Category Archives: island

island, Scones

Isle of Harris Distillery

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

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

Sugar Kelp

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

 

 

Mairi Mackenzie

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

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

Social places

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

HS3 3DJ              tel: 01859 502212             Harris Distillery

island, Ordinary, Scones

Harris Hotel

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

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

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

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

Ruling classes

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

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

Doubts creep in

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

Vandals

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

Honesty

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

HS3 3DL          tel: 01859 502154           Harris

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

island, Scones, Uncategorized

The Hungry Gull

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

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

Alternatives

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

Numpties

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

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

IV51 9XX           tel: 07909 323848             Hungry Gull FB

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

island, Ordinary, Scones

Isle of Raasay Distillery

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

Needs must

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

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

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

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

Calum’s Road

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Epic

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

Out of touch

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

IV40 8PB             tel: 01478 470178          Raasay Distillery

IV40 8PB             tel: 01478 660300           Raasay House

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

parking nightmare in Inverarish

 

island, Scones, Top

Judith Glue Café

It’s our last day on Orkney. Although the wind is still blowing as hard as ever we are already feeling sad at the prospect of leaving this magical island.

The Gloup, Orkney
The Gloup

We haven’t managed to get onto any of the smaller islands like Hoy or Papa Westray, partly because there is just so much to do and see on Mainland and partly because of time constraints. Also the weather has done absolutely nothing to encourage us to board a small boat and head out across the sea! Perhaps another visit with more time is called for? The Brough of Deerness, another prehistoric settlement, was to be our target destination today but when we reached the beginning of the path it became pretty obvious that the clifftop route in such strong winds would just be too tricky. Instead we contented ourselves with a visit to The Gloup, a long sea cave where the roof has collapsed … if you would like to visit just click here.

Insurance claims

Close by is the Covenanter’s Memorial where, in 1679, more than 200 Scottish Covenanter prisoners were drowned when their ship ‘The Crown of London’ was dashed on the rocks as they were being transported to Jamaica to become slaves. All the crew escaped but the prisoners were battened down in the hold with no hope of escape. There was no compensation for escaped prisoners. Cruel, we know, but do you think the captain might have been a Tory?

Scone time meant we had to go back to Kirkwall and this time to the Judith Glue Café. It is directly opposite St Magnus Cathedral, founded in 1135 and known as ‘The Light in the North’ … truly magnificent! Interior of St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall,OrkneyJudith Glue comes from a very entrepreneurial family that has stuck together (sorry) to run lots of businesses around Orkney and further afield. This is actually quite a large shop selling everything – clothes, art, jewellery and antiques. It complements another shop she runs in Inverness. At the back of the shop you come to the café/restaurant area which is quite big in itself. They pride themselves on supporting the local community and 60% of everything they sell is from the island. And that includes the clothing, the jewellery and the food. Would we find Rhodda’s Cornish Cream here, no!

Old fashioned beliefs

We decide to have what they call a ‘Peedie Cream Tea’. In this part of the world you see the word ‘peedie’ everywhere and applied to all sorts of things. Transpires that it simply means ‘small’. OA scone at Judith Glue, Kirkwall, Orkneyur Peedie Cream Tea cost about £8 and for that we got two sandwiches of our choice as well as a scone of our choice together with jam and cream and tea or coffee. It was all perfectly delicious and would you believe it, another topscone! That makes a clean sweep of topscones for Orkney. Testament, we think, to their old fashioned believes in good friendly service and self reliance. The toilets here have interesting signs for the ‘ladies’ and ‘gents’. We think both look particularly attractive.Viking man and woman at Judith Glue, Kirkwall, OrkneyAlