Category Archives: Scones

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Fletcher’s

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Well, we have barely recovered from the tarts at the Original Maids of Honour in London and here we are back in Scotland doing a bit of scone foraging. We are at Fletcher’s in Stirling for afternoon tea. The first thing you notice is the building itself. It’s impressive for a restaurant but when you learn that it was originally the Bank of Scotland it starts to make sense. Most of the banks had very expensive elaborate buildings at one time but now they have almost all been given over to pubs and coffee shops. A sign of the times perhaps. Some people lament this change however not having been in a bank for more than thirty years  we are at least partly to blame.  That said, we have been in quite a few old bank buildings but for scones. In our eyes this is progres!Internal view of Fletchers

Anyway this is a family run business and has only been going for a year or so. Previously it was called Cook’s. It has seven bedrooms and a seventy cover restaurant so it’s no small affair. 

A long way to come

A glass of bubbles set us up nicely for whatever was to follow. It all came rather nicely presented in a traditional cake stand bedecked in flowers …. nice touch. Afternoon tea at FletchersYou all know by now that we aren’t fans of big scones in an afternoon tea. By the time you’ve eaten the sandwiches a couple of large scones is the last thing you need. We needn’t have worried, the scones were some of the smallest we have ever come across. Needless to say everything was first class and the scones had a superb crunchiness which we like. Even the cream, the ubiquitous Rhodda’s was very nice though it would have been nice if it had been a little more local than Cornwall. Hey, is this not what they are going on about in COP26? Transporting stuff for hundreds or even thousands of miles for no good reason.Scones at Fletchers

Scandal

This is the last day of COP26. World leaders have come and gone. Grandiose statements have been made but little real progress has been made. Scotland lost part of its soil – officially designated UN territory for the duration of the event. The UK also made a shocking discovery. Not only does it have a blithering idiot as its PM but a corrupt blithering idiot to boot. Was anyone surprised? The Tory scandals surrounding Owen Paterson and Geoffrey Cox have diverted attention from COP26 to the point where the PM had to stand up in front of 196 countries and deny that the UK was corrupt … brilliant!

A highland cow at Fletchers
hair by Boris

Anyway, in spite of our cream having come a long long way to land on our scones, Fletcher’s got a well deserved topscone.  Great to see a bank being used for something worthwhile.

 

FK8 2DT      tel: 01786 478297       Fletcher’s

///boxer.amount.latest

Scones, Top

Newens, The Original Maids of Honour

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Now, if anyone thinks there is anything such as a benign dictatorship, think again. You only have to look back to Henry VIII to see what can happen. While these desperados creat havoc and destroy people’s lives they also have sycophants fawning over them for fear of losing their own position … or even their heads. This innocent little tale of a scone from Newens, The Original Maids of Honour in Kew will help illustrate the point and educate those of you who are not already familiar with tarts.

We are in London for a combined wedding anniversary/house warming party … it was quite a bash! After everything had calmed down we thought we should take a couple of our granddaughters and educate them in the art of scone and tart appreciation. Internal view of Newens Original Maids of Honour, KewNewens was only a couple of short bus rides away but when the children related their adventure later, it was 750 buses.

High Tea

Cakes at Newens Original Maids of Honour, Kew
If Henry VIII had walked in it would definitely have been “off with their heads”

First impressions are very definitely of a genteel quintessentially English tearoom. A sort of hang out for blue rinse ladies and probably not the best sort of environment for a pair of scallywags. We ordered ‘high tea’ for two at £18 per person. It turned out to be more like what we would call ‘afternoon tea’ at home. We are in the madness they call London so perhaps such things are to be expected. More than that they also had ‘The Special Taster Set Tea‘  at £35 per person, the Champagne Set Tea, the Prosecco Set Tea, the Savoury Set Tea as well as the Maids of Honour Afternoon Tea. Gosh, we may have to go back! So what is all this Maids of Honour stuff anyway?

