Monthly Archives: March 2019

island, Scones, Top

Artizan Café

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Doubtless you will all heave a huge sigh of relief when we say that our trip to the Outer Isles has finally come to an end. To get back home, however, we had to drive back through the hills of Harris and across the moors of Lewis to get to Stornoway. There we could catch a ferry to Ullapool on the the Scottish mainland.

View of Stornoway harbour
Stornoway harbour

We aimed to leave a little time, however, so that we could see if there was more to Stornoway than black pudding. As you are all very well aware this town is the home of this delicacy. That mixture of beefsuet, oatmeal, blood, onion, salt and pepper that’s become a favourite of fine dining establishments throughout the world. It’s good for you because it’s high in protein, zinc and iron. A Stornoway black puddingNow, it’s very future is endangered by Brexit. You probably have not been aware of Westminster debating the future of black pudding … because it hasn’t. Stornoway Black Pudding is a PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) under the EU Protected Food Name Scheme. Once we leave the EU that protection has gone. Any old Tom, Dick or Harry in Manchester, or wherever, will be able to produce inferior black pudding and call it ‘Stornoway’. If ever there was a reason for cancelling Brexit, this is it.

We went to Macleod & Macleod’s shop to view the genuine articles in their native surroundings, We didn’t buy. Pat’s not a fan so I would have had to eat all 1.5 kg myself. Too much even for me. Across the street from Macleod & Macleod is Artizan, a rather nice café combined with art gallery and jewellery shop.

Technological scone location

At this point perhaps we should explain an addition to the info at the end of each post. Traditionally we have provided post code, phone number and web address. However, our correspondent, the Pedant, has complained that this only gives a vague idea of scone location … a matter of concern to him … him being a pedant and all that. An app called What3Words provides much more accurate information and will locate a scone, or at least the table it was on with a unique combination of three words. The three at the end of this post ‘calculating.sweetened.blossom’ will not only take you to the Artizan café but to the table we were sitting at in the café … provided you have the app, of course. No other table on earth has these same three words. Either a wonder of modern technology or a complete waste of time … it’s up to you. It is remarkable though and it’s free so give it a whirl if you want to know exactly where our scones are.

A scone at Artisan in StornowayAnyway Artizan was one of these places which just gives off a good vibe as soon as you go in. Everything about it feels good. When our scone came it was complete with butter, jam and clotted cream. It was delicious. Just the right amount of crunchiness combined with an excellent fluffy soft centre. No problem awarding a topscone here. At last our long run of ordinary scones had been broken. The lovely lady who actually baked them chatted to us while she cleared our table. She was great as well!

All good things ..

It saves a lot of time and money.Now How Kamagra 100mg Works: Kamagra cialis overnight shipping basically gets the obstructed blood flowing through the veins to the male reproductive System, also referred to as “impotence” or “erectile dysfunction”, Sexual Impotency or Erectile Dysfunction which could have resulted due to Pelvic/Perineal injuries, Hypertension, Diabetes Mellitus and Prostrate/Urethra injuries etc. tadalafil uk Keep away from reach of children. Its leading brands are Forever New, Classic Polo, Inkfruit, Lee, Nike, Probase, Puma, Adidas, Reebok, Ed Hardy, cialis 20 mg Decathlon, Lotto, Ediots, Tantra, Guerilla and Mr. This effervescent formula is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream to suppress cialis 20mg price the function of an enzyme in the body known as PDE-5. And so we have come to the end of our trip. It has been great. A bit windy perhaps but we didn’t get rained on once. We have been able to provide our readers with a much more accurate scone locating system and discovered the home of black pudding, best reason, if ever there was one, for cancelling Brexit all together. As Theresa May contemplates dragging her battered and bruised ‘Deal’ back to the Commons for an unbelievable 4th time, someone really needs to take her aside and speak to her about black pudding.

