Tag Archives: Fort George

Sconeless in the North

First, a word of warning, especially for the faint-hearted. This post covers three different venues many miles apart but does not feature any scones. Yes, not a single scone was harmed in the making of this post. Not that we regard ourselves as ever doing any harm to scones, we simply help them fulfil their glorious destiny. Hence the title – Sconeless in the North. Let us explain how we managed to get through an entire day without our delicious little friends.

Highland Folk Museum

We are still with our coach party and staying in Newtonmore just north of Aviemore. While there we visited the Highland Folk Museum. It’s a fabulous place where they try and recreate what life was like in the Highlands a century or so ago. It’s been done by rescuing old buildings and transporting them to this site where they get a new lease of life.

Knockbain school at the Folk Museum, Newtonmore
Knockbain school originally a few miles west of Inverness

It’s spread over a very large area and after a while I wasn’t feeling my best and the weather wasn’t the best either so I excused myself and thought I would just wait for Pat and the others in the cafe. I wasn’t actually thinking about a scone because, obviously, I can’t review them without my beloved. It did, however, give rise to a rather traumatic scone experience. It’s a slightly long winded explanation but bear with me.

Write it down

There was a relatively short queue at the cafe but it was moving very slowly. The reason became obvious when it eventually came to my turn. Only a young lad and a lass were looking after everything. They, pretty obviously, were not happy, He was front of house and she sCafe at the Folk Museum, Newtonmoreeemed occupied with something at the back. I said “ a black americano and a scone, please“. it would have taken all of thirty seconds to pour me a cup of coffee and hand me one of the scones that were right in front of me, but no.

I was still there a couple of minutes later as the exact details of my request were written down longhand on a fresh pad of paper. “Did I want milk?” No, no need in a black americano … he wrote it down nevertheless, “did I want sugar … did I want butter? and so it went on.

Takeaway

Eventually it came time to pay. At this point he said “it’s takeaway only now, we’re closing“. Nothing of this had been mentioned to the previous customer so I asked when they closed. “3.45” was the answer. “but It’s only 3 o’clock“, I said, to which the answer was “we’re short staffed.” I was flabbergasted, the prospect of carrying my coffee and scone outside to the wind and rain didn’t appeal so I left empty handed. In hindsight, I could have explained that I was on an educational mission for people all over the world but I don’t think it would have made the slightest difference.

Arderseir village hall

After a while outside enduring the worst of the effects of the fresh air I thought I would return to the cafe for shelter until Pat and the others returned. To my great surprise  almost every table was taken. Okay, everyone had takeaway cups but what was going on? When I asked the young chap he said “They are supposed to go outside but nobody listens they just take their stuff and sit at a table“. With that, the girl from the back appeared and said “We’re doing our best but nobody listens to us” and promptly burst into tears. Goodness, I have really no idea what was going on here but it was pretty obvious that these kids needed a lot of help, training and better systems. Maybe even counselling? So that was non-scone number one. 

Fort George

External view of Fort GeorgeWe soldiered on. Fort George was another impressive stop on our outing. It sits on a promontory jutting out into the Moray Firth and the scale of the place is phenomenal. The British government must have been feeling very insecure just after the Battle of Culloden in 1746. Goodness knows how many millions were spent building this place over a twenty year period. Continuing unrest in Scotland over the 1707 Act of Union and the ever present perceived threat from France were responsible. Ironically, by the time it was completed much of the threat had dissipated.External view of Fort George

There were actually soldiers with submachine guns at the patrolling the place, so someone had clearly tipped them off that we were coming. If you look at the title picture you can see a white sentry box on the right under a red flag. A submachine gunned sentry still has to stand in that all day. The only thing he is liable to see is dolphins and we’re not aware that they are an actual threat.

Canons at Fort George
Some of the Falkirk made canons on the ramparts

Pat and I decided to walk the whole of the perimeter ramparts. It takes quite a while and then, if we had time, visit the cafe.

The Chapel at Fort George
The Chapel

Eventually we also visited the chapel, chatted to some American tourists and ended up pushed for time at the cafe. No matter, it was sconeless anyway. Non-scone number two. 

Lovely ladies

MacKies's of Alloa busAfter Fort George it was back on the bus and only a very short hop to the village hall in Ardersier where lunch was waiting.  Ardersier is where the villagers of Blacktown were resettled after their village had to be removed in order to build Fort George. Some lovely local ladies provided a great lunch but still no scones. Non-scone number three.

A special place in scone history

After that we were finished with the north and headed back south to Dunkeld where we were due to visit the local Museum. It was late in the day when we got there and unfortunately we had to walk from where the bus was parked to the Museum past Palmerstons Coffee Shop  …argh! This was the venue of our very first scone post on this blog back in March 2015. We  couldn’t just pass it by?Externalview of Palmerstons Cafe, Dunkeld

You will all remember distinctly that in that post all these years ago we explained that this place was winner in that year’s World Jam Championships. Apparently the lady who was running it then doesn’t take too much to do with the Coffee Shop any more … she’s next door … in the Jam Shop! So here was non-scone number four. We were too late, all the scones had gone. Time for home.

