All posts by billpaterson1@me.com

english, topweird

Le Pain Quotidien

3 Comments

This place is just round the corner from Victoria station and was the chosen spot for a rendezvous with a group of Lithuanians. Don’t ask, it’s a long story. Le Pain Quotidian ( the daily bread) originated in Belgium but now has outlets in nineteen countries stretching from Brazil to India. This is the first we have come across. Le Pain 02

The emphasis is on providing a place for people to meet and do business or just have a good gossip. To that end, they provide some long tables where people or families can gather round and do just that. It prides itself on it’s artisan bread made the traditional way. ‘Bakers blend organic stone-ground flour, kneaded patiently by hand and baked in stone lined hearths’ .. whatever! Can they make a scone?

In the interests of diversity, we thought we should try the ‘organic spelt & quinoa scone’. If nothing else it was definitely different and, from that point of view, difficult to compare with other scones. Le Pain 03A heavy mix as you might expect with a spelt flour but the added quinoa seeds, currants and almonds gave it a, not unpleasant, crunchy texture. It came with a pot of mixed strawberry/rhubarb  jam and a dish of what we thought was cream but turned out to be ricotta – an Italian whey cheese made from sheep milk.

Now once we had got over the surprise of it being nothing like the cream we had been expecting, it was not that bad. In fact, with the scone itself being so completely different, the ricotta complemented the scone quite well. Probably better than cream would have done. Le Pain 04This is the first  time we have come across quinoa (pronounced: kinwa) in a scone. It probably demonstrates Le Pain Quotidien holding true to its basic philosophy of using good honest healthy ingredients. Apparently it originated from the shores of Lake Titicaca which is quite exotic in itself. At £5 per scone however, they are not cheap. Never had a hope of being a topscone but just for being sooooo different we think it qualifies for a top weird scone award. Won’t be rushing back for another but well done for broadening our scone horizons.

Weapons of mass destruction

Not far away there was a Stop Trident rally in Trafalgar Square. Isn’t it odd that we give so much attention to making nuclear power stations absolutely safe. Then spend vastly more money planning for the creation of even bigger nuclear disasters .. bizarre. Of course, things have moved on. The big question now is not whether we should get rid of them but whether we can get rid of them fast enough. Before The Donald and BoJo are ruling the world. The BBC‘s report on the rally just prattled on about how disappointing the turnout had been in spite of their own pictures showing umpteen thousands present.

BREAKING NEWS:

In best BBC style, keeping you up to date with scone news, we have breaking news from our Trossachs correspondent. The same one who, you will remember, gifted us some Dobbies scones at Christmas. Dobbies 01Apparently, when he went to pay for his cream scone the other day at Dobbies in Stirling he discovered that cream scones were subject to a BOGOF deal so he went home with another scone in a box which fed  four people the following day. All for £1.45 .. remarkable. Many thanks to our reporter. Obviously they were not spelt and quinoa scones. In spite of the London prices, however, Le Pain Quotidien is worth a visit. A little bit quirky, good food, great service and nice atmosphere. It also has a good website with plenty of information and recipe suggestions.

SW1V 1JZ     tel: 020 3657 6945     Le Pain Quotidien

english, Top

Claridge’s

1 Comment

Claridges 03You know you are at Claridge’s when, to get across the street, you have to negotiate your way through loads of Bentleys and Aston Martins. Then, when you get to reception you have to decide between an ordinary room at £550 per night, or a suite  .. dilemma! Eventually we thought a £3,500 suite would be comfortable enough for one night. Then we discovered that breakfast was going to be an additional £80 … arrgghh. And everything had been going so well.

The Scot in us suddenly came racing to the fore and, you guessed it, we ended up just going for a scone. Not just any old scone, mind you, a full afternoon tea in the form of a much anticipated present from a couple of thoughtful and generous readers .. hint, hint.

Hen’s teeth

Diligent readers will have noted that over the last few months, topscone awards have been as rare as hen’s teeth, so we were feeling pretty excited and confident. If hen’s teeth were going to be found anywhere, it would be here.