HR departments

For that we have to return to Henry VIII. Apparently when he was married to Anne Boleyn he walked in one day to find Anne and her maids of honour tucking in to some little tarts that one of the maids had baked. He tasted one and found it so delicious he decided they should be made exclusively for him. So instead of chopping Anne’s head off right away and promoting the maid to wife … or even Queen, he imprisoned the maid so that she could bake tarts just for him. The recipe was locked away in an iron box in Richmond Palace. Anne’s head would have to wait a while until it could be detached. Heads of HR departments all over the world may be squirming at the moment however Henry would doubtless have topped them as well.

Choosing cakes at Newens Original Maids of Honour, Kew
difficult choices

Eclair truffle and tart

One of the features of our High Tea was that you had to go next door to the bakery shop and pick your preferred cake. One of our young granddaughters chose a chocolate eclair and the other a chocolate truffle. I of course had to have the Maids of Honour tart. Before all that, of course, there was the sandwiches and scones. All washed down with as much tea as you could drink. As expected, it was all very good. The scones were deliciously soft, not crunchy like we usually prefer but somehow they were still good enough for our top award.

And what of the Maids of Honour tarts? Well, obviously the recipe has escaped from its strongbox in the Palace and somehow found its way to Newens. We hope we are not putting ourselves at risk by disclosing it here though Newens still keep their recipe secret. They are delectable little crisp puff pastry wonders with a filling of squidgy cheese and lemon curd. Fan-dabby-dozy … we could easily understand why Henry got a bit carried away!Old staff photo at Newens Original Maids of Honour, Kew

COP26

We wonder what Henry VIII would make of the COP26 summit starting today in Glasgow. It stands for the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties and will see over 400 private jets flying in as well as all all the other flights. They will produce more climate warming gas than the whole of Scotland in a year. Not an auspicious start. Well known climate sceptic Boris, or should it be Borax, will be there blabbering away pretending to be a dyed in the wool greenie. Over 190 countries will be represented though not the host country. Scotland not invited … ask Borax! With all the disruption it’s causing they better come up with something worthwhile but it may take Henry with his great big axe to concentrate minds!

TW9 3DU     tel: 020 8940 2752    Newens Bakery

///supply.strain.liked

 

 

 

Ordinary, Scones

Fat Jacks

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Here we are again visiting my elderly aunt in Callander. We’ve got a nerve, she’s not that much older than us. The last time we were in this cafe, however, was three years ago and back then it was called Applejacks. Now its undergone a minor name change to Fat Jacks. Don’t know what that’s all about because it still looks pretty much the same.

Looking north up Loch Lubnaig
Loch Lubnaig from the Cabin. My cousin used to say there was the wreck of a plane on the hill on the left but I never knew whether to believe him or not
Square sausage

Our reason for being out and about was actually to visit the Cabin at Loch Lubnaig. When we used to travel this road every weekend going to Glencoe this was just a little lay-by with a litter bin as the only facility.

The Cabin at Loch Lubnaig
the Cabin

A few years back this café was built but because we were always on our way to somewhere else we have never stopped to investigate. We also realised that we would never stop there unless we made it our destination. So that’s why we ended up here. Just our luck, best laid plans and all that, it turned out to be just a serving hatch. No sitting in but lots of seats outside … and no scones …. argh! Heyho, it was a lovely day. We got a coffee and shared a roll and square sausage. We’ve been together many years now so Pat has got used to extravagant fine dining! 

Looking north up Loch Lubnaig
we counted five hardy souls swimming in the loch and lots of paddle boarders

For a scone we had to backtrack to Callander, hence we ended up at Fat Jacks. Dedication or what? There were only cherry scones left so that simplified the decision making. A scone at Fat JacksThey had obviously been baked as a large round then cut up in a triangular shape, a bit like a pizza. No cream or jam though. The lady behind the counter explained that the owners were trying to sell the place so there wasn’t a large selection of anything. And it had that kind of feel about it. The scone had plenty cherries and was nice enough but without the usual accoutrements it was never going to be a topscone.

