Today, we had a specific destination in mind; however, what with one thing and another, we got a bit lost and ended up here at Oakwood Garden Centre. We thought we knew this part of the country quite well, but obviously not – we had never heard of this place until we stumbled across it today. Normally, we are not great fans of garden centres. Of course, if it’s plants you are after, they do have some redeeming features. Oakwood, however, besides being huge, also has an Art4you art centre and Alfie & Co coffee roaster as additional attractions.

You’ve probably guessed, of course, that our main interest was their café. They had everything you would expect in such a place, including the obligatory gift shop.

Cream?

Our modest requirements consisted of a couple of coffees and a scone to share.  They’re never going to get rich on folks like us.  It was a gorgeous day, and we could have sat outside, but for some reason, we didn’t. When we asked if they had cream, they brought a small jug of cream for our coffee. The misunderstanding was quickly corrected. Our plain scone (that’s all they had) was pleasant enough but fell considerably short of a topscone.

We took a look at an art class in action, and it looked wonderful. They have a full program of classes for watercolour, oils and pottery

What is normal?

Scotland has a reputation for being endlessly hospitable and a bit Scrooge-like when it comes to financial affairs. We don’t suffer fools gladly. However, in the name of hospitality, we are willing to suffer the visit of the big orange fool to open his new golf course in Aberdeenshire. Scotland has about 600 golf courses used by about 3% of the population. It’s not as if we are desperately in need of another one. What we do object to, however, is having to pay for 5000 extra police officers required to try and make his visit seem normal. 

G63 9PT       tel: 01360 551742           Oakwood 

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