Kirkhouse Inn

26 August 2024 billpaterson1@me.com 7 Comments

After our previous post from Coffista in Leven we’ve gone west to Strathblane in the foothills of the Campsie Fells. However, if we had wanted to be here when the Kirkhouse Inn first opened its doors to guests we’d have been over four hundred years too late. Yes, this place opened in 1601 as a “tavern with stables” and has been welcoming people like us ever since. Back then, Elizabeth I was on the English throne and James VI was King of Scotland. As far as we know neither ever stayed here, however, this Inn was the scene of secret correspondence between the two monarchs which eventually led to the Union of the Crowns in 1603. So it’s all their fault.

View from the Campsie Fells — From high on the Campsie Fells, Strahblane’s Kirkhouse Inn is down there somewhere.

Just north of Glasgow, as a “tavern with stables” the Kirkhouse Inn was presumably a place for travellers to stop overnight and rest their horses. We were doing the same though for us it would be more of a “tavern with car park”. Nowadays it’s a hub for walkers doing the West Highland Way and the John Muir Way. They both pass nearby. The Campsie Fells form an impressive background to the hotel and on a gorgeous day, we had a beautiful drive through them to get here. An overnight stay and an afternoon tea was what we were looking for!

It was good to see that the service seemed to be provided by mostly young local lads. In our experience, usually due to poor training, this can sometimes be problematic. But not here, it was excellent. First they brought a plate of delicious savoury sandwiches. When they were finished three tiers of sweet things appeared and everything explained in detail. Lemon possets and macaroons on top. Meringues and chocolate dipped strawberries in the middle with scones and French fancies on the bottom. Unusually there was only one scone each. A good thing in our opinion. Normally you get two but inevitably, because you’ve just had a feast of sandwiches, you end up leaving one of them. The scones came with perfect little dishes of jam and cream and were just the way we like them. The right size, crunchy exterior with a soft fluffy centre … topscone.

Monarch of the glen at the Kirkhouse Inn — Another monarch, this one of the Glen

In 1601 the British East India Company was just starting its plunder of India leading to almost a century of disastrous British rule. Regrettable perhaps but where would we be without curry? It doesn’t bear thinking about! Ironically perhaps, the young Sagar Massey, raised in Delhi, has launched his fine dining restaurant “Sanja” at the Kirkhouse Inn.

Picture in our room at the Kirkhouse Inn — The Chief Returning From Deer Stalking … another picture at the Kirkhouse Inn

It would be nice to think that we have progressed a wee bit since 1601, however, we have our doubts. As usual, land seems be the problem. Ukraine’s incursion into Russia is welcome but guaranteed to get right up mad Vlad’s nose. Israel’s murder of 40,000 people because a couple of thousand years ago some guy in the sky said the land belonged to them is beyond reason. In 1601 the area around the Kirkhouse Inn had to deal with MacGregor bandits running off with their cattle under cover of darkness, In comparison with today’s problems it sounds positively romantic!

G63 9AA tel: 01360 771711 Kirkhouse Inn

///snail.uttering.kiosk

Ordinary, Scones

Coffista

17 August 2024 billpaterson1@me.com 5 Comments

Today is a day of firsts. Certainly the first time we have been in this place, Coffista in the Fife seaside town of Leven. We got here by travelling on the brand spam=nking new, Levenmouth railway. Closed in 1969 but reopened just two months ago. It was a miserable wet day so what else would we do but take a train trip? And if we made it to Leven by train that would be another first.

Good advice

Actually the day started with yet another first. It happened when the two of us went to our local station and asked for return tickets to Leven. The girl said a Falkirk/Leven return ticket would be a few pence short of £40. However, she said she could give us Falkirk/Edinburgh tickets then separate Edinburgh/Leven tickets for a total of £33. We don’t understand either but it was the first time we had been offered this sort of advice … great! You end up with a bundle of tickets but a saving of £7 could pay for our scones.