Excitement is not something that Claridge’s does. The atmosphere, in the rather splendiferous 1930’s art deco Foyer, is one of intense calm. Disturbed only by the soft sounds of the pianist and cellist playing selections from Beethoven and Bublé. Claridges 08Pat always blends effortlessly into such luxurious surroundings – a sign of good breeding no doubt. Whereas I tend to feel more comfortable towards the greasy spoon end of the market.

Cannot believe I have just mentioned a greasy spoon in this context. If such an item was found here some member of staff would immediately be taken out and unceremoniously shot. As serious sconeys, however, whose sole raison d’être is to inform our readers about scones at all levels, we felt it had to be done. Regardless of personal sacrifice. The menu will give you an flavour of what had to be endured.Claridges 12

Pièce de résistance

here’s no doubt that these sandwiches, helped down with lashings of champagne, were probably the best we have ever tasted. Superb, we ate every last crumb. The glaringly empty plate prompted them to ask if we would like more. Of course, we had to conserve some space for the pièce de résistance .. the scones. We politely declined.

Iron Goddess

Before that we had to choose from a couple of dozen teas from around the world. Pat plumped on China White Peony with ‘hints of peach and apricot‘ and I went for the Iron Goddess Of Mercy, a gentle flavoured oolong which is high in caffeine and recommended as ‘the perfect afternoon pick-me-up‘. Ideal for me after having been awake all morning.

Tea for enemies

The tea comes served in teapots that only hold one cup. When you want more they go and get more hot water and each infusion is supposed to improve each time. We were told by our Chinese waitress. ‘The first cup is for your enemies, the second cup for your wife and the third cup is for yourself’. Just as well we were both drinking different teas as I’m pretty sure Pat would not have been happy being given the second cup. Claridges 10The scones! Apparently ‘Claridge’s scone recipe is a timeless classic refined over generations‘. They have ‘a soft yielding texture and a colour of warm white gold‘ and are served with Cornish clotted cream and tea scented Marco Polo gelée … ‘the perfect complement to the scone‘. Nothing as common as jam here!

Malawi Antler

They were not far wrong, it was all excellent. However, rather than being the clear and easy decision we had expected, we had to deliberate for a bit on whether they qualified as topscones or not? The presentation of course was excellent but the scones themselves were not quite up to Fonab standards. Of course Fonab is top of the tree so the answer was yes, phew! Claridges 09Because we are unlikely to be taking tea here again any time soon, for my final cup I changed to the Malawi Antler. A tea which is ‘unspeakably rare’ and in the UK can only be found at Claridge’s. It had to be done. It was very nice. Though the antlers (tea shoots instead of leaves) which ‘wonderfully express the earth of Malawi’ was a bit lost on my decidedly uneducated palette.

Fudge

The rest of the afternoon was taken up with cake scoffing, and generally watching the world go by. What a fabulous way to spend the day. Many many thanks to our very generous benefactors. Before we left this cocoon of peace and calm our waiter rushed off to get us a present. Two little boxes of Claridge’s fudge. Judging by his performance over the ‘new deal’ and the EU referendum we think Cameron has been given several mega boxes.

W1K 4HR       tel: 020 7629 8860        Claridges

Ordinary

Acoustic Café

5 Comments

“Sounds like great coffee” … that’s the strap line for this latest addition to the Falkirk café scene, the Acoustic Café. Not sure what great coffee sounds like? Maybe it’s the deafening sound of their own coffee machine, it really is the loudest. However, we feel it probably indicates a bit of confused thinking around the concept of selling coffee and guitars together in the one place. Acoustic 07

So, is the Acoustic Cafe a coffee shop that sells guitars or a guitar shop that sells coffee, we’re not sure. It does not seem to do either particularly well … kind of falls between two stools, so to speak. As a guitar shop it has a good range of very nice guitars. All well and good you might think. We suspect, however, that more attention has been paid to this aspect of the business than the cafe side … and if anything it should be the other way round.

New startup

Some fundamentals are just not there; the coffee may sound great but what about the taste? It is not up to the standard of it’s near competitors. The staff are not trained to the same standard as it’s near competitors. The sole member of staff on two of our visits was unsure of just about everything. Worst of all, of course, the scones are decidedly average.Acoustic 06 Not home baked, a bit dry and powdery … nowhere near a topscone. On the up-side it has a nice funky interior which differentiates it from the rest and offers loads of potential. Also, it has only been in existence for a couple of months so maybe we should cut it some slack. If it can concentrate more on the cafe side of things we hope it goes on to make sweet music and  much better coffee and scones for many years to come.