Hells angels

Not to worry, it was lovely sitting in the sunshine watching the good folks of Callander going about their business. The general peace and quiet, however, was somewhat rudely interrupted by a gang of Hells Angels roaring into town on their Harley Davidsons. They parked right beside us in Ancaster Square and we watched with interest to see what would happen next.  They took off their helmets and there wasn’t one of them below retirement age. Should have known … how else can you afford a Harley? They wandered off along the street … probably anxious to find a scone!

Progress ?

In our previous post from Applejacks you will doubtless remember us mentioning Scottish satirist James Thomson Callendar.

wind in Callander
This shop window might be better placed at Westminster

A couple of hundred years ago he published a book  rather nattily entitled  “The Political Progress of Britain or an Impartial History of Abuses in the Government of the British Empire in Europe, Asia and America since the Revolution in 1688 to the present time, the whole tending to prove the ruinous consequences of the popular system of Taxation, War and Conquest.” You’ve probably all read it by now but we wonder what he would have made of our progress since these days? Not much we suspect. Back then, however,  he was obliged to flee the country for daring to criticise the government. No sense of humour or just unable to face the truth … you decide.

FK17 8ED     tel: 01877 330370      Fat Jacks FB

///discussed.tungsten.marathon

Scones

Dunimarle Castle

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We are cheating a bit with this post. We’ll explain as we go along. Dunimarle Castle is something of a revelation for us. It stands on a highly elevated site overlooking the Firth of Forth just a twenty minute drive away from home. And yet we had never heard of it or even seen it until today. How on earth can that happen? Sometimes we surprise ourselves with the depth of our own ignorance.

Wellintonia avenue at Dunimarle Castle
Avenue of Wellingtonias used to from the main entrance to the castle
Don’t get on the wrong side of the king

Turns out that back in the 11th century this was the seat of the Thane of Fife, Lord MacDuff. He had upset the king, MacBeth by not attending his inauguration. Consequently, MacBeth ordered MacDuff’s  wife and children to be murdered at Dunimarle in order to clear the blood line. It’s just a wild guess but we think MacBeth may have been a Tory. In 1835 Dunimarle, or Castlehill as it was known originally, was almost completely demolished and rebuilt by one Magdalene Erskine.

Portrait of Magdalene ErskineMagdalene was quite a woman! She got married to an Admiral Sharpe when she was in her sixties but it only lasted three days … no comment! Her brother was a soldier and she intended Dunimarle to be a museum for his extensive collection of 850 artworks ‘acquired’ on his many campaigns. Recently all these artworks were moved to Duff House near Banff but we think it’s time for them to be returned … Magdalene would have wanted that!

The Edible Wall

The thing that attracted us here however was the Edible Wall. We had seen a notice about it and imagining a wall made of scones with jam as mortar … and instead of cope stones there would be lashings of cream. It had to be done! Sadly there were no scones. The wall was impressive nevertheless.

The edible wall at Dunimarle Castle
the Edible Wall used to be heated by fires in the spring to protect the young fruit blossoms

In fact there were no scones anywhere at Dunimarle, not even a cafe. We had to go a few hundred yards to the east to get a scone at the Biscuit Cafe in Culross. Technically this post should have been entitled “The Biscuit Revisited” but then, so far as we are aware, MacBeth never ordered anyone to be put to death at the Biscuit, nor does it have an edible wall. Not as good a story so hopefully you’ll forgive us for cheating just a wee bit.

External view of the Biscuit Café in Culross
Culross with the Biscuit in the distance
The Biscuit Café

Our last post from the Biscuit was back in 2015 and although we have been back to Culross many times since then, scones have never been on the agenda. Culross is steeped in history. You get a real feel for what a 17th century village must have looked like. Names like ‘Stinking Wynd’ however may have given some of our delicate 21st century senses a bit of a shock! It’s looks also belie the fact that it was once the centre for the export of coal with the first mine in the world able to extract from beneath the sea. It also has a Palace built around 1600, though it was really more of a rather grand house for a wealthy merchant.

