Today we are in the pretty little hamlet of Glenkinchie just a little southeast of east of Edinburgh. About 90 people live here. It’s a little bit unusual. because unlike the surrounding towns and villages which are all built from stone, here it’s all red brick. Not sure why this should be but it certainly applies to the distillery in the heart of the village which is entirely made of red brick. It’s owned by the drinks giant Diageo who use it as the “Lowland”corner of what they call the “four corners distilleries” The other three are Clynelish (Highland) Cardhu (Speyside) and Caol Ila (Island) and they are all used in the making of the Johnnie Walker range of blended whiskies.
Battle of the distilleries
We have a love hate relationship with Diageo. About thirty years ago the company also owned our local Rosebank Distillery just a few hundred yards from our home in Falkirk. It was generally seen as the King of Lowland whiskies, however they closed it in favour of Glenkinchie … booo! It fell into a sorry state. This year, however, there were fanfares as Rosebank was opened again. Bought by Ian MacLeod Distillers who spent £millions returning it to its former glory. The town also has the added bonus of another brand new Falkirk Distillery. All is forgiven, hence we thought this rival might be worthy of a visit.
part of the visitor centre restaurant
Becoming legal
It began in 1825 by a couple of local farmers presumably trying o diversify away from farming. They ran it for about 12 years as Milton distillery before deciding to make it legal and renaming it Glenkinchie after the little river Kinchie which runs past it.
looking out on to the gardens
Scones
Distillery tours are of no particular interest. They’re all much of a muchness so we decided to leave this one out. Scones, of course are another matter and we had spotted some in their café restaurant earlier. The staff were very friendly and helpful and they so had us sorted with some fruit scones and coffee. No cream but there was plenty butter and jam served on nice crockery with unusual bronze cutlery. Everything was well presented and although it wasn’t a topscone it was very enjoyable nevertheless.
Johnnie Walker is the world’s biggest selling scotch whisky brand with 205 million litres going down the hatch every year. That’s a lot of whisky and a fair amount of that must be made here at Glenkinchie. It is marketed under different coloured labels, red, black, green, blue etc. we’re not sure what the difference is except to say that ‘blue’ is four times the price of ‘red’, a marketing triumph!
Troubled
We’re raising a glass of Glenkinchie to toast the health of all our readers in this strange and troubled world. The ICC (International Criminal Court) has issued an arrest warrant for Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu. Not before time many might say. He is now classed as a ‘fugitive’ along with Mad Vlad Putin. We live in peculiar times when the leaders of Israel and Russia are international fugitives and America’s President Elect is a convicted felon. Another dram please and make it a large one!
Weird things happen. By “weird” we mean things that just seem a bit out of place, a bit incongruous! These days that takes in a lot of things. For us, surfing is normally associated with sun bleached beautiful people on beaches like Bondi and Waikiki, not Scotland! But what do we know? Here we are at Lost Shore Surfing Centre and it’s only twenty minutes away from home on the outskirts of Edinburgh. We know the area well because the Edinburgh International Climbing Arena is in a quarry right next door but “surfing?” It just opened last week so we thought we should be nosey and check it out. Maybe catch a wave or two.
The Canteen restaurant
From the car park you have to walk down into a large sunken area which presumably was also some sort of quarry at one time. It’s incredible! A kind of assualt on the senses. Music playing, hundreds of people milling around, some with surf boards, some just lounging in deckchairs (warm enough in a wetsuit) and others in the water actually surfing.
They are surfing in what turns out to be Europe’s largest wave pool. It’s situated in a 60 acre country park with accommodation, restaurants, bar, shops and a wellness studio. The accommodation consists of anything from small pods to more than fifty three and four bedroom lodges. It’s almost a small town and seems to have just dropped out of the sky. Miraculous, it may be but it has obviously been a long time in the making. Ten years planning and construction apparently and we didn’t know anything about it.
There are two ponds each making more than thirty different types of wave. Don’t ask how they can produce more than 1000 waves per hour but they do.
Because they seemed to have thought of everything we thought there wouldn’t be a problem getting a scone in the Canteen restaurant. It houses three well known Scottish restaurants serving a variety of food.Turns out scones probably aren’t really cool enough for the surfing fraternity. They want straight forward food and aren’t too bothered about how it’s served. No scones so just to add a bit more weirdness to our day I had what they called a “morning roll” in the middle of the afternoon.