More broken promises

Music to the ears! That’s what we call the Scottish Government’s stance in the negotiations with the U.K. government over settlement of the new fiscal framework for Scotland. Instead of giving the ‘sweeping new powers’ promised after the referendum, new powers will now have to be paid for through reduced funding. Not even vaguely in the spirit of the Smith Commission. Thank goodness for the SNP. If it had been up to a Labour led administration they would have undoubtedly rolled over to their London masters long ago. Scotland would be much worse off as a result.

Luthiers

To end on a high note, the Acoustic Café did manage to introduce a new word to our lexicon .. luthier; someone who makes or repairs stringed instruments, a service available through the cafe.Acoustic 04

FK2 7AS            tel: 01324 638297      Acoustic Cafe FB

Ordinary, Scones

Anteaques Tearoom

6 Comments

On the south side of Edinburgh you can find Anteaques. You can see what they have done there, can’t you! It is that kind of place .. a bit quirky, not quite one thing or the other. A curious combination but one that works quite well. It’s a very small place. By the time they’ve put in four tables and chairs for the tea and scones there is not much room left for anything else. Interior view of Anteagues Tearoo, Edingurgh

Queen’s breakfast

Because of the space restrictions, the antiques side of things is relatively limited … but the tea house is another story. A vast array of over sixty fine loose teas. They even have tasting tables for sampling whatever takes your fancy. We like a good cup of tea as much as anyone but there is no way we could be described as connoisseurs. We sometimes experiment in places like this but can never remember which is which when next presented with a tea menu. This time we chose ‘Queens Breakfast’ a blend of Ceylon and Darjeeling black teas. Interestingly, according  to the notes: the blending of teas specifically for breakfast originated in Edinburgh in the 19th century. A tea merchant by the name of Drysdale had a small shop in the Old Town and sold a tea simply called “breakfast”.

Our Queen’s Breakfast was very good. Like all good teas the service and presentation combine to create an ‘experience’. Different from what you would experience if the same tea was presented in, for example, a Lyle’s syrup tin with a wire handle. Many years ago, on my first day as a student labourer, I was directed to make the tea for about thirty men in the site hut. Since I found all the syrup tins half full of old tea leaves I decided to clean them all out .. what a disaster. Lucky to escape with my life.  A scone at Anteagues Tearoom, EdinburghAt Anteaques, however, it is all beautiful china ware, fantastic glass teapots and gleaming silver cutlery. Not a trace of a site hut or a syrup tin anywhere.  The scones are home baked and really very good, as was the cream. Not scooshie, perish the thought.

Rose petal jam

The best thing, however, was the jam .. rose petal jam, especially imported from Grasse in the south of France .. fabulous! So fabulous we had to buy a jar to take home.

Trump and Cameron

The ambience in Anteaques Tearoom is one of genteel sophistication and we would have loved to have given it a topscone, if only for the jam, but the scones were just a whisker off the mark … pity. Scones at Anteagues Tearoom, Edinburgh

When you sit in a place like this you could easily forget that the world outside is not as pleasant as it is in here. Trump and Sanders slugging it out in New Hampshire. Surely, even with it’s past record of electing complete plonkers, America could not elect Trump .. surely? Cameron slugging it out in Europe, frantically pretending he’s making some sort of difference. The logic of Cameron’s situation is that, if he gets his way (he is not asking for much) he will campaign to stay in. If not, presumably he will campaign to leave. No matter what happens everyone knows that he will never recommend leaving … so where is the logic?

Worth the effort

If you find it all a bit upsetting then get along to Anteaques for tea and scones. You will emerge in a much better state of mind. To add to the quirkiness of the place, it is only open three days a week. Friday, Saturday and Sunday .. and .. because it’s so small you really have to book a table in advance. Worth the effort though. Enjoy that rose petal jam.