The palace at Culross
Culross Palace

Internal view of the Biscuit Café in CulrossEnough, what about the scones, we hear you cry. It’s always a treat to visit this café. It’s part of the Culross Pottery and Gallery so there are lots of things made on the premises that you can admire and buy. It also  has a conservatory and a lovely sheltered garden area for sitting out. 

A scone at the Biscuit Café in CulrossThey only had plain scones left so after a bite of lunch we shared one between us. It was nicely presented and came with plenty jam and cream. Back in 2015 we didn’t think their scones merited a topscone award and unfortunately it was the same this time. Just didn’t quite make it. The Biscuit is always worth a visit though so don’t let that verdict put you off in any way.

Street view in Culross
typical Culross street
Comedians

Last time we wrote about this place Jeremy Corbyn had just unexpectedly triumphed in the Labour leadership elections. At last there was some clear blue water between Labour and the Conservatives. Now, of course, Corbyn is history but in spite of now being led by a knight of the realm that clear blue water now looks ever more brown and murky. So with no opposition whatsoever over the past decade we now have a stand up comedian in charge of the country. To observe the sunny uplands that Boris keeps seeing we know that we would have to have many more pints of whatever he is on! We’re not that ignorant.

Great day at Dunimarle and the Biscuit.

DUNIMARLE CASTLE:   KY12 8JN  tel: 07713 629040    Dunimarle

///stunts.relief.snitch

THE BISCUIT CAFE:    KY12 8JG    The Biscuit

///spoons.depending.encroach

Scones, Top

Vera Artisan Bakery

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Logo of Vera Artisan BakeryThe Laird got in touch to say that Vera Artisan Bakery in Stirling might be worth a visit. The Laird (full title Laird of Dumyat) is an avid sconey and the only member of the aristocracy willing to lower himself to our level so we value his judgement. Internal view of Vera Artisan Bakery

Display case at Vera Artisan Bakery
Pies and cakes all made here

The first thing you notice walking into Vera Artisan bakery is that it is quite small, only three tables. But you also notice its light bright interior and the two large display cabinets full of little wonders. And you don’t have to be here very long however before you notice something else … it’s a happy place!

Toasted
our server at Vera Artisan Bakery
our happy server

There’s great cheerful banter between the staff working behind the counter in the bakery itself and those out front serving the likes of us. These days when lots of places get swallowed up by large multinationals, it’s delightful to come across a small independent and apparently thriving  enterprise like this. We decided to share some lunch and do the same with a fruit scone for afters.  Everything was great but then it came to the scone. “Would we care for it to be toasted?” Why not? It duly appeared, toasty warm and accompanied with nice wee pots of jam and cream.

My dad used to say sarcastically of some of my mum’s baking efforts “It won’t need pegging down”. Well this scone almost needed pegging down,  it was so light. Overall, very nice indeed.A scone at Vera Artisan Bakery

After no deliberation at all we decided to award a top scone. Well done Vera Artisan Bakery. This place could be described as small, beautiful, happy and independent … words that could be describing Scotland in a few years time?

We feel there is something odd going on in government and the media at the moment. Surprise, surprise we hear you say! In spite of an abundance of supply problems, no-one seems willing to mention Brexit as a possible cause. They cast around looking for reasons for staffing shortages but seem allergic to using the ‘B’ word. Very strange, like it’s a taboo word.

Britain is also the only country in western Europe to have decreasing exports over the past year. Must be the weather! Anyway as long as places like Vera continue to thrive, we’ll be okay. Many thanks to the Laird for the heads-up.

