In our original post, almost two years ago, we gave Callendar House a bit of a hard time. We appealed to Falkirk Community Council to pull their socks up and provide something a little better. Well … we got a tip off in the form of this photo from our Trossachs correspondents, remember them? They are mostly dormant in winter but the fresh spring air has obviously stirred them and they sent this picture from a recent visit. They also reported an improvement in the scones! So this is Callendar House Tearoom 2. Philosophically the blackboard message gets right to the heart of everything. Perhaps another visit was required.

Stolen decanters

A slight aside. Because my dad worked for Callendar Estate, when the contents of the house were been auctioned off in 1963, I, as a mere youth, was given the task of patrolling one of the floors, which included Mary Queen of Scots bedroom, to ensure that nothing was stolen. Didn’t someone pinch a full set of crystal decanters and glasses from her room … arrgghh! As far as I can remember I still got paid! The marriage agreement between Mary and the French Dauphin, Francis, which provided that Scotland and France should eventually be united as one kingdom, was signed here. Mary was fifteen and Francis fourteen when they were married in the cathedral of Notre Dame, Paris. The rest, as they say, is history. Interesting to speculate though on what things would be like now if Scotland had united with France rather than England.

Inappropriate furnishing

The tearoom is housed in a beautiful old wood paneled room with ornate gilded cornicing. The publicity says “the newly refurbished Callendar House Tearoom offers a bright and airy café experience” … and it does. It also has nice views from the tall windows onto the expansive lawns and gardens.  The refurbishment however has involved replacing all the tables and chairs we complained about last time with equally modern featureless items which, although better, are still slightly incongruous. For such a grand setting, more appropriate Victoriana could easily have been purchase from auctions at a fraction of the cost. A lost opportunity! We have got to hand it to the staff however who have to work one of the most inefficient systems known to man. The kitchen is miles away, the cakes and pastries are at the furthest away point from the kitchen and the till is half way in between. They have to walk many unnecessary miles every day. But they seem to do so happily, well done them!

What’s with all this moaning we hear you say? Exactly, let’s get on to the scones. Our correspondents turned out to be absolutely correct,  they were much improved, very good even. Not quite topscone but close. Again no local produce, the jam was the ubiquitous Tiptree variety and the butter was completely anonymous. Heyho the overall experience was much better than last time … small steps. Thanks to our Trossachs correspondents for the heads-up!

Policies?

Just started getting our Council Election bumf through the door. Our sitting Tory counciller has a large fancy pamphlet completely devoid of policies except ” SNP bad” … probably all you can say if you can’t think of anything good to say about your own party! FK1 1YR               tel: 01324 503770              Callendar House