And here’s another first. Although the Forth Rail Bridge has been there all our lives, we had never actually been over it. Sailed under it, flown over it but never over it on a train. The Edinburgh/Leven part of our journey would sort that.

Regal Princess at the Forth Bridge — As we rumbled over the Forth Rail Bridge the Regal Princess cruise liner was on its way from Orkney to Le Havre. The other two Forth road bridges are reflected in the window

It has to be said that this new Levenmouth railway only adds a further two stations after Kirkaldy – Cameron Bridge and Leven itself. Not much you might think but it’s almost unheard of for any new stations to be added to the network so we regard it as fairly momentous. Also momentous for this part of Fife which was regarded as a deprived area. People can now live in Leven and easily commute in and out of Edinburgh. Even after just two months of its existence, there are new housing developments being built as a result of the railway.

Spirits

We should mention the village of Cameron Bridge, home to the biggest disillery in Europe. It makes Archers, Pimms,, Gordon’s and Tanquery gin as well as Smirnoff vodka. It also helps make Johnnie Walker, J&B, Bell’s, Black & White, VAT69 and White Horse whiskies. It’s on an industrial scale. and looks more like an oil refinery than a traditional distillery.

Leven, a town once famous for weaving, is in the Parish of Scoonie, Might this be an omen for our scone at Coffista? Considering “scoonie” means in Pictish, “place of the lump-like hill” perhaps not. The cafe has only been going for a few months and is run by a very enthusiastic lady who bakes everything in-house. She even makes all the jams! It had been raining but as soon as we entered the heavens opened. It was biblical! We were extremely lucky to have just stepped inside. A warm welcome and then promptly being asked if we would like cream and jam with our scones looked like the good Parish of Scoonie might actually deliver. By the time we took our seats however, we were informed that there wasn’t any cream. Would we like butter instead?

Entertaining

it was entertaining just being here … there was lots of chat. One old chap, obviously a regular, insisted on telling jokes to anyone prepared to listen. Slightly obscure jokes seemed to be a speciality but thankfully, at least he found them funny. Another elderly group were debating the life of batteries and how they don’t last as long as they used to. Maybe batteries become more important as you get older?

The owner was very proud of her steam oven and insisted on telling us all about it. Fairly technical stuff so we didn’t understand much of what she said. However, the scones did taste a little bit like they had been baked in such a device. Perfectly acceptable but maybe just a little bit “damp”? The £7 we saved on our rail tickets didn’t quite cover everything but it wasn’t far off. An enjoyable visit for all sorts of reasons but eventually it was time to brave the elements again.

Shelter

Because of the weather we decided against going to the beach. We would just take the next train back home, however, we arrivaed at the station just in time to see it leave without us … aargh! . An hour to wait for the next one so, considering the weather we made a dash for the nearest pub. Turned out to be one of these trendy steakhouse cocktail bars that specialises in BBQs. In spite of being just a few miles from the biggest distillery in Europe they only had only one British whisky and no British beers. Presumably it mustn’t be’ trendy’ to drink British? It was Expresso Martini for Pat and ‘the’ whisky for me. What is the world coming to?

Seashell decorated wall in Leven — A seashell decorated wall in Leven

In our recent post from the Orient Express we travelled on the Edinburgh tram system for the first time. We’re getting good at these travel firsts. Just build a railway or a tram system and, if there’s a scone at the end of it, we’ll be there!

painting of a Highland cow — A picture in the pub

Bollards

What with Gaza, Ukraine, India, UK, Sudan, and the US world politics is just too depressing so here’s something a little different. Recently we had a visitor who announced he was going to Edinburgh to find “the bollard”. We had no idea what was talking about but he said he only knew about it through allaboutthe scones.com. Turned out it was the Edinburgh Press Club post to which he was referring. The bollard in question marks the centre of the city from which everything is measured. As bollards go it might even be termed a topbollard? Extraordinary, some people are interested in things other than scones!