FK8 1NA         tel: 07928 140636       Vera Artisan 

///jelly.sings.oppose

A scone in Cheadleps Our newly appointed Cheshire correspondents sent this picture of their scone at John Lewis in Cheadle Royal shopping centre in Greater Manchester. Apart from a comment saying it was ‘delightful’ there was no further information.  They are rookies after all so we have to make allowances. Many thanks, great first effort!

///pardon.grit.fell

Scones, Uncategorized

MacMillan Coffee Morning

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Back in 2019 Pat ran a MacMillan Coffee Morning and raised over £500 which we thought was absolutely tremendous. Last year, of course, it was cancelled because of COVID. This year she thought she would try again. It’s easy to agreed to run one of these events in April when September is still almost six months away. Suddenly, however, it’s September and you realise that there is a lot involved in getting such an event off the ground …. aaaargghh!Publicity for MacMillan Coffee Morning

The MacMillan organisation has given our family much appreciated support over the years. So, no matter how much is involved, we feel almost duty bound to try and repay in some small way. The MacMillan Coffee Mornings are a very pleasurable way of doing exactly that.

Lion poo

invitations were distributed round the neighbourhood over a fortnight ago but would anybody come … that was the question? Of course they did and yesterday our house was packed to bursting.Friends at the MacMillan Coffee Morning

One of the nice things about these events is that fact that people are so happy to help in any way they can. Cakes galore appeared as if by magic as did biscuits, tarts and all sorts of other goodies. Folk also brought plants and things to sell or use as raffle prizes … amazing! We even had a box of lion poo to raffle!

And guess what, one guest even brought a whole tray of homebaked scones … yeah! A scone at MacMillan Coffee MorningThe house was stuffed with people and while Pat and I mingled  our friends worked themselves to te bone making sure everything went like clockwork We are so lucky! I even had time to sample the scones. They all looked great, just the right size and soft with just a hint of crustiness on the exterior. Together with apple jelly and whipped cream they would have been an easy topscone had it not been for the fact that none of our readers will ever be able to sample them. That’s not a whole lot of use so we’ve had to leave them as ‘uncategorised’. Fab sconesthoughFriends at the MacMillan Coffee Morning

Generosity

We’ve left out carping about politicians in this post because this is much more important … they can wait for our disgruntlement. At the moment we are very happy, because it was a wonderful couple of hours. Publicity for MacMillan Coffee MorningTo us it reaffirmed just how wonderful people are! Either by helping in all sorts of ways but also by their extraordinary generosity. MacMillan Coffee Mornings were going being  held all over the world at the same time as ours. If you consider that our relatively modest event has  raised the amazing amount £1,250 so far there must have been a lot of money donated to MacMillan yesterday. And quite right too! If any readers feel like contributing even more you can use this QR code.QR code for MacMillan Coffee MorningThe winner of the lion poo just cannot believe his luck!

Many thanks to everyone concerned but particularly to Henry’s Coffee Company and Cafe Corvina for their very generous support.

 

Ordinary, Scones

Dunelm Coffee House

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This is a distressing tale of misconception misfortune. More than a little harrowing so readers of a delicate disposition should consider carefully whether to read further. It starts scarily by me going into a shop … something I haven’t done in a long time. I’ve found Jeff Bezos is perfectly capable of looking after all my worldly needs … except scones, of course. We were actually heading to Frankie and Benny’s for some lunch when we came on this sign as we passed the Dunelm homewares store which houses the Dunelm Coffee House.Sign at Dunelm

We don’t want you to think that we are cheapskates but a scone for £1 just cannot be ignored. As soon as you go in you are confronted by masses of stuff … everything from a needle to an anchor. Admittedly we didn’t ask for either but if we had, they would probably have directed us to the appropriate section. “Anchors are over there sir between the kettles and the made-to-measure curtains!”Internal view of Dunelm

Thawing out?