EH8 9JH     tel: 0131 667 8466      Anteaques

Ordinary, Scones

The Coffee Bothy

Logo for the Coffee Bothy at Deanston DistillerySince the closure of our own much missed Rosebank distillery in 1993 we have had to travel almost twenty miles to Deanston  to get to our nearest distillery. Not that we particularly need to get to a distillery. We did the distillery tour several years back. Deanston, however, is always worth a visit, just for the coffee shop if nothing else.

In the beginning

This place actually started life as a cotton mill back in 1785. It employed so many people that they built a model village round the mill in much the same way as David Dale did at New Lanark. Workers were paid in tokens that could only be exchanged at the village shop which, you guessed it, was operated by the mill owner. A perfect monetary circle .. for the owner! In 1966 the cotton industry came to an end and the building was converted to a whisky distillery drawing water from the nearby river Teith. For those of you with twitching tendencies, the river just opposite the distillery is a good spot for seeing common sandpipers. Interior view of the Coffee Bothy at Deanston DistilleryDeanston 03

Initially it was closed to the public but a couple of years back they must have thought they should cash in on the tourism side of the industry. It was opened the place up for distillery tours. Of course, there had to be the obligatory coffee shop. In this case, the Coffee Bothy, one of three such enterprises run by Blairmains Farm. Scones at Deanston DistilleryWe have been here several times before and have always enjoyed it’s good food and good value. When you order a scone you actually get two which, being quite small, isn’t a problem. In fact it’s a positive benefit if you want to try two different kinds. You also get plenty of jam and cream, though unfortunately it’s scooshie cream and you all know what we think of that. Not topscone but very enjoyable nevertheless.

UK economy

Much of the movie ‘The Angel’s Share’ was filmed here. For those unfamiliar with the term ‘angel’s share’ perhaps we can explain it like this. Imagine that our UK economy is the whisky in a barrel. Deanston Distilley name on barrelBy a process akin to osmosis, over the years, the whisky evaporates through the wood and upwards to the angels who gradually get happier and happier. They can hardly believe their luck. Meanwhile the whisky in the barrel gets less and less and weaker and weaker. Think you can see where we are going with this.

Eventually the barrel is empty and useless but in the process a few angels have become very happy indeed. A perfect analogy for Osborne’s UK economy. Sell off everything that belongs to the people to your mates at knockdown prices. Then hire it all back to the people at extortionate rates .. brilliant! We think he may have worked in that Deanston shop at one time!

If you haven’t done the Deanston distillery tour, you should. It is fascinating .. and then go to the Coffee Bothy for a brace of scones. A good day out and there is something strangely comforting about eating scones surrounded by two million litres of the amber nectar.A stag's head at the Coffee Bothy at Deanston Distillery

FK16 6AG             tel:01786 843013                The Bothy

topweird

Brodies Vintage Tearoom

3 Comments

Blackboard message at Brodies, Linlithgow Today we are back in Linlithgow having had all our cobwebs removed by storms Gertrude and Henry .. thankfully it has now calmed down a bit.  This time, on the recommendation of several friends, we’re looking for Brodies tearoom. Not as simple as you might think. Decoration at Brodies, LinlithgowIt turns out they are in the process of revamping the tearoom and currently don’t have a name outside their premises. So instead of putting up our usual external header view we have given you a view of some the items in the loo. Apparently the plan is to take over another cafe further along the road. It will be ‘modern’ and this one will be their ‘vintage’ tearoom. From the decor you can see that it is already fairly vintage.

Less is more

Pat decided to have a fruit scone and I opted for a walk on the wild side with the white chocolate and pear. A new one on me. Both were very good but, yet again, not quite topscone material! Brodies 09Mine, however, was good enough to get a ‘top weird scone’ so at least we have been able to make an award. For those wondering,  a weird scone is usually one that is not plain, fruit or cheese .. okay! Sometimes when you go into to a cafe like this you just know it is going to be good. So it was with Brodies. The food, the service were everything it should be. We hope though that when they finish their refurb the end result is not quite so cluttered. Or if it is that is more thoughtfully cluttered .. less is more kind of thing.Brodies 08

What’s in a name?

Just along the road from Brodies is a 13th century pub called The Black Bitch .. a name which is a trifle unusual in our modern, politically correct world. There is a perfectly logical reason, however, for the name. And indeed why anyone born in Linlithgow, man or woman, is referred to by the same name.

Fidelity

In times gone by, the King sentenced a thief to be tied to a tree on an island in the middle of the loch .. to starve to death. It would, of course, only have been a matter of time had it not been for the intervention of the thief’s big black greyhound dog (not the one made famous by Billy Connelly). It took it upon itself to swim out and keep him supplied with food. Maybe even the odd scone or two?  When the King discovered what was going on the dog was tethered to a tree on another island until they both perished. Happy days! Linlithgow

The town’s folk felt the dog’s fidelity and generosity of spirit pretty well summed up their own character so they adopted for the town’s coat of arms. Henceforth anyone born in the town was referred to as a black bitch. Told you it was logical!

We think that George Gideon Osborne may have been born in Linlithgow. He certainly deserves the title but perhaps for different reasons! His eleven personal meetings with Google resulted in a 3% tax burden being levied against the corporation. Of course it would have been embarrassing to charge them more. His own family business doesn’t pay any tax on their property deals after all? This week he also managed to provide Aberdeen with a ‘super generous’ rescue package. Coincidentally, it exactly equals one month’s rental of the Crossrail tunnel boring machine. Like everything else, it is being built on the proceeds of Aberdeen’s oil .. collapsed or not!

Is that island in the loch still available? We’ll make sure no animals are endangered this time! In the meantime we look forward to Brodie’s expansion. Another report may be required?

EH49 7EJ           tel: 01506 843036        Brodies

english, Ordinary

Maison Blanc

1 Comment

This post sees us back in the nether regions of the UK visiting family. London, or Barnes to be more precise. It’s a very pleasant area with lots of parks and a great network of paths that mean you don’t have to walk near busy roads very often. You do, however, need to be mindful of over-enthusiastic joggers and cyclists. Sometimes seems like nobody just walks.

We walk though. On this occasion our walk took us across the Thames at Barnes Bridge to Chiswick and one of our favourite antique shops, the Old Cinema. One of Chiswick’s rather dubious claims to fame is that it was the first place in Britain to be hit by a German V-I (doodlebug) rocket bomb. The Old Cinema hasn’t been a cinema since the 30s but obviously survived the doodlebugs because the building has now been utilised  as a centre for somewhat quirky up-cycled antiques.

Price tags

Browsing was definitely the order of the day however since most of the price tags would have to be considerably downsized to match our rather tight Scottish pockets. Strangely, after a pleasant hour or so rummaging, we became subject to a mysterious and irresistible force that pulled us out and around the corner onto Turnham Green Terrace and this place, Maison Blanc. A little bit of France. Maison Blanc 04

A self-styled  ‘artisan bakery renowned for its speciality breads, freshly baked pastries, world famous cakes and pâtisserie – all handmade to perfection’. It also boasts of it’s ‘viennoiserie’. That’s ‘croissants’ to you and me. Maison Blanc 02Apparently they also have a joie-de vie attitude and believe that life should be enjoyed one delicate macaroon at a time. 

But we British know the French rather well, don’t we? Compulsive seducers, lazy, speak only French, drive like Italians. So, with all their haut cuisine and everything, the big question was, would they be up to making a decent scone? Almost, the scones had scrubbed up quite well. Nicely shaped with a glossy bronzed finish and nicely presented with a tub of Cornish clotted cream. And a pot of jam of a somewhat indeterminate nature. Maison Blanc 05The more attentive amongst you may have noticed that we have not given a topscone award for some considerable time so we were hoping that this might be our chance, because we do like to give them out. It wasn’t to be. The rather odd jam, the prepackaged cream, the scone itself, although enjoyable enough the combination was just not right, pity.

Blues

On a slightly different tack! We almost never comment on the omni-present piped music because it is almost always awful, but this was an exception. No Piaf, just the right volume, and a mixture of Howling’ Wolf, John Lee Hooker and Billie Holiday .. perfecto!

At the end of Turnham Green Terrace there is a statue of William Hogarth the famous painter who lived locally until his death in 1764. Although a renowned portraitist he is probably best know for his satirical works. What would he make of things if he was alive today? Trickle up economics, uppity Arabs, uppity Americans, uppity Scots; looming EU collapse, looming financial meltdown.