Not like a roll, it was more reminiscent of a cinnamon bun. No idea how it got its name. It was good though and came in a polystyrene box, the coffee in a paper cup. Great vibe though! We ended up chatting to a family who had driven up from Durham and were staying for a few days. Their teenage daughter was learning to surf so they thought the whole Lost Shore facility was fabulous.
Apparently Scotland has some of the best waves in the world. We should have known that because one of our favourite islands Tiree holds the annual Tiree Wave Classic one of the oldest competitions of its kind. They’ve even written books about it. We consider ourselves educated.
Even weirder
However, Scotland doesn’t have a monopoly on weird happenings. Take the recent Presidential election in America for instance. With apologies to our American readers, here’s a little quiz.
This is how the rest of the world views Trump becoming President Elect … again! It is, however, democracy in action so we will just have to suck it up as they say. However, the prospect of four years of schoolboy economics isn’t exactly thrilling. Throwing an isolationist ring around the US in an attempt to make the wealthiest people on the planet even wealthier at the expense of the poor elsewhere is more than a little bit crazy. Of course, there will be the inevitable backlash but Trump will be gone again by then. That’s assuming he hasn’t done like Xi and Putin and made himself President for Life.
Also weird was the ancient Mike Tyson’s recent fight with a YouTuber more than thirty years his junior. Whatever happened to standards?
Perhaps not so weird was the fact that we seemed to be the oldest folk here … probably by a factor of almost forty years! Just the thought of trying to get in and out of a wet suit is exhausting. No waves and no scones were caught by us today but it was great just being in this amazing place.
ps: We thought we were finished with Pat’s recent Macmillan Coffee Morning but more contributions have come in. Final total now stands at £4,810.05 … amazing!
The title picture is of Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh with the Salisbury Crags and Arthur’s Seat in the background. Obviously you want to know the age of Arthur’s Seat, everyone does, don’t they? It’s a 346 million year old extinct volcano, give or take a couple of million. Back then, fire and lava would have been spewing everywhere! But,of course, that all happened when Scotland was much closer to the equator than it is today … obviously! Another old Celtic explanation is that a huge dragon used to terrorise the city until one day it ate too much, lay down to sleep and turned into the Arthur’s Seat. Today, looking up at the craggy hill, for some reason the dragon explanation seems much more believable.
Awkward questions
The only reason we are able to furnish you with these little nuggets is because we’re here with a couple of granddaughters at the Dynamic Earth Science Centre and Planetarium. It tells the epic story of how planet earth began. The girls are always asking awkward questions so this seemed like the place to get some answers.
You know how they say that the best place to start is at the beginning. Well. here you can enter a Time Machine which takes you all the way back to the Big Bang. The visual and sound effects are amazing. At one point you have to hang on to railings as the ground violently shifts and rumbles beneath your feet and volcanoes explode all around. Luckily, rather than millions of years, it only takes about 90 minutes to walk all the interactive experiences from the Big Bang back to the present day. However, you do emerge from the Time Machine with more than a touch of information overload.
Facts and figures
Our 9 and 11 year old girls are fascinated by tectonic plates and how mountains and valleys are formed so this was ideal for them. Did you know that continents move 2cm every year? Did you know that 200,000 people are born ever day or that 2 people die every second? Well, if you didn’t, you do now!
These days, for Pat and I, information overload kicks in pretty early. What a relief then to find that there was no thinking or decisions required at the cafe. Cheese scones, take them or leave them! We took them along with a bowl of lentil soup. The girls had a kiddies goodie bag which they emptied in double quick time.. The soup/cheese scone combo was surprisingly good and much easier digested than some of the rather mind boggling facts and figures. It was never going to be a topscone but enjoyable nevertheless.
Differentiation
Our 11 year old is fascinated by Time Machines. When we suggested that she just wanted to go back to the beginning of time, we were emphatically corrected. “No. I just want to go back 70,000 years!” Okay, why just 70,000 years?. “Because that’s when human’s cognitive abilities developed so that they could differentiate themselves from other animals“. she explained in her serious voice. A slow “okaaay” was our only response. These girls are a constant source of surprise and joy.
Cognitive development
Maybe she can save the world?
However, given that we have presumably been developing our cognitive skills over 70,000 years it makes the slanging match that characterises the American Presidential elections somewhat puzzling. You’d think, after all that time, that selecting the most powerful person on earth would be a tad more sophisticated.
But we should know by now that people are fickle. Australians, for example. Recently Lidia Thorpe protested during King Charles’s visit to Australia with “You are not my King“. Charlie’s official title is “King Charles the Third, by the Grace of God King of Australia and His other Realms and Territories, Head of the Commonwealth”. The question is why do people, particularly straight thinking Australians, put up with this sort of nonsense? Even the King himself, a thoroughly decent chap, looked embarrassed being reminded of Britain’s genocidal land grabbing tendencies. Privately, we suspect he would have been on Lidia’s side.
Now they are discussing dropping the word “Empire” from the King’s honours list. Could this be yet another attempt to sanitise Britain’s history. Perish the thought!
Starting to get dark as we left Dynamic Earth
Fungi?
The only slight disappointment to our day was the Planetarium visit. We had always assumed that Planetariums only did things about planets. On this occasion it was all about fungi! Interesting enough but not what we had expected. In terms of learning, we did learn not to make assumptions! An very enjoyable day of time travel for everyone concerned.
There are questions and answers in this post. For example … is vandalism still vandalism if it takes the form of a poem. Or, could it then take on some other cultural significance such as ‘art’. What if the poem itself is seen by some to be offensive or in poor taste? Okay, okay, there may be more questions than answers in this post from Cronies bar at the Golden Lion Hotel in Stirling.
Reception at the Golden Lion
And, while we’re asking questions, do you know the collective noun for a group of cronies. We don’t either but some think it might be “The House of Lords”.
Cronies Bar
Inscriptions
The ‘vandal’ in question, of course, is Robert Burns, Scotland’s national bard. How could someone who wrote a celebration of friendship and memories with friends in “Auld Lang Syne” be a vandal? Not that difficult as it happens! 1786 turned out to be an eventful year for the ploughman poet. Earlier in the year, the Earl of Glencairn had gifted him a diamond pointed pen. The intention probably was that he might inscribe some suitable ditty on one of his drinking glasses during dinner. Burns may well have done that but later he used his present to inscribe poems on windows all over Scotland. He even inscribed a window at the Cross Keys Inn, just a few hundred yards from our home in Falkirk. On this occasion, however, he was visiting Stirling Castle and staying at the newly opened Golden Lion.
Power
The poem in question had no name but has since become known simply as “The Stirling Lines“. In it he displayed Jacobite leanings and his dislike of Hanoverian Royalty and George III in particular. Such was the furore that followed he was forced to return a few months later and smash the offending window to avoid prosecution. So to some, the Stirling Lines poem was ‘art’ but, obviously, to George III ( generally thought to be deranged) and his cronies it was just “libellous vandalism”. And they had the power to make things extremely difficult for the poet.
Burns with some of his cronies at the Golden Lion
We wonder if the hotel made Burns pay for a replacement window because it has been dining out on the poem ever since. The words are inscribed all over the place. And we are here dining out on scones in Cronies Bar as well. It’s a comfortable atmospheric space – you could almost imagine Burns and his cronies at the next table in lively discussion over the problems of the day.
The staff were very friendly and soon had us equipped with some fruit scones, nicely presented with little jars of jam and cream as well as a couple of delicious Puro coffees. Both scones were lovely and warm and mine was perfect. However, we thought the jam and cream portions were a bit on the meagre side and Pat felt that a bit of her scone was slightly undercooked. What are we like? Moan, moan, moan! No topscone but pretty close.
A large wood carving depicting the ploughman poet and his “Timorous Beastie” poem
Mad
So even back in the 18th century things could be a bit mad politically. Today we have the UK government sending £millions in Humanitarian Aid to a destroyed Gaza to alleviate the disaster they helped create. We are tempted to agree with George Bernard Shaw when he said “the older I get, the more convinced I am that this planet is being used by other planets as a lunatic asylum.” Burns would have probably have agreed!
ps In our last post from Macmillan Coffee Morning we said we would update you on the final amount raised.. It was £4,810.05 … fantastic! Many many thanks to everyone for their amazing generosity and helping make it such a happy enjoyable event.
Okay, after our post from Dumpton, this is another rather personal post. Pat has held a Macmillan Coffee Morning for the past few years in aid of Macmillan Nurses who look after people with cancer. They did a fantastic job with our son, Rory, when he was reaching the end of his life. They made things much easier for him and us.
Macmillan nurses provide free services to people living with cancer and their families. They work closely with patients to alleviate pain, manage discomfort, and boost overall well-being – both mental and physical. Yet, as a charity they are entirely dependent on public donations, hence the coffee mornings which are held all over the UK at this time of year.
Reunions
My sister arrived form the south of France to man the coffee machine
Pat’s coffee mornings have become something of an institution. For a couple of hours every year our house is buzzing with a happy throng of people who come to support her and raise money for Macmillan nurses. Many are neighbours and people from the surrounding area. Some haven’t seen each other since the last coffee morning so there is the sound of joyous reunions everywhere. Friends and family, of course, are roped into to help with arrangements.
Our daughters took us by surprise by flying up from London to lend a hand … fantastic
Our favourite coffee company, Henry’s, generously supplies a machine a lots of tea and coffee to ensure everyone is kept suitably refreshed.
My brother scanning me
Of course, with around sixty people attending there is also overspill into the garden.
Disappearing scones
For Pat it is a hectic but wonderful couple of hours. The culmination of several days of baking cakes and making sandwiches and sausage rolls. She even made scones.
I can’t say what they were like because they simply vanished. Friends also brought baking and things to sell. Suffice to say, everyone’s combined efforts online and on the day raised about £3,400 … amazing!
Pat finding a quiet corner to have some of her own baking
With the world in such turmoil it’s great to be reminded that ordinary folk are just wonderful. A huge thanks to everyone who helped and gave so generously at the coffee mornings. Donations are still coming in so we will let you know the final total in due course.
Macmillan Support Line – free 0808 808 00 00 (7 days a week, 8am — 8pm).
With all the roadworks going on outside Frieda’s tearoom it can’t be easy to keep the business going. Frieda, however, is not going to let something like that hold her back. She’s an enterprising lady and quick as a flash, she had us set up with a homemade parking permit that enabled us to leave the car at a special area alongside the tearoom.In the past we have skirted round Bournemouth but this is the first time we have been “downtown” so to speak. Frieda’s is tucked away on a side street away from the bustle of the seafront.
As we said in our previous post from Dumpton, we are currently living in Poole looking after a couple of our granddaughters while their parents are away on business. It’s an exciting area. Apparently, a few years back a strange cat-like creature was spotted by a lady in Western Avenue. That’s virtually the next street to where we are living. It was identified as a kangaroo eating Tasmanian wolf which was officially declared extinct in 1986. Obviously a lack of kangaroos must have contributed to its demise. However, we’d like some of whatever that lady was on!
It’s only a half hour walk along the beach to Bournemouth but, since we didn’t have a specific destination in mind, we decided to drive. That’s why we needed Frieda’s parking permit. The tearoom is pleasantly old fashioned with lots of knickknacks accompanied by a background of 50s and 60s music by the likes of Pat Boone and Patsy Cline
Tea bags
There was a fabulous array of large gateaus all made by Frieda herself. She explained that a “cream tea” came with two scones and either tea or coffee. Ideal, so that was our order plus one extra tea. As you might expect the china ware was “chintsy” and, of course, the tea came with a tea strainer. No fandangled teabags here! In contrast, however, the scones, were nicely presented on a modern square plate with matching dishes for the jam and cream. The scones, dusted with icing sugar, had plenty of fruit and were delicious. An easy topscone!
Double decker afternoon teas
COVID claims another victim
Several certificates on the wall were awards from Bournemouth Council for Frieda’s Tea Bus. She told us she used to have a double decker bus which she drove around the town serving afternoon teas. Told you she was enterprising. However, although very succesful, COVID killed the whole thing off. After a couple of years sitting doing nothing the bus refused to start and that was the end of it.
Teapot planter
Shining example
Anyway after we had finished our scone we were tempted by the gateaus and got a slice of Victoria sponge which was fabulous. Turns out that Frieda and her family moved here from Iran more than twenty years ago. The Iranians are famous for having a sweet tooth so maybe that’s why she decided to set up a tearoom. We can only speculate on the reasons for the move but modern day Iran must be a difficult place to live if you were used to the freedoms of the previous regime. The UK government currently sees immigration as a massive problem but thankfully the new government has abandoned the ridiculous and costly Rwanda scheme. We suspect immigration is more of a convenient distraction from other problems they’d rather not talk about. In our opinion, Frieda is a shining example of the benefits of immmigration, more power to her elbow.
This is a slightly unusual post but bear with us, we think it’s a nice story. It’s from Dumpton school, deep in the Dorset countryside where two of our granddaughters are being educated. They will be there until they are thirteen. This week, however, they have been left parentless because their parents are away on business, one in San Francisco and the other in New York. Or, at least, that’s what we’ve been told. We suspect they’re lying on a beach somewhere on an all-inclusive! That’s why we are down here in Poole on England’s south coast.
A 4-0 win for Dumpton over Port Regis school. Ebba (second from the left) scoring twice.
Teas for parents
Anyway, our week seems to be getting spent travelling around to various sports venues to watch the girls play hockey and football. They are good!
Screenshot
After a match parents are invited for tea and cake in one of the sports halls. Dumpton has fantastic sports facilities and seems to have everything else as well to give kids a well rouded education. They don’t hang about with the cakes. An amazing array of baking had us tucking in to all sorts of brownies, shortbread (branded) and a variety of sponges. No scones but imagine our surprise when Lola turned up with a dish full of ones she had made while we were watching her sister’s hockey match.
This was a complete surprise. Not only were they presented on a plate she had made herself but amazingly she had even put some raspberry jam and clotted cream into little pots to go with the scones. This girl will go places! Don’t think this would have happened at any of the schools that we went to. However, there was nothing for it but to take them home since there was no way we could eat any more sweet things.
We did, however, have them later. Understandably, readers might think that an element of bias might creep into judging these scones. As it turned out, there was no need. Truthfully, they were absolutely delicious. Jam and cream perfect as well. Topscones, however, because readers can’t access them they have to remain “uncategorised”. But well done Lola, a fantastic surprise!
Lifeguarding practice
They live just a five minute walk from Poole’s Branksome Chine beach. Lifegaurd training means they are in the sea almost every day … though not this week while we are looking after them … there’s a limit!
Apparently this is an “aerial”
Gymnastic energy is never in short supply and Ebba has developed a unique way of getting onto the beach. She’s been trying to teach me but there’s another limit!
Shocks
Getting up in the dark to take them to school has been a bit of a shock to the system and standing watching hockey in monsoon like conditions is becoming quite normal now. The girls have been fantastic. We will almost be sorry to see their parents return … almost!
If you have ambitions to live in London we would heartily recommend Barnes village on the banks of the Thames. We are visiting family here. With its delis, bookshops, small boutiques and fine restaurants it doesn’t feel as if it’s only a couple of miles away from the Houses of Parliament. It just has that pretty little village vibe. Of course, that’s until you look in the estate agent’s window and realise that unless you’re willing to part with a couple of million pounds you’re not going to get much by way of a house. Gail’s Artisan Bakery is a typical up market café for the area.
Working from home?
Incredibly, the last time we reviewed Gail’s was more than nine years ago. It hasn’t changed that much but we felt it had a slightly different less welcoming feel about it this time. Still the same range of delicious looking breads and other bakery and still the same assortment of baby buggies cluttering up the place. Of course, there were also lots of people “working from home“. It must be frustrating for cafés like this to have all these laptop folk sitting for hours with a single cup of coffee.
Not that we were much better. It wasn’t long after breakfast so two americanos and a fruit scone to share was the order. When it arrived at our table we were slightly perplexed to find that the scone was on its own. No butter, no jam and no cream. Did they expect us to eat the scone ‘neat’? Pat had to go and ask and came back with nice little pots of butter and jam … no cream. Maybe with this being an ‘artisan’ bakery our hopes were unreasonably high but suffice to say our scone certainly did not live up to expectations. It was decidedly average and neither of us even finished our halves.
It wasn’t until we were leaving we noticed that they had other offerings. Sour Cherry & Chocolate as well as Maple & Pecan scones. We should have tried them!
This is a Range Rover/Porsche kind of area where lots of celebrities live. We came across this notice which seems to indicate that it may always have been relatively affluent. Quite a generous reward for this sort of misdemeanour. Not sure what would have happened to the felon if caught. Probably hanging or even worse … transportation to Australia. That last bit is just for our Australian readers.
A tiny ray of hope
One of our Israeli readers has informed us that people are leaving the country rather than stay and watch the stupidity of the atrocities being carried out in their name. Presumably they’ve worked out how utterly pointless it all is.
Talking of felonious actions, at home we have the Conservatives outraged at members of the new government receiving gifts of clothing. Pot, kettle, black comes to mind! On the other side of the pond Trump has gone ever more extreme with his accusations. It’s a mad old world.
As department stores go John Lewis is just a little bit different. It began back in 1864 with a small drapery shop in London’s Oxford Street and has prospered ever since. Okay, but what makes it different? Its full name is the John Lewis Partnership because all of its 74,000 staff are partners in the company and share in its success. Part of their mission statement states “Driven by our ambition to make the world a happier place by leading with kindness and delivering integrity“. The cynic might say “Well they would say that, wouldn’t they“
Well we were a bit cynical as well but then we experienced it first hand. We’ve given up looking for hydrangeas and now we are on the hunt for an armchair. John Lewis has a huge furniture department hence we’re here at their Glasgow store.
A slip of paper
However, In spite of an amazing range we couldn’t quite find what we were looking for. One of the staff tried very hard to help us but eventually he apologised and gave up. Asking if there was anything else he could help us with, we asked “the war in Ukraine?” He just smiled and took himself off. A bit later on, however, he caught up with us again and handed us a slip of paper. He felt bad that we hadn’t found a chair so this little piece of paper entitled us to free coffee and cakes in their cafe. How kind was that? For us, the world was indeed a happier place.
Baristas?
Suffice to say, this little piece of paper forced us to find their cafe and eat scones and drink coffee. Otherwise it would never have crossed our minds … honest! Previously we have reported on The Cafe by Benugo which is an independently run restaurant on the third floor. This time we were in their own self service cafe ‘The Place To Eat‘ on the first floor. Like the store the cafe is huge. There was a bit of a log jam around all three coffee serveries (it takes a long time to make a coffee these days) but eventually we had what we wanted and were able to find a table by a window.
View from our table up Sauchiehall Street on a rainy day
They have a large sign saying “Please leave everything on your table, we will clear it up“. And they did! There must have been about sixty or seventy tables but as soon as anyone left, the table was cleared and cleaned. It was diffucult to choose between looking out the window at everything going on outside or just watch all the comings and goings in the cafe. Dilemas, dilemas! It was all really good. Nice little pots of clotted cream and jam and the scone iteself was wonderfully textured with just the right amount of crunch. A topscone had it not been for the self-service nature of the place.
A happy place?
We were impressed, this place does do it’s best to make the world a happier place. Of course, there’s only so much they can do. Our young chap didn’t have any answers for Ukraine but then, no-one else does either. It’s impossible to see how either side can win. And now, with long range missiles in the mix, it seems to be in danger of escalating in to goodness knows what. In the Middle East, with the might of the US behind them, Israel cannot help but win the war … but they will never know peace. No winners, only unhappy losers. With their expertise in kindness and making things ‘happy’ perhaps a John Lewis management team could provide a few pointers?
In our previous post from Simply Sarah’s in Doune we mentioned that the village was famous for making pistols. The sort of weapon used by gentlemen who felt their reputation had been besmirched. Besmirching was usually done by gentlemen to one another and dueling was seen as an honourable way of resolving such situations. Common people couldn’t duel; a) they couldn’t afford a decent pistol and b) it would be unseemly for a gentleman to be shot dead by someone of lower social standing … perish the thought!
Quick draw
Today we are at the Glen Café in the little hamlet of Clachan of Campsie. Just a few yards from the cafe stand two ancient Spanish chestnuts, “the duelling trees”. They mark the site of a duel between a Tory and a Liberal politician in the 1600s. The Liberal chap, Malcolm Kincaid, lost the duel … and his life. The victor may have retired here (it used to be an Inn) for refreshment and to enjoy the congratulations of his admirers. When you think of the endless inconsequential arguments between politicians these days, dueling seems to take on some merit. Can you imagine the quick draw contests between our current world leaders? The problem is that self evidently all that duelling in the past didn’t actually solve anything. They’re all still arguing.
Do we need a dog?
This morning the weatherman said “go west if you want sunshine” so we did. Falkirk was decidedly cloudy when we left but by the time we got here we were bathed in glorious sunshine. Well done that weatherman! The café is quite big and virtually joined on to the historic St Machan’s graveyard. It’s a favourite place for people to access the paths onto the Campsie Fells and perhaps unsurprisingly is very dog friendly. In fact there were so many, at first we thought it might be a prerequisite to have a dog but luckily, it wasn’t.
It was still early so we decided on a light breakfast followed by a scone to share. Our coffees arrived first and we were delighted to find that they used our favourite coffee … Henry’s, fantastic! This is the way to start the day! Helpfully the staff had said that they would hold our scone until we had finished our breakfast. Then, when we were ready, they asked if we would like the scone warmed. Why not? No cream but they came with plenty butter and jam. Unfortunately none of it was locally produced, not even from Scotland. A bit of a black mark there. On the plus side the scone itself were really nice.
Who was St Machan?
We really enjoyed this place with its friendly service and beautiful location. We decided to visit St Machan’s graveyard next door and asked one the ladies behind the counter who he was. “Who?” was the puzzled answer. We would have to find out for ourselves.
St Machan’s graveyard with the remains of the chapel to the left and the Lennox Mausoleaum in the distant right
Turns out not much is known about him. Firstly he was a Scottish 6th century bishop, educated in Ireland, ordained in Rome and spent the rest of his life as a missionary here in Campsie Glen. Secondly, how did he do all that back then without Easyjet or Ryanair? The chapel in the graveyard was built over his grave.
Luxury mausoleums
The Lennox mausoleum was built in 1715 by the powerful family who lived at nearby Lennox Castle.
The Lennox mausoleum
In 1819 Miss Lennox had it restored and added another storey with a fireplace. She used it as a “sitting room” to receive guests between services. She, in turn, was buried here in 1832 and in 1884 it was sealed up permanently using ancient Kincaid tombstones from the graveyard. And we thought one of them might have belonged to our old duelling loser, Malcolm, but apparently not. It is fascinating to read the inscriptions on some of these graves. They shed light on what life was like centuries ago. However, some were unashamedly looking for an easy passage into heaven. Quite blatantly bragging about how saintly they had been during their time in Campsie Glen.
Other mysteries
Sadly, besmirching seems be a thing of the past. Perhaps there aren’t enough honourable gentlemen around these days? Vulgar insults and “see you in court” seems to have replaced it.
This was a beautiful day. We returned home via the Carron Valley, which supplies all the water to Falkirk. Seldom do we think, when turning on the tap or taking a bath, that this is where it all comes from. How does that work? It’s almost as mysterious as St Machan’s travels all those centuries ago.
Today we are in the pretty little hamlet of Glenkinchie just a little southeast of east of Edinburgh. About 90 people live here. It’s a little bit unusual. because unlike the surrounding towns and villages which are all built from stone, here it’s all red brick. Not sure why this should be but it certainly applies to the distillery in the heart of the village which is entirely made of red brick. It’s owned by the drinks giant Diageo who use it as the “Lowland”corner of what they call the “four corners distilleries” The other three are Clynelish (Highland) Cardhu (Speyside) and Caol Ila (Island) and they are all used in the making of the Johnnie Walker range of blended whiskies.
Scones, of course are another matter and we had spotted some in their café restaurant earlier. The staff were very friendly and helpful and they so had us sorted with some fruit scones and coffee. No cream but there was plenty butter and jam served on nice crockery with unusual bronze cutlery. Everything was well presented and although it wasn’t a topscone it was very enjoyable nevertheless. 
Scones, of course are another matter and we had spotted some in their café restaurant earlier. The staff were very friendly and helpful and they so had us sorted with some fruit scones and coffee. No cream but there was plenty butter and jam served on nice crockery with unusual bronze cutlery. Everything was well presented and although it wasn’t a topscone it was very enjoyable nevertheless. 
The ICC (International Criminal Court) has issued an arrest warrant for Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu. Not before time many might say. He is now classed as a ‘fugitive’ along with Mad Vlad Putin. We live in peculiar times when the leaders of Israel and Russia are international fugitives and America’s President Elect is a convicted felon. Another dram please and make it a large one!
The ICC (International Criminal Court) has issued an arrest warrant for Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu. Not before time many might say. He is now classed as a ‘fugitive’ along with Mad Vlad Putin. We live in peculiar times when the leaders of Israel and Russia are international fugitives and America’s President Elect is a convicted felon. Another dram please and make it a large one!