The cafe is on the first floor so up we went. We took our seats and Pat went to the self service counter to order some lunch and a scone to share. Sacre bleu, they had a big basket of scones but we were told they were all frozen and hadn’t thawed out … what? There was no choice but to simply settle for a ham and cheese toastie.Internal view of Dunelm

As we were finishing however I noticed a lady going past and what did she have … a scone! I called over to the girl behind the counter “how come we didn’t get a scone” to which she answered “because they weren’t ready but they are now“. It had to be done so Pat went up and waited in the queue again to get one. Turned out it was only the scone for £1, if you wanted jam and cream it was £2.70. Mon Dieu, is there no end?

A scone at DunelmWell no there wasn’t! They may have been ‘ready’ in somebody’s eyes but definitely not in ours. Okay it wasn’t frozen but it had just bearly got above zero degrees. Refreshing you might think on a hot day like this but no, it was just hard and cold. To top it all it came with cream from Cornwall and jam from Tiptree in Essex and you all know what we think of that. Told you it was harrowing. We did get a nice bath mat though! 

Pride

So the Council of Europe has found Britain to be the most unequal country in Europe with the highest poverty rates.lowest pensions and the least democracy. Wow, that’s not something to be proud of! All is not lost, however, Emma Raduncanu has just won the US tennis championship without dropping a single set in the entire tournament. Remarkable for anyone but for an 18 year old it’s quite astounding. She came through with nothing expected of her. Even she had her return flights to London booked two weeks before the final. We just hope she can withstand the media pressure she will find herself under in future championships. Adding the pressure of being virtually the only thing the UK can be proud of won’t help either. Good luck Emma.

FK1 1LW       tel: 01324 460020     Dunelm

Falkirk made K6s in Broadway, EssexThe Pedant has sent pictures of a couple of Falkirk made K6s in Broadway in Essex. Also some black K6s near Piccadilly Circus in London. Frozen scones and black telephone boxes  … the world has gone to pot!Black K6s near Piccadilly Circus

Ordinary, Scones

Tudor Coffee House

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In our previous post from Nithbank House we mentioned the extraordinary love between Lord and Lady Nithsdale. That was back in the 18th century but the place we are in today is dedicated to love. It’s their secret ingredient! We are at the Tudor Coffee House in Strathaven (pronounced Stray-ven).

External view of Tudor House Coffee Shop
Three metre long side on the side of the building
Love is all you need

They even give advice on how to achieve it. In 1362, Archibald the Grim became the first Baron of Strathaven. He did it through marriage to Joanna de Moravia. This is a small miracle in itself because, by all accounts, Archie was of unrefined stature and pot ugly. We can only think that he must have visited the Tudor Coffee House and took some lessons in the art of love. Pedantic readers need not write to point out problems with this timeline.Love poster

The cafe’s not very big so we decided to sit outside in the sunshine so that we could watch Strathaven in action. Internal view of Tudor House Coffee ShopWe’ve passed through the town before but never noticed how pretty it is. The large square in the centre is a car park now but it used to be common pasture and is still called ‘The Green’. The surrounding buildings are harled in a variety of colours that give it an overall pleasing effect in the sunshine. It used to have a thriving weaving industry but the number of passing tractors seemed to indicate something more agricultural these days. 

A scone at Tudor House Coffee ShopWe wanted a fruit scone but they only had plain left. The lovely girl who was looking after us offered to toast it and seemed, judging by the knowing wink, to think that was a good idea. Who were we to argue? Turned out to be sound advice because we thoroughly enjoyed it. Eventually though we thought it was just slightly short of a topscone … shame.

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Crash landing

Strathaven was also home during WWII to music hall and vaudeville hero, Sir Harry Lauder. He was responsible for such classics as Roamin’ in the Gloamin’ and Keep Right On To The End of The Road. Lots of love. At the same time Hitlers deputy Rudolf Hess was supposed to land his plane at the Duke of Hamilton’s residence, Dungavel House on the outskirts of Strathaven. At the time the Duke was thought to be a Nazi sympathiser. In foul weather he missed Dungavel and crash-landed in a farm a bit further north. That was the end of his freedom . He died, 46 years later, as the sole inmate of Spandau prison in Berlin.