View of Stornoway harbour
sad farewell to Stornoway and the Outer Hebrides

HS1 2DH             tel: 01851 706538        Artizan

W3W – calculating sweetened blossom

Red pepper, spring onion and rosemary sconesps: the Pedant has also sent this picture of red pepper, spring onion and rosemary scones. He came across them on a baking website. He felt that this was a step too far. What do you think? Strawberry or blackcurrant jam? Cream?

pps: If you have downloaded the W3W app and look at ‘rake.tacky.fronds’ that’s where we are on a ferry in the middle of the Minch … see, no post codes out here! When we reach ‘reap.scored.twitchy’ we’ll be home!

island, Scones

Isle of Harris Distillery

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You all know by now that scones are our main objective where ever we go. However, sometimes it’s not as easy as you might imagine. Distractions abound e.g. sheds, eagles … distilleries! If we can’t find one to live in we feel somewhat obliged to visit them … it’s the decent thing to do. A bottle of Isle of Harris ginMaybe it’s just a Scottish thing, who knows? Anyway this long winded preamble is simply trying to let you know that we are in another distillery – the Isle of Harris Distillery. Like Raasay this is another new kid on the block. It hasn’t actually produced any whisky yet but in the meantime it’s producing lots of gin.

The old established distilleries don’t bother with gin and probably look down their noses at those that do. However for these new ones cash flow is of paramount importance and ten years is a long time to wait for a return on your investment. Gin, on the other hand, you can make in a couple of days.

Sugar Kelp

Because of this there are dedicated gin distilleries popping up all over Scotland … about 70 at the last count and they join 125 whisky distilleries. We also hadn’t realised until recently that the big well known gins like Gordons, Hendricks and Tanquery are all produced in Scotland as well. That’s a lot of gin! They all claim to use their own unique blend of botanicals to flavour their products. On Harris they use locally harvested sugar kelp … whatever? As long as they keep it well away from the whisky!Internal view of Isle of Harris Distillery in Tarbert

 

 

Mairi Mackenzie

Being only a few years old the distillery is very modern and has a large rather swanky visitor centre … and a café. We arrived back from our trip to the Butt of Lewis just as it was about to close. Enough time for a scone however. A scone at Isle of Harris Distillery in TarbertMairi Mackenzie does all their home-baking and it all looked delicious. As always a scone was what we had in our sights. It came accompanied with cream and jam. We have been desperate to find a topscone on this trip and so far it has eluded us. Unfortunately Mairi’s scone didn’t change the situation. We thoroughly enjoyed it as we did everything about this place but it came up just short of the mark … pity.

Internal view of Isle of Harris Distillery in TarbertThey call the Isle of Harris Distillery the ‘social distillery’ because it aims to become the centre of the community. It certainly provides much needed employment in this part of the world. Island economies are always fragile so anything that increases stability is always welcome. More power to their elbow! Their first whisky is to be called ‘Hearach’ which is what people from Harris are called in gaelic … can’t wait!Map of the Isle of Harris

Social places

Can’t wait for the fiasco masquerading as politics under the Westminster banner to sort itself out. Today, as Theresa May gives the Speaker a body swerve and tries for a third time to get her Brexit deal through the Commons, here, on the very edge of the EU, you feel pretty insulated from all that stuff. You feel, no matter what happens, the folks on these isolated islands where everyone knows everyone else will look after each other, come what may. It would be great if we could all have that sort of social community spirit. We are coming to the end of our time on Harris … sad!

HS3 3DJ              tel: 01859 502212             Harris Distillery

Ordinary, Scones

Callanish Stones

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Apologies for the plethora of scones winging your way of late. It’s what happens when we are in virgin territory. A new scone opportunity at every turn. Bear with us, normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.

Today we are venturing further afield onto the Isle of Lewis … another first for us. There is always something exciting about being somewhere for the first time, especially when it’s in your own country. Having spent much of our lives exploring Scotland, sometimes we feel we have barely scratched the surface.

Attractions

To get to Lewis you have to drive through some spectacular scenery on North Harris. Lots of big hills and some  massive white tailed eagles. Pat’s a happy bunny. Once beyond the hills, however, you emerge into a great flatness which is characteristic of Lewis. Vast vistas of open moorland and lochs with sprinklings of houses. We passed Uig Bay where the 12th century Lewis chessmen were dug up on the beach in 1831. Just why these artifacts are displayed in London and Edinburgh is beyond us. Both cities need additional attractions like a hole in the head but the Chessmen would be a fantastic draw, here where they were actually discovered.The Callanish Stones on the Isle of Lewis

Attempts at time travel

Anyway, before long we arrived here at the world famous Callanish Stones. We think these would be displayed in London as well if they weren’t so damned awkward to transport. There are stone circles all over the place in this locality but Callanish is the biggest and best known. Dating from around 5000BC and sometimes known as the “Stonehenge of the North”  they predate Stonehenge by 2000years. Pat tried to imitate Outlander’s Claire Fraser by gently leaning against the largest stone …  she’s still here.