The untouchables

Goodness knows why people are surprised by talk of a meltdown when nothing has changed since the 2008 crash. Untouchable bankers still gambling with our money. Hogarth would have been in his element! In his heyday he always had something to say about the French. Probably not about their scone making abilities … or the lack of them. Are we the first? Doivent faire plus d’efforts!

W4 1QP           tel: 020 8995 7220             Maison Blanc Chiswick

Ordinary

English Dialects

1 Comment

Screen Shot 2016-01-20 at 15.48.40Some readers have probably been wondering what happened to the rest of the scones we got as presents over the festive period. Well here they are, two of Dobbies finest cinnamon delights. They did not mind being frozen at all and were absolutely delicious. Although they were so big we had to get a couple of neighbours in to help out.

One million hits

 IMG_9578A new app, English Dialects, developed at universities in Cambridge, Zurich and Bern, asks users how they pronounce words including “scone”. Choices are given for another 25 words, or word meanings, after which the app guesses where the user might be from. When the team launched a similar app for German speakers there were more than one million hits in four days.

Typical!

The aim of the free app is to track how dialects have evolved over a number of decades. So the big question when you tuck into your next scone – does it rhyme with “gone” or “cone”? We did all of the questions and it determined that we were from the midlands near the Welsh border. But then English Dialects only works in England .. typical!. If you want to find out what part of England you are from you can download the app here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-35262229. Now you can’t say we don’t keep you informed of goings on in scone world! Many thanks to our southern correspondent for the info.

Ordinary, Scones

Barony Castle Hotel

1 Comment

Regular readers will know that we have a propensity for trying to find things we have read about, Raratongan princesses, Gartmore moon dials and the like. Today it is big concrete maps of Scotland. We came across some scrappy details of this thing several months back but had never managed to get round to actually finding it. View of a turret at the Barony Castle Hotel, EddlestonWhat we did know was that the weather would have to be kind if we were to get detailed pictures. Today was one of these days, cloudless skies, no wind. Ideal for taking pictures of big concrete maps.

Weather

We had established that it lay in the grounds of this hotel in Eddleston. However we had not taken account of the fact that in the thirty odd miles it took us to get there the world would be transformed into a winter wonderland. Three inches of snow covering everything! When we left home there was no snow whatsoever. Best laid plans etc etc. View over snow covered fields from the Barony Castle Hotel, EddlestonDetailed pictures were obviously out of the question, but at least we found it … and it was quite something.

A little history. In 1942 the hotel building was requisitioned as a training college for the Polish forces based here to protect the east coast of Scotland from German invasion. In 1968, one of the former soldiers, Jan Tomasi, ended up buying it and for reasons that are not entirely clear, in the mid 70s, set about building this concrete relief map in the grounds. Now known as the ‘Great Polish Map of Scotland‘ or Mapa Scotland.

Photo taken from a display board to show the size (40mx50m) and location, the hotel is top right
Photo taken from a display board to show the size (40mx50m) and location, the hotel is top right

It was built exactly to scale so that when the seas were filled with water the lochs etc would also fill. At the moment it is being restored by Historic Scotland. As well as being covered in snow it didn’t have any water either .. great!

view of snow covered Mapa Scotland
Looking from SW, annotated to help orientation. The pole in the middle is to indicate Ben Nevis. Water would normally come up to the top of the dark walls.
Imagination

With a little imagination however it is not hard to see that, when fully restored, it will be rather special. All well and good but, having completed a lap of the country, scone time was fast approaching so we headed off back towards the hotel. Feeling frustrated by the lack of good pictures but quite pleased at having found the object of our expedition. Entrance to the Barony Castle Hotel in Eddleston

The hotel building dates back to 1666 and is  now part of the Mercure Group. It has a slightly foreboding  welcome sign above the entrance. On the other hand, if He is actually here, would the baking be devine … exciting! Our scones were nicely presented with lots of jam, butter and cream. Unfortunately, however, the presentation turned out to be the only good thing about them. The cream was of the scooshie variety which very quickly dissolved into an insipid white liquid. The scones, meanwhile, although looking good, had been fashioned in the same way as the Great Map, from concrete. Definitely the worst scones we have had in a very very long time. If God had a hand in their preparation he was definitely trying to tell us something. Scones at the Barony Castle Hotel, Eddleston

When it came to paying our bill, we suggested that, if they had any more of these scones, they should put them in the bin. Much to our embarrassment they took them off the bill. Embarrassment, because there wasn’t a trace of the scones left, we ate the lot. Such was our appetite after tramping all the way round Scotland in the snow!