Dungavel house is still there but now it’s an Immigration Removal Centre for folks awaiting deportation. Some of the poor sods floating across the English Channel in rubber dinghies will probably end up there. Not a lot of love. Maybe they should close Dungavel and use the Tudor Coffee House?

ML10 6AH.   tel: 01357 529487       Tudor Coffee

///fights.premiums.walks

Scones, Top

Nithbank House

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.We’re away for a few days … hurrah! These days it’s not that easy to find a hotel or B&B with availability because everywhere in Scotland seems to be fully booked.  The COVID staycation phenomenum  has seen loads of people coming here from other parts of the UK … and who can blame them? Many will have visited for the first time so hopefully the staycation will become a regular thing rather than the usual jetting off to foreign parts. We did, however, find Nithbank House which had a room free for a couple of days … bingo!

Drumlanrig Castle
Drumlanrig Castle
The Chamberlain

Driving down Nithsdale we stopped off at Drumlanrig Castle for a bit of a nosey. It looks like it could house a small army but actually only two folk live there, The Duke and Duchess of Bucchleuch and Queensberry. Drumlanrig’s 90,000 acres forms only a relatively minor part of the 280,000 acres the Duke owns in Scotland. It’s good to know he has done nothing, apart from being born, to merit such vast wealth. It transpired though that Nithbank House was built in the 1790s by the 4th Duke as accommodation for his Chamberlain … a kind of estate factor. And, would you believe it, we were going to be staying in the Chamberlain’s Quarters!  

View from Nithbank
the view from our scone over the river Nith and Nithsdale
Shallow or shallow

The house has a magnificent location looking out over Nithsdale. In the blurb it says that everyone is welcomed with warm scones. Now we don’t want you to think that we are shallow enough to be enticed by such frivolous inducements … okay, okay we are! It is run by Melanie and John, two very warm and friendly people, and when we arrived Melanie said we could have our scones in our room, the lounge or outside. We opted for outside and within a few minutes we were sitting in the sun admiring the view.

External view of Nithbank
Pat limbering up for a scone

The beauty of the view was only bettered by the arrival of our scones. Wow, this is how scones should be presented!Scones at Nithbank

There were two treacle scones and two fruit ones. Nice little dishes of cream and jam as well as one full of finely cut strawberries. Everything was homemade. Unfortunately one of the treacle scones could have done with another minute in the oven however the rest were fabulous. Given the setting, the presentation, the service and the scones themselves we decided that one slightly undercooked scone could be overlooked … easy topscone. Well done Melanie and John!

The power of love
Internal view of Nithbank
A Rembrandt at Nithsdale House. Drumlanrig Castle thinks it has the original.

In such a romantic setting you can’t help. but think back to 1715 and the love between the Earl of Nithsdale and his wife, Lady Winifred. For his part in the Jacobite Uprising he had been found guilty of treason and thrown in The Tower of London to await his execution. Lady Nithsdale rode to London in deep snow accompanied only by a maid. She visited the Earl and together they hatched a daring escape plan. Elaborate and extremely dangerous but it worked. They escaped to Italy where they spent the rest of their lives probably reminiscing about Scotland and Nithsdale. They’d have sympathised with the folks currently having to flee Afghanistan.

Afghanistan

Today is the first day in two decades that Afghanistan has not been occupied by foreign troops … cause for celebration in itself! It remains to be seen how things will pan out with the Taliban. Strangely though, at the moment they seem to be only ones talking any sense. In future Afghanistan will be ruled by a handful of men who think they know what is good for everyone else. However, we all know what that feels like! With talk of kalashnikovs and burkhas, Nithbank seems like it’s on another planet. Planet Nithbank for us!