External view of the visitor centre at teh Callanish Stones on the Isle of Lewis
Callanish Visitor Centre

The stones used to be much smaller, or rather their true height wasn’t discovered until 1857 when 1.5 metres of peat was cleared away. Some think that they formed a lunar observatory but we prefer the story about them being petrified giants who refused to convert to Christianity. Another story is that, on midsummer morning, when the cuckoo calls, the “Shining One” walks the length of the avenue leading to the circle. Petrified giants and Shining Ones … the temptation to find analogies with modern day politics is almost overwhelming. However we will leave that to your own imaginations. Pat didn’t see any cuckoos!

The quest continues

Internal view of the visitor centre at teh Callanish Stones on the Isle of LewisThankfully they have a Visitor Centre to provide scones and shelter from the wind. The Centre tells the story of the stones even though no one actually knows anything about them. It is all just guess work. Arrgghh, the temptation to find analogies with Brexit!The cafe is nicely set up and must be a huge boon for the localA scone at the visitor centre at the Callanish Stones on the Isle of Lewiss of Callanish and the surrounding area. There was no cream however our scones were very good indeed. In the end, however, we decided they were not quite topscones. Our quest for a Hebridean topscone continues.

Ridiculous strictures

When we left Callanish we continued on to Port of Ness, the most northerly point on Lewis. End of the road at Port of Ness on the Isle of LewisWe knew we had reached the end of the road when we came on this sign. This is strict Free Church of Scotland territory … nothing but nothing happens here on a Sunday. We met a chap on Harris who told us that if you hang out a washing on the Sabbath you get a visit from men in black hats and black suits who will order you to take the washing in. They are members of the Lord’s Day Observance Society. He added, with a telling glint in his eye “I can’t wait for them to come to my door”. We wondered how much more advanced this whole island would be without these ridiculous strictures.

A fantastic part of the world and one that won’t be greatly affected by the shenanigans at Westminster. Theresa’s attempt to take on the Shining One’s mantle by promising the petrified that she will take herself off to a field of wheat somewhere if they let her have her way on Brexit, won’t cause a stir up here. As long as she doesn’t do it on a Sunday. All this because as she says “that is what the country wants!” No, it isn’t Theresa but don’t let that stop you going.

HS2 9DY       tel: 01851 621422          Callanish

ps: we also came across this K6 in Port of Ness which must rank as the most north westerly in the UK. A K6 telephone box at Port of Ness on the Isle of LewisIt wasn’t operational … someone might use it on a Sunday for goodness sake. It was however made in Falkirk.

island, Ordinary, Scones

Harris Hotel

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We landed safely at Tarbert on the Isle of Harris after a relatively uneventful voyage. Many years ago I did a similar crossing from Lochmaddy to Uig and was incredibly sea sick. Thankfully all the ships nowadays are fitted with stabilisers making for much smoother crossings. This was to be our first visit to this part of the Outer Hebrides so we were like excited children.

One of many beaches on the Isle of Harris
One of many beaches

Our first day was spent driving round South Harris to places like Rodel and Leverburgh. If Pat was hoping that we had left hair raising roads behind on Raasay she was to be disappointed. Nearly all the roads here are single track and they wind up and down and round about in dizzying fashion. However, if like us you are in no rush it can make for very pleasant driving. You just pull in and let any traffic past. We hardly had any traffic though in the warmer months it might be a different story. By way of compensation for Pat there were golden eagles everywhere. “It’s just a golden eagle” was often the reposte to my “what’s that?”

External view of the Mission House Studio, Finsbay, Isle of HarrisThere are lots of galleries and craft places here and some were actually open. This one, the Mission House Studio at Finsbay was fabulous. It’s run by Beka (fine art photographer) and Nickolai Globe (ceramic artist). Their stuff was so good we actually parted with some cash! Yes, that good!!

Ruling classes

When we got back to Tarbert where we were staying, the Harris Hotel was just a couple of hunderd yards down the road. Would they have scones? It’s a very pleasant place built in 1865 by the Earl of Dunmore. We thought it was interesting to look at past owners. Obviously there was the original Earl followed by Sir Edward Scott, followed by Lord Leverhulme, followed by Sir Tom Sopworth and then Lord Brockett. Do you notice a theme running through these names? All from the tax avoiding ruling classes. Placards from the London Revoke Article 50 marchWe are grateful to our Ballachulish correspondent who sent us pictures of some creative placards from the recent anti-Brexit march in London.  One million people attended. They certainly sum up how we feel and emphasis the point that toffs really are terribly terribly unsuited to government … golly gosh, yes!

