that there was a distillery? Only a couple of hundred yards further on and we were there. From the outside it looked deserted but when we went inside it was heaving with people, you could hardly move!

They had a weird system where you actually had to retrieve a bottle from the display cases opposite the counter then take it to the counter to pay. Very confusing! No pricing, so suffice to say that the bottle Pat selected turned out to be £65. We left empty handed. Disappointing but I had to agree with her, that’s a lot to pay. No matter what fancy stories they tell on the label … it’s still just whisky! We are heading for Speyside so plenty more whisky buying opportunities to come … fingers crossed!Internal view of the Loch Ericht Hotel

Brilliant

One of the things about being away is that you don’t get as much news. These days that’s a good thing, as Sunak and  Truss battle it out, making ever more outlandish claims. One thing is for sure … neither of them give a toss about Scotland. Truss has even said that she plans to completely ignore Scotland and its government … brilliant! The population of Dalwhinnie is around 80. That’s just slightly less than the number of people who will decide who the next Prime Minister will be … brilliant again!

PH19 1AG         01528 522331        Loch Ericht Hotel

///presides.dude.gathering

Scones, Top

Murrayshall House

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After our disastrous non-scone in our previous post from Patricia’s Coffee Bar in Glasgow we thought we should try and do something to redeem ourselves. So, what better way on a scone blog than to come to Scone itself. Welcome to Scone signNow a word of warning to those unaware of the nuances of Scottish pronunciation. When you see ‘scone’ as in ‘scone blog’ it is pronounced ‘scone,’ as in ‘gone’. However when you see ‘Scone’ as in the village of ‘Scone’, it is pronounced ‘skoon’ as in ‘soon’. Murrayshall House is on the outskirts of the village.

No mean feat!

Just to the west is the village of Old Scone where all the Kings of Scotland used to be crowned. They would sit on the Stone of Scone, a large rectangular block of sandstone carved with a Celtic cross. It is perhaps better known as the Stone of Destiny. In 1296 Edward I stole it and placed it in Westminster Abbey as a throne for English Kings … how very dare they!! However, in 1950 a group of plucky Scottish students ‘repatriated’ it back to Scotland and created a right royal rumpus in the process. It weighs 152kg so no mean feat.

A year or so later the police found it in Arbroath and replaced in Westminster Abbey. However, there are doubts regarding its authenticity. Some think a copy had  been made and deliberately left in Arbroath to be found. The real stone, of course, still being at large. If it isn’t authentic does that make any coronation created on it, null and void? Interesting!

Borrowers

The last monarch to use the real one was Elizabeth I of Scotland, sometimes known outside of Scotland as Elizabeth II. After much protest In Scotland, the UK government grudgingly agreed that the stone should be located back to where it belonged. There was a proviso, however, that they get it back for future coronations. It currently resides in Edinburgh Castle alongside the Scottish Crown Jewels. Next year it’s supposed to be moved again. This time to Perth … almost back in Scone. 

Enough about stones, what about the scones at Murrayshall House. Hopefully they would not bear any resemblance to the Stone of Scone.

The house is certainly rather grand and has views over the Perthsire countryside to match .View from Murrayshall House

27?

It was built in 1664 and was home to numerous Lords, Barons, Earls, Viscounts and other chinless wonders until the 1970s when it was turned into a hotel. The previous owners, poor dears, had to move to nearby Scone Palace. Nowadays, riffraff like us are allowed over the doorstep. The grounds at Murrayshall are lovely and extensive enough to easily accommodate a 27 hole golf course…is that not too many holes?Internal view of Murrayshall House

Our room came complete with a grand piano, though with everyone experiencing staff shortages due to Brexit, there was no one playing it. The young girl looking after us was very pleasant and soon had us sorted with a fandangled contraption bearing our afternoon tea.Afternoon tea at Murrayshall House There was plenty of sandwiches, quiches  and cakes alongside a separate plate bearing four scones. Often, in places like this you get a tea menu but not here. It was just plain ordinary tea, take it or leave it … and that’s just fine by us. Needless to say there was much more food than our tiny tummies could accommodate. We had to pace ourselves on the sandwiches in order to leave room for the scones. Scones at Murrayshall House

They were really nice and came with little pots of Scottish jam … yegh! The clotted cream, however, was made by a Dutch company in England?? There were a few downsides to this afternoon tea but we eventually decided that the scones just scraped into the topscone category. Well done Murrayshall House.

The library at Murrayshall House
the library
Rwanda and Eurovision

The Commonwealth Games have started amidst great celebration in Birmingham. We were more than a little surprised, however, to learn that Rwanda is competing. Especially since that country has never had the pleasure of being part of the great British Empire. Seems on a par with Australia competing in the Eurovision Song Contest. Maybe Rwanda will be able to take part in that too? Since the cornerstone of Commonwealth membership is human rights, Rwanda’s inclusion is even more puzzling. Could it be linked in any way to Westminster’s decision to send refugees and asylum seekers to Rwanda just to get rid of them? Perish the thought!

Never mind all that, we just feel sorry for the poor sods who, on reaching the 18th  hole here, find they still have another nine to go. And … talk about destiny, England have just won the football at the Women’s EURO 2022, so there’s something to talk about for the next fifty years. Well done England! You can have the Stone back  for Charles’s coronation but only if you ask nicely!

PH2 7PH         01738 55 11 71     Murrayshall House Hotel

///fault.pheasants.scam