Logo of Nithbank

DG3 5AP      tel: 07823 773211     Nithbank Country Estate

///sonic.puppy.automatic

 

Ordinary, Scones

Glenturret Lalique distillery

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It’s touching when people write and ask if we are still alive just because they haven’t received a scone post for a while. Apologies, we are okay but we have been a little distracted by other things recently. To kick things off again we thought that we should visit a special place, Glenturret Lalique distillery just outside Crieff. The crest at Glenturret Lalique distilleryWhen I was young my big brother and I used to get sent here every year for our holidays. Not to the distillery itself but to Distillery Cottage which was just a few yards along the road and the home off aunt Muriel. No idea why we were sent to stay with Muriel but maybe our parents just wanted rid of us for a few weeks … that’s a distinct possibility!

The swing

The little glen in which the distillery sits is idyllic and we had the freedom to explore far and wide … we regarded it, horizon to horizon, as our own. The sun always shone and our aunt used to make banana flip for pudding … bliss!  At that time the distillery was closed and was falling into disrepair. We used to play in it’s many abandoned buildings. There was a swing in one  and when James Fairlie bought the place in 1957, with a view to reopening it as a distillery, he asked us if he could take it down. Just think … if we had said “no”, none of this would have happened!Logo of Glenturret Lalique distillery

Anyway, the distillery has had many incarnations since then. The last one was the Famous Grouse Experience but now it has been taken over by Lalique the upmarket French glass manufacturers. Today I was here once again with my big brother who had invited myself and Pat for lunch.

Bar at Glenturret Lalique distillery
The bar

Things have changed! Our old swing has been replaced by a huge Lalique chandelier for one. Tempting though it was we did not try it out as a swing … we’re grown up now! Everything about the place screams ‘quality’ … they had even imported French waiting staff. Pat and I were very happy not to be paying the bill. such at GlenturretLunch consisted of haggis Scotch eggs, sea trout, Wagyu steaks, scallops and elaborate chocolate desserts … absolutely wonderful! 

Lounge at Glenturret Lalique distillery
the salon
Duty calls.

Remembering our scone duties, however, we asked if we could have tea and scones in the salon. I had heard they did a Glenturret sherry-soaked fruit scone … but it wasn’t to be, only ordinary fruit ones. A return visit for afternoon tea is now essential!

As might be expected the scones came beautifully presented with delightful little dishes of cream and homemade jam. My tea came in a lovely cup produced in Germany to Lalique’s design. It had a matt white finish but no handle. Oddly, it did not feel hot to pick up – dashed cunning those continental types.

A scone at Glenturret Lalique distillery

Design over substance

Now you would expect the scones to be top notch in a place like this, wouldn’t you? But they weren’t. Good, yes but not topscone material, plenty of fruit but just a wee bit on the solid side for our liking. Not to worry when we come back for our Glenturret sherry soaked scone we might get a better result … especially if we have a few of them!

World records

Towser the cat at Glenturret Lalique distilleryGlenturret Lalique distillery is not only famous for once housing our swing it was also home to Towser the Mouser. Towser holds the Guinness World record for killing mice, 28,899 to be precise. How did they work that out and are they absolutely sure it wasn’t 28,900? She lived all of her 24 years in the distillery and has a thoroughly well deserved bronze statue testifying to her considerable achievements. We could have played with Towser if she had been around in our time but she would have probably been too busy!

This visit was a special treat from my big brother and it was very special. Hope the wallet didn’t protest too much. Pat even bought me a bottle of Glenturret sherry cask whisky. She could have got it in a Lalique bottle but she’s too Scottish for that sort of nonsense. Should I try soaking a scone in it?

Borders

At last the US and UK are leaving Afghanistan … should never have been there in the first place. Inexcusable for Britain which has a centuries old disastrous history in the region. On the way home from Crieff we noticed swallows lined up on the telephone wires getting ready to fly back to South Africa after the summer. They will be replaced by thousands of geese coming here from Siberia and Greenland. With the current woeful situation in Afghanistan it occurred to us that borders have a lot to answer for.

PH7 4HA        tel: 01764 656565        Glenturret Lalique

///epic.impose.extremely