Today the headlines read “MPs seize control!” which makes us think “the lunatics have taken over the asylum!“. Every time we think it can’t get any worse, it does. Let’s hope those one million marchers have some effect.

Doubts creep in

Nowadays they are not at all fussy who they let into the hotel … our presence being proof of exactly that. Warmly welcomed, we were still recovering from the worst of the effects of the fresh air when a couple of warm scones were placA scone at the Harris Hotel on the Isle of Harrised in front of us. Just sitting there looking out over the gardens was pleasant enough in itself and our lovely scones did nothing to detract from the cosy illusion that all was well with the world. Not topscones but we thoroughly enjoyed them nevertheless. Some time back, when we were on the Orkneys, after a run of topscones, we developed a theory that the further north you went the better the scones got. We are starting to have doubts. None so far on this trip.

Vandals

In one of the corridors they have a display case containing an old window from the hotel’s dining room. It’s there because in 1912, J M Barrie of Peter Pan fame scratched his initials in the glass. Must have been a fashionable thing to do at one time. He joins a list of illustrious artistes like Robert Burns who vandalised windows all over the place.

Honesty

We are letting you see this picture of Croft 36 because, for us, it seeSelf service restaurant on the Isle of Harrismed to sum up life on the Isle of Harris. It’s a café shack at the side of a little road on South Harris near Northton.  Inside there’s a cauldron of scotch broth, hot pies and quiches, patisserie style baking including scones … and a price list. You just help yourself to whatever takes your fancy. There’s no one there, just an honesty box .. fantastic. In hindsight we should have bought some scones but they only came in packets of four so we didn’t. Stupid, they might have been topscones!A view over the Isle of Harris

HS3 3DL          tel: 01859 502154           Harris

K6 telephone box at Finsbay on the Isle of Harrisps: Telephone boxes in this part of the world seem to be located either in people’s gardens or other places difficult to get to. Perhaps it’s testament to the strength of the winds they get up here that this one at Finsbay had lost its door. It wasn’t operational but it had been manufactured at the Saracen foundry in Glasgow.

island, Scones, Uncategorized

The Hungry Gull

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Logo of the Hungry Gull Cafe in Uig, Isle of SkyeYou cannot live for ever in a distillery. Okay, you can’t live forever anywhere but for us our stay on the Isle of Raasay was over. It had been wonderful. Pat had even got a golden eagle for her bird list and I got some sheds and some drams. Inevitably however we were on the road again … or rather on the boat again back to Skye. And once again we were having to drive directly to another ferry to take us onward to the Outer Hebrides. Once again, like all well trained ferry travelers, we arrived at the ferry terminal at Uig with time to spare and, of course, we thought to continue our sconological research.

Internal view of the Hungry Gull Cafe in Uig, Isle of SkyeOne problem with traveling in the north of Scotland in March is that most things don’t open until April. And so it was with Uig. All the cafés and restaurants were closed. Eventually we had to settle on the local petrol station simply because it was actually open. It didn’t look promising from the outside and that impression wasn’t changed much inside. On the upside the chap running the place was wonderfully friendly and prepared us some very good cheese and ham toasties. He didn’t have any scones but, seeing our disappointment, he insisted we have a home-baked doughnut … a peanut butter and jam doughnut to be precise!

Alternatives

It was pretty awful. We show you a picture not so that you can add it to your knowledge of scones but simply to let you see the lengths we go to on your behalf. This doughnut will bA doughnut at the Hungry Gull Cafe in Uig, Isle of Skyee forever known as the ‘Uig scone’ and joins the Buckhaven scone and the Winkel scone in an exclusive club of enforced substitutes. And no, even though Pat has great black backed gulls, herring gulls and black headed gulls on her list, she did not add this hungry one.

Numpties

While we munched our doughnuts, however, we did manage to catch up with the news. Probably a mistake because, of course, it’s the same old same old. The media seem to be saying “the next few days will be critical for the UK” … precisely what they have been saying every day for the past six months! Surely there cannot be anyone left in Scotland of sound mind who still wants their country to be governed by this shower of numpties in Westminster. Surely not? Nicola Sturgeon seems like the only consistent voice of sanity in the whole sorry affair.

We caught the ferry and set off in the teeth of a force 7 gale into the Minch heading for Tarbert on the Isle of Harris.