Bus trips are like some sort of alternative reality. You are cocooned with a particular group of people all pursuing the same sort of thing. You are isolated from the actual reality of a world gone completely mad. Hopefully it will all have sorted itself out by the time we get back. 

Our fellow bus passengersWe survived this traumatic day mainly due to this lot … the singing was dreadful 😁. Many thanks to Falkirk Local History Society for organising a very memorable trip.

ps: for telephone box aficionados, this was taken in Fort George.

K6 telephone boxes at Fort George
Two K6s on the left were made in the Saracen foundry in Glasgow. The post box and other K6 were made in Falkirk.

pps: I have written to Highland Council over my concerns for the kids in the cafe at the Folk Museum. Will let you know if I ever hear anything back from them.

 

Café des Fleurs

Well, well, well! In the miniscule amount of time since our previous post at Mill House, Monzie we have chucked one Prime Minister on the scrap heap and replaced her with another … wow, such efficiency! It has to be said that the UK has a brilliant system whereby a mere handful of over-privileged, geriatric, tax dodging idiots are allowed to appoint the leader of the country. It’s amazing really but not unique … Russia and China have similar arrangements. Anyway the Trump clone that is Boris Johnston has so far refused to meet anyone in the EU … gosh, isn’t he a tough cookie? However, on Monday he did meet with Nicola Sturgeon at Bute House in Edinburgh. You shouldn’t read too much into the fact that he had to leave by the back door … no, you shouldn’t, really you shouldn’t!

Internal view of Café des Fleurs in Dollar

Day trip

Anyway, gripped as we were by Boris’s promise of a gazillion £s for Falkirk, today, to temper our excitement, we decided to get out of town and go for a drive along the Hillfoots. Turned out that our target scone cafe was  closed so we had to carry on into the pretty little town of Dollar. It’s the sort of town that probably harbours some of the idiots who voted for our new leader. Though to be fair, these idiots were being asked to choose between two other idiots … tricky! But never mind all that, here we found the delightful Café des Fleurs,  They only had a couple of outside tables, all taken, however it was no hardship and a bit cooler to sit inside.

Cream disasters

They advertise their scones as being ‘famous’ so obviously we had to determine whether this claim was justified or not. They had plain, fruit or blueberry and white chocolate scones. A scone at Café des Fleurs in DollarPat had fruit and, of course, I had to try the blueberry and white chocolate. Service was very friendly and efficient so it wasn’t long before we were all kitted out. Sacre bleu, mon dieu, it’s Rodda’s Cornish Cream again. I know we go on about it but why oh why do they do that when much better stuff is available locally? All in all we enjoyed Café des Fleurs. Pat thought her scone wasn’t quite top but mine, apart from the cream was excellent … topweirdscone. As for them being ‘famous’, well I guess they are a bit more now.

Queenie and Bojo

The cafe was nicely decorated with a kind of shabby-chic look. One of the pictures was a bit puzzling though. “Queenie says: coffee – the favourA picture at Café des Fleurs in Dollarite drink of the civilised” followed by “Give us a kiss”. We could argue that it’s tea that’s the favourite of the civilised however maybe that would be splitting hairs. If Queenie wants a kiss, however, she is going to have to wait a while … a long while! Bojo on the other hand would gladly give her a kiss, so desperate is he to please anyone he meets. You do wonder if the UK would ever have found itself in this ludicrous situation over Brexit and now with an equally ludicrous PM if we had had an opposition party worthy of the name. One can only wonder!External view of Café des Fleurs in Dollar

FK14 7DE              tel: 01259 743699        Cafe des Fleurs

///named.serious.shakes

ps Our intrepid Trossachs correspondents have just sent us photos of some telephone boxes up north. The first picture is of a fine array of K6s at Fort George, just east of Inverness. Bojo may be promising lots of money for Falkirk however it looks like Fort George will have more K6s than our home town. Falkirk is undergoing a programme of K6 removals, even though many were actually made there. First M&S deserted the town now our telephone boxes are going as well. What next? On the upside, if the money promised to the town ever appears, we will doubtless have Kelpies and Wheels all over the place.Three K6s at Fort George

The second K6 is from the Saracen foundry in Glasgow. It was at the Highland Folk Museum in Newtonmore. It even had the old mechanism with the A and B buttons. More than that it had a long set on instructions on how to make a telephone call. Also an advert for a brand new way to send greetings oversees … the new ‘De Luxe’ Telegram Service…. nostalgia!

Saracen foundry K6 at the Highland Folk Museum in Newtonmore

Many thanks once again to our correspondents.