KY8 4FG tel: 07415 759832 Coffista

///stencil.drawn.coaching

Scones, Uncategorized

Laggan a’ Bhainne

10 August 2024 billpaterson1@me.com 17 Comments

After our previous post from the Orient Express you might not be unduly surprised to hear that this post comes from Laggan a Bhainne (pronounced ‘Lagan a vanya’) in the wilds of the Scottish Highlands. It’s an indulgence on our part because it’s really about our family and its origins. The justification is that many of our readers across the world know our family to a greater or lesser degree and maybe curious to learn more. For those who don’t know the family there is a scone but one that is just a bit different. For those a bit short on the Gaelic language “laggan” means a little hollow in the hills and “bhainne”, means milk. “little dell of milk” in English.

Uncle Johnny with his fog bosun — Uncle Johnny, known locally as Johnny Kyltra spend his entire working life as a deer stalker on Culachy Estate on the side of Loch Ness. He maintained that he saw the Monster. He was also fond of a dram or two … or three.

Drovers

We (the entire family) were tracing the origins of our “Uncle Johnny” McDonald on my mother’s side. He was the last “man” born on the high Corrieyairack Pass. It rises to over 2,500 feet and Laggan a Bhainne is about half way up. Donald McDonald, lived here with his wife Catherine and their family of which Johnny was one. Donald was a shepherd and part of his duties involved ensuring that the drovers taking their cattle over the pass to the sales in Falkirk, didn’t linger too long and eat all the grass. Not an easy job.

After the Jacobite uprising in 1745, General Wade built a military road over it. It linked garrisons in an effort to quell further unrest. Around 1890 the Estate changed from sheep to the more profitable deer stalking. The family whose services were no longer required had to move down to the village of Fort Augustus.

VIPs

He lived for most of his working life at Kyltra on the outskirts of the village with Mary his housekeeper. The house had no water or electricity and it still doesn’t even today. Pat and I had the pleasure of visiting and were treated to boiled eggs … a meal reserved for VIP visitors.

Kids in a truck — A 4×4 full of excited French, English and Scottish cousins

Getting our family up to Laggan a Bhainne was no mean feat but thanks to my brother’s remarkable ability to herd cats. it worked.

Convoy of 4x4s on way to Laggan a bhainne — Convoy of 4x4s with Loch Ness in the distance

It involved a 46 seater bus from Falkirk plus a fleet of all terrain vehicles to take us six miles up the Corrieyarrick. It was exciting to be travelling a route that our ancestors must have travelled on foot on many occasions. Because Laggan a Bhainne was very fertile it was used in the summer by the villagers of Fort Augustus who would bring their cattle up here in the summer. They would live in temporary houses made of turf. Our ancestors had a stone house because they lived here all year. It would have been a happy place though in the winter it must have been tough.

Piper and family at Laggan a bhainne — Some of the family standing where the house used to be and listening to the emotive tunes of Spud the Piper

When they eventually moved out the Estate flattened the house to stop it being used by poachers. There are only a few stones left lying in the grass to mark the spot .

The sky

Johnny was a well know character and piper. A journalist once asked him how he felt about having to move down to the valley. Johnny turned towards the hills and said “as long as I can still see the sky over Laggan a Bhainne“.

Family at ancestral home — Me, my sister who came over from France with her family and my brother, wearing Johnny’s kilt standing in our ancestral home

The Somme

Johnny with his pipes outside Kyltra cottage — Johnny playing outside his home at Kyltra

Johnny’s McDonald tartan kilt has a few holes. We like to think they were caused by German bullets whizzing through while he stood there defiantly playing the pipes at the Somme. Moths, however, is another possible explanation.

What about the scones? Well for this post they are imaginary. Had we been here 150 years ago, our great grandmother would have been feeding us scones with homemade cream and jam. We imagine them to be topscones.