IV51 9XX           tel: 07909 323848             Hungry Gull FB

ps:  Isn’t it just typical! While we were tucking into a peanut butter and jam doughnut in rain soaked windswept Uig we received this picture.   It’s of one of our Aussie friends living the life of reilly on the Queen Marry 2 in the middle of the Indian Ocean. A scone on the Queen Mary IIAll our Aussie friends seem to live the life of reilly so we should not have been surprised. No luxury liner for us, just a CalMac ferry. Apparently the service and the scone were first class. At least they seem to have got the jam on first … there’s hope yet for these Aussie types. So even though we have not tested these scones personally, all you sconeys contemplating a cruise on the QM2 can add this snippet to your sconological databases. Thanks to M&J, enjoy the rest of your holiday … don’t worry about us on our wee boat.

island, Ordinary, Scones

Isle of Raasay Distillery

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Following on from our last post from the Mission Café in Mallaig we made it across the sea to Skye but with little time to spare. As soon as we landed at Armadale we had to drive directly to Sconsor to catch another ferry to the Isle of Raasay. Phew! This sconing stuff can be frantic. Actually there were several reasons other than scones for wanting to visit the island. They involve sheds and eagles and roads and things but we won’t go into that. Suffice to say that after a relatively short crossing we set foot on Raasay for the first time .. fantastic!

Needs must

There’s not a lot of accommodation on Raasay so we were having to stay in the distillery. We know, we know, the things we have to do to keep you sconeys up to date! We reckoned we could put up with it for a few days at least.

View from the distillery, Isle of Raasay
View from the distillery towards the Cuillins of Skye with the ferry approaching

It has only been open a couple of years so it’s the first distillery on the island … or as they point out, the first legal distillery. It is very modern in design though we were staying in the old Victorian part. Even it had been modernised to within an inch of it’s life and had all mod cons. It was extremely comfortable. Thank goodness, this made the whole idea of staying in a distillery, bearable at least. We won’t bore you with details because whisky is not what we are about. We are all about scones! Suffice to say, at night they lock the door leading from our living quarters to the distillery?

External view of Raasay House, Isle of RaasayWhen it came to scones, however, we actually had to make the perilous one minute walk through the daffodils to Raasay House. In the 1500s this was the seat of the all powerful MacLeods however after the Battle of Culloden the original house was burned to the ground. It was rebuilt and in 1773, MacLeod of Raasay played host to Dr Johnston and James Boswell on their epic journey through the Highlands. Johnston wrote of his welcome on Raasay “After the usual refreshments, and the usual conversation, the evening came upon us. The carpet was then rolled off the floor; the musician was called, and the whole company was invited to dance, nor did ever fairies trip with greater alacrity.”

Calum’s Road

Today it was playing host to us but earlier in the day, we had been on our own epic journey … across Calum’s Road. It is named after the man who single handedly, over a period of ten years, built the entire road.

View of Calum's Road, Isle of Raasay
the start of Calum’s road with his old wheelbarrow still lying there

Calum MacLeod was made a stern stuff. As the local lighthouse keeper he had been campaigning for years to have the footpath that led to his home in Arnish in the north of the island upgraded to a road. Having no luck with officialdom he just decided to do it himself. Aided by a book of DIY road building.

View of Calum's Road, Isle of Raasay
when we saw this sign we should have known that if this road was in Blackpool you would have to pay for the white knuckle ride

Over  a ten year period he completed the two mile route to Brochel Castle where it could join the existing road. In 1974 it was eventually adopted and surfaced by the local council.

View of Brochel Castle ruins, Isle of Raasay
Remains of Brochel Castle. Until 1671 the MacLeods used it to command the Sound of Raasay

Four people now live in Arnish and two of them work in the distillery. What a commute they have to work! We drove for two hours, sometimes reaching an electrifying 10mph where lack of potholes and road surface permitted … and never saw another car. Besides keeping a lighthouse and building roads, Calum was also a poet and a songwriter. It would have been great to have met him at the end of his road however he died some years back.

Epic

By the time we had completed this epic and sometimes hair-raising trip it was most definitely scone o’clock! As we took our seats looking out towards the Cuillins of Skye we were ready for an epic scone. Our scones arrived very promptly and came with butter, jam and the now infamous Rodda’s Cornish Cream. What the …? Not a great start and the scones just turned out to be kind of soft  and somewhat lacking in character. The coffee and everything else was great so it was a shame. No topscone but ten out of ten for location.