Fit for purpose?

Embarrassment is obviously not something felt at Westminster, though goodness knows why not!  For the first time ever in the three hundred odd years of the Parliament of Great Britain all Scottish MPs were banned from voting. The Parliament of Great Britain is now a very different place. The unelected House of Lords was also at it trying to rewrite the Act of Union. Presumably in an attempt to save it. The fact that they are even thinking about it is tantamount to an admission that the Union is no longer fit for purpose.

The 1707 Act of Union was gained through bribery, threats and the support of a tiny minority of Scots. The rest being vehemently opposed. It will be interesting to see what concoction they come up with this time in this wonderful democracy of ours. Whatever it is ’embarrassment’ will not be making an appearance. When it gets to the stage that both the Parliament of Great Britain and the Union is seen as broken perhaps the best course of action would be to just ditch both. Hard though that may be .. it probably wouldn’t be as hard as a Barony scone!

EH45 8QW     tel: 01721 730395     Barony Castle Hotel

Ordinary, Scones

Johnston’s Bar Bistro

3 Comments

The menu at Johnston's Bar BistroWhen I was a mere sapling. Long before I met Pat and long before I realised that not all the scones in the world were baked by my mother, this place was a favourite hangout for us cool dudes. At that time, however, it was called the Temperance Cafe.

In about 1920, as was prevalent at the time, the proceeds of a will had been used to buy the Crown Hotel in the Lint Riggs. The intention was to turn it into a temperance public house as an alternative to the plethora of licensed premises all through the town. A couple of years later it famously became the scene for the first ever television broadcast by John Logie Baird.

Politics and girls

Baird was born in Helensburgh but his family were local  farmers at Sunnybrae in Camelon. Little did he know that that single brief event would change the world forever. The equipment Baird used to broadcast a live image of a colleague from one part of the building to another, became known as ‘the Falkirk televisor‘. As an impressionable youth, however, my personal abiding memory of the Temperance was when four of us were sitting round an upstairs table, talking about girls, politics and the price of milk. Maybe not the last two. Internal view of Johnston's Bar Bistro

Memories

We watched a man walk to the top of the stairs. He stopped, then to our astonishment, fell, like a felled tree, face first down the steps. Shocked, we jumped over the banister (these were the days) and caught him just as he reached the bottom. The management ask us to carry him to the kitchen until help arrived. However we could not get him through the door because his arm was sticking out rigidly to the side. It turned out that he had had an epileptic fit, something none of us had heard of at the time, so it made quite an impression. Especially the intense deliberations over what to do about the arm that refused to bend. We had to turn him on his side so that it pointed straight up. No mean feat for four puny wastrels.

Anyway, the whole temperance thing never really took off. After several other incarnations, it has been Johnston’s Bar & Bistro since 2012. One of the town’s favourite meeting places. A scone at Johnston's Bar BistroWe decided to share a fruit scone because they were quite large. When it arrived it was accompanied by the biggest pot of cream we have ever come across. Probably enough to do twenty scones. Needless to say, almost all of it was left, but the scone itself was very good. Their strap line is ‘Food, Drink & Service as it should be‘. A strap line delivered, because we thoroughly enjoyed our visit.

Taking things for granted

When you think about it it’s really quite amazing. We sit watching pictures beamed directly into our living rooms. Strictly Come Dancing. Johanna Lumley crossing Siberia. Cameron trying to look as if he is negotiating something massive with the EU. Osborne pretending to have some sort of control. Children being starved to death in Madaya. We take the means by which these pictures reach us completely for granted but it all started here. Sending pictures between two rooms in this building.

FK1 1DG         tel: 01324 637299          Johnston’s Bar Bistro