The bath

Aged 90 he was admitted to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness. A friend visiting him asked him how he was. He replied “they’ve given me a bath, I think it’ll be the end of me“. And so it was, he developed pneumonia and died there in 1972. I attended his funeral.

Commemorative plaque at Laggan a bhainne — We left a plaque at the site to indicate to others that people used to live here.

When you are here at Laggan a Bhainne the fact that someone beat someone else by seven thousands of a second at the Paris Olympics seems supremely unimportant.

A fantastic day, thanks to all at Culachy Estate for facilitating our visit.

///reveal.glows.dreaming

ps; The river that runs through Laggan a Bhainne is the Allt a Bhainne … the river of milk. We have a rare bottle of Allt a Bhainne whisky. Only those who have actually been to Laggan a Bhainne qualify for a dram. Now there’s a challenge!

Scones, Top

Orient Express

3 August 2024 billpaterson1@me.com 12 Comments

After our previous post from Café Sunart in the wilds of Scotaland’s west coast Pat said that she was looking forward to our next trip. Little did she know it was to be on the Orient Express. Today we are travelling from Venice to Paris in the grandeur and splendour of this magnificent train. On the way we pass through Verona before crossing over the Brenner Pass to Austria. Then on to Zurich before reaching Paris for the Olympics. All the while drinking champagne and being entertained by a chap playing the music of bored piano players in restaurants the world over. If you would like to get a sense of the journey in the western part of Italy just click here Orient Express 15 480

Okay, okay, you’ve probably guessed by now that this is too silly even for us. We’re actually in a restaurant in Edinburgh that serves afternoon tea and tries to replicate the Orient Express experience. They make a very good job of it!

Contrasts

It was back in 1883 that the first train left Paris on a seven day trip to Constantinople with just forty passengers. It’s a journey I’ve done in reverse. In 1970 I had hitchhiked Falkirk to Istanbul over nine days. The return trip was by train. However, that experience was about as far away as it’s possible to get from this. There wasn’t even a buffet car, I had to rely on the generosity of my Turkish travelling companions who knew the ropes and had food and drink with them.

No such problems here. First we had to select our sandwiches from the sandwich menu and our champagne was served with a piece of strawberry delicately balanced on the rim of the glass. A three tier plate appeared with the sandwiches we had selected on the bottom, hot pastries in the middle and cakes on top. It was all delicious. As we watched the vineyards slip by on the approach to Verona we were asked how we would like our scones … plain, fruit or cherry. We both opted for fruit. There was a tea menu and coffee on offer. We were almost in Milan when they asked if they could begin preparing our scones. This is how it should be done!

Disembarkation

Our scone was accompanied with clotted cream, strawberry jam and bergamot curd. The bergamot curd was unusual … very tangy but delicious. Bergamot is supposed you help you relax … hardly necessary here. The scone wasn’t crunchy on the outside but was still fantastic. Eventually we had to disembark in Innsbruck because we had to get back for a BBQ in Falkirk courtesy of the Scotrail Express. The whole experience only cost us £25 each; great value and highly recommended!

Andy Murray has lost his doubles match at the Olympics and announced his retirement. We feel a sense of relief, pretty much the same as when Biden announced his. The modern Olympics is full of sports you only hear of at the Olympics … “race walking” and “quadruple skulls”, “BMX freestyle”, “surfing shortboard”, “golf”. Okay, we put that last one in just for badness but they all sound equally daft and a bit tiring! We’re fine where we are.

Queen Charlotte

This restaurant is in Queen Charlotte street. Queen Charlotte was born in Germany in 1744 and became queen of Great Britain and Ireland in 1761. She had fifteen children (two of them future monarchs) but that is not what she should be remembered for. No, she seems to have been responsible for the introduction of the Christmas tree. The first was at a children’s party at Windsor in 1800 … and we’ve all been mindlessly mimicking it ever since. What are we like?

EH6 7EX Tel: 0131 555 6660 Orient Express

///fishery.object.people

Scones, history and a dollop of politics

Monthly Archives: August 2024