Out of touch

When we are away like this we tend to not keep up with the news. Sometimes it’s because we don’t have time and sometimes it’s because there’s no internet or telephone services. Hopefully at some point we will be informed that Brexit’s Article 50 has been revoked and it was all just a bad dream. Or should we just stay here in blissful ignorance?

IV40 8PB             tel: 01478 470178          Raasay Distillery

IV40 8PB             tel: 01478 660300           Raasay House

Two K6 telephone boxes at Inverarish, Isle of Raasayps: these two K6s were in Inverarish the capital of Raasay. The village was built in 1914 to house miners for the iron mines used  to fuel the war effort. It was abandoned in 1918 when the war ended but it now houses most of the 180 inhabitants of the island. These K6s were in perfect working order … made in Falkirk, of course. Would they have been made from iron ore mined on Raasay?

parking nightmare in Inverarish

 

Ordinary, Scones

The Mission Café

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When we left the rather swish environs of the Loch Melfort Hotel we drove to Mallaig. It was difficult not to stop at all the fabulous white beaches along the way but we had a ferry to catch. We were heading for the boat to Armadale on the Isle of Skye. Arriving, however, with time to spare we were left clicking our heels for an hour. A scone perhaps?

Internal view of the Mission Café in MallaigAs you can see the Mission Café has a fairly austere exterior and it’s not much different inside. It’s a no nonsense sort of place run by the Fisherman’s Mission, a charity that provides valuable help to fisherman and their families in time of need. A scone at the Mission Café in MallaigMallaig, of course, is famous for its kippers and is a no nonsense kind of place as well. If you walked in here wearing wellies, oilskins, a souwester and herring sticking out of your pockets, no one would bat an eyelid. Service was fine, if a little on the no nonsense side. Our scone came with lots of jam and cream. It wasn’t at all bad … not a topscone but enjoyable enough. Just enough time to finish them off before we had to get on the ferry and head “over the sea to Skye”.

Some of those can be so severe they almost leave the person find out description cheap levitra dysfunctional. Penile erection is in fact a specific hemodynamic process initiated by the relaxation of the smooth muscle in the base of the penile shaft allowing more blood to flow into the sex organs during sexual activity resulting in stronger and harder erection for a longer duration of time. buy levitra in usa It has caused a wave of dilemma amongst the male population of the world. on line cialis However, taking Kamagra in small doses and as recommended by your free samples of levitra doctor. We suspect that our UK government could benefit from a spell in Mallaig. No faffing about here, they just get on with the job no matter what!

PH41 4PY           tel: 01687 460105     The Mission

Ordinary, Scones

Loch Melfort Hotel

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Politically, things have been so dire recently that we have been reluctant to venture out for a scone. Not because we had gone off scones, you understand, but because it would then require us to say something cogent about the current situation at Westmonster. A veritable impossibility. How is it possible to end up in a situation where the government is the most diabolically pathetic ever in the history of governments and the opposition, which is supposed to save us from such things, is even worse? Unbelievable!

We have had to break our silence, however, because believe it or not, this is our 300th scone. And still, if we turn sideways, you can barely see us. It’s truly amazing. In 2015 when we wrote our first scone post in Dunkeld, we certainly did not expect that exactly four years later we would still be at it.

View from Loch Melfort Hotel
View from our window
Stats

A lot has happened in those four years on allaboutthescones. We have mentioned Brexit 78 times. Not surprising you might think but remember, back then, the word Brexit hadn’t even been thought of. Trump hadn’t been thought of either, at least not seriously, but he managed to get himself mentioned 53 times. Theresa May only managed 43! In terms of scones we have had 76 topscones and 2 apple pies. Fonab Castle has maintained its position on top of the scone pile throughout. An extraordinary achievement by any standards.

Would our 300th provide a fitting crescendo? Where would it be?Internal view of Loch Melfort HotelSerendipity dictated that it would be here at Loch Melfort Hotel. A lovely spot if ever there was one. It’s situated in Arduaine Gardens which in themselves are reminiscent of a tropical rain forest. The North Atlantic Drift, sweeping up from the Caribbean, has a profound affect in this part of the world. Palm trees and bamboo abound. Lichen grows in huge tresses from all the trees indicating the purity of the air. The hotel used to be the ‘big house’ of the estate but when the gardens were taken over by the National Trust for Scotland it was converted to its current use. Anyway, so what about this 300th scone?

The wrong reasons

We were fortunate to be able to sit in glorious sunshine in one of the hotal lounges looking out towards Croabh Haven and the Isle of Luing. As far as settings went this was absolutely perfect. The A scone at Loch Melfort Hotelscone itself came nicely presented with plenty of jam and whipped cream. Unfortunately, that was the good bit. The scone had a sort of leathery skin the like of which we have never come across before. Once it had been penetrated with a knife the innards were nothing to get excited about either. This 300th scone was notable for all the wrong reasons. The jam and cream made it sort of edible however. Quelle dommage! Everything else was fantastic so it was really unfortunate that the scone let the place down so badly. Heyho, life goes on! View from Loch Melfort Hotel

Democracy

Life may not be going on much longer for Theresa May. The Speaker of the House of Commons, dastardly chap that he is, has gone and foiled her wicked plan to run down the clock on Brexit. Isn’t it odd that the folk who scream about democracy having to be respected are so dead set against democracy taking its course in another referendum? Anyway we still have a few days left before the cliff edge. It has been nice knowing you all!

PA34 4XG             tel: 01852 200 233           Melfort Hotel

ps: In the nearby village of Melfort we came across this K6 telephone box. It was manufactured by the Saracen Foundry in Glasgow and was the first box we have come across functioning as a prison. A padlock on the door was ensuring that the large gnome inside was prevented from escaping. We have no idea what misdemeanour the gnome had committed to deserve such a fate. Explanations on a postcard please.A K6 telephone box at Melfort

english, Ordinary, Scones

Centurion Bar

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Here we are still in Newcastle. Except this time we are at the station waiting for the train to whisk us back home. It is one of Britain’s busiest stations with a half hourly service to London and others going west to Liverpool and north to Edinburgh and Inverness. It was opened by Queen Victoria in 1850 and is now one of very few Grade One listed railway stations. With almost an hour to wait we found ourselves in the Centurion bar of The Royal Station Hotel. Internal view of the Station Hotel in NewcastleIt’s not just any old bar. It’s a very spacious and grand hall which used to be the First Class Lounge. It was decked out with flags for the Six Nations Rugby Championships. We decided to sit under the nice blue one on the right.

Internal view of the Station Hotel in Newcastle
Nirvana

The name, Centurion’ suggests a Roman connection and, of course, there is. What was it with the Romans? They came all this way to build tourist attractions? In the year 122, Emperor Hadrian built his wall right through Newcastle to end up at, would you believe it, Wallsend in the east of the city. No sooner was it finished than Emperor Antoninus Pius decided, in 142, to build another wall further north. It ran across the entire breadth of Scotland and through the middle of our home town, Falkirk. Trump and the Romans would have got on just fine. Some historians insist that the reason for building these walls was to keep unruly Scots at bay. However we like to think that they just enjoyed life in Falkirk so much they decided there was little point in going further. They had reached nirvana.

Before long, however, the hedonism and feasting on scones served with Rodda’s Cornish Cream drove them back to Hadrian’s Wall where that sort of behaviour seemed more appropriate. Nowadays the remains of Antonine’s Wall can still be seen in Falkirk but apart from the Roman Bar and a few Italian restaurants there are few signs that the Romans were ever around. Both walls, however, still serve very well in their primary function as tourist attractions. The Hadrian’s Wall Path passes close to this station.

More than expected

Enough about Romans, what about the scones? Yes we decided to have a scone but A scone at the Station Hotel in Newcastlelittle did we know that every hot drink ordered came with a complimentary croissant. When our scone arrived it was accompanied with butter, jam and a croissant … too much!! Had we realised we might have asked them to keep the croissant and give us a free scone. And had we not had to pay for the scone it might have fared better in our review. It was okay but definitely not a topscone.

Despicable us

In the end even Newcastle was too much for the Romans. At least, when their Empire collapsed they all just went back to Italy and that was that. Not so with the British Empire. Almost every trouble spot around the globe was designed by us. Iraq and Afghanistan to Palestine and Ireland as well as the current problem between India and Pakistan. All the result of British meddling. When it comes to creating a political mess we do it fantastically well and now with Brexit we can bring that expertise to bear at home as well! Whoopee!

Thankfully, this week, the United Nations highest court in the Hague has ruled against us in what must be one of Britain’s most despicable acts. They have ruled that Britain’s 1968 claim to sovereignty over the Chagos Islands is illegal and they must be returned to Mauritius immediately. Surely you have seen this news splashed all over the media? No? Hopefully, after more than fifty years, all these poor displaced people will be able to return to their homes. What this means for the US military base at Diego Garcia (it was the reason for this crime) no one knows.

We do think, however, that Scotland should raise a similar action against the UK at the Hague … for the travesty of 1707!

Pleasant as it was sitting in the Centurion, the train came and we were duly whisked back to nirvana.

NE1 5DG            tel: 0191 261 6611              Centurion

english, Scones, Top, weird

Café Royal

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The name ‘Café Royal‘ is synonymous with opulence and conjures up images of over-the-top Victorian decadence. Just the sort of place for us you might think. The epicentre of London fashion and the world’s finest wine cellar. Again, just the sort of place for us. It was the place to be seen by the likes of Noël Coward, Brigitte Bardot and Oscar Wilde. Once again, just the sort of place for us. Except this Café Royal is not in London, it’s in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

Normally Newcastle is but a momentary pause as we make our way south on the London train. On this occasion, however, it was our destination, or rather a transit stop on our way to Amsterdam. This post and the previous post on the Winkel are not in correct chronological order. Why? Just because!

Posh tea

We had an hour or so to kill and decided, since it was almost scone o’clock, that we should explore the city a little in the hope of finding one. We wandered up towards, what looks like Nelson’s column, but is in fact the Grey’s monument. It commemorates the passing of the Great Reform Act of 1832 by Prime Minister of the time, Earl Grey. Of course. we all know that the real reason for the monument is because the very same Earl Grey invented posh tea. Run of the mill Reform Acts can’t hold a candle to posh tea after all.

To our surprise we found this part of the city very nice indeed. It was bustling with people going about their business, it sported lots of fine architecture and had a nice cosmopolitan feel to it.  “It’s a canny toon” as the local Geordies would say! Perhaps we shouldn’t have been surprised but we were … pleasantly!

Internal view of the Café Royal in Newcastle upon TyneThis Café Royal is close by the monument so we thought we would give it a try. However, any grandiose ideas of lush opulence were dashed on the jagged rocks of expectation as soon as we entered. This place is modern but not unpleasantly so. Nice, but not in the way we had anticipated. It’s owned by the Sir John Fitzgerald group, a family run business established in the 1850s and still going strong. It owns lots of pubs and restaurants in the area.

The system

Scones at the Café Royal in Newcastle upon Tyne

One should make sure that they should get over stress very soon as it might make more helpful tabs vardenafil 20mg tab you suffer so many problems. With the introduction of many erectile dysfunction remedy medicine within the final decade, the vast majority of folks affected by this problem have almost obtained a new lease of commander levitra Read Full Article life. Though medical science has not come about until result of this drug does not get hardness enough for becoming erect. online cialis sale best buy cialis appalachianmagazine.com It is probably fairly obvious but everything you do requires energy. They have a system. You have to find a table, note its number then go to the counter and place your order. Once you have paid you return to your table and in due course your order is brought to you. Is that self service? We’re not sure but it worked! They had cheese and chive or raspberry scones so we went for raspberry. Scones at the Café Royal in Newcastle upon TyneHadn’t had one of those since we reviewed the infamous Bob & Bert’s raspberry ripple scone a few months back. It didn’t fare too well so how would this one do? Very well as it turned out. It came with plenty jam and clotted cream and was very light and fluffy. We enjoyed the scone and the place so decided to award it a top weird scone. Well done Café Royal!Internal view of the Café Royal in Newcastle upon Tyne

What’s in a vote?

Earl Grey’s Great Reform Act of 1832 was in  response to widespread criticism of the electoral system. MPs, in some areas, could be elected on just a handful of votes. It laid the foundations for male suffrage even though that would take many more years to become a reality.

Scuplture near the Café Royal in Newcastle upon Tyne
Man with Potential Selves by Sean Henry

Nowadays all men and women have the vote, however, in GB, some votes are worth much more than others. Great Britain is formed of two countries yet voting in Scotland is pointless. If no one voted at all it would make no difference whatsoever. For example, if every Scottish MP was of one voice on a subject of interest to Scotland, it would be overturned at Westminster even if 483 English MPs didn’t even bother to get out of bed. Scotland, from that point of view, is disenfranchised. We have a government we didn’t vote for and now we are being taken out of the EU against Scotland’s wishes and interests.

In 1644 Newcastle was occupied by a Scottish army where they held Charles I prisoner. Perhaps it is time for something similar?

NE1 5AW      tel: 0191 231 3000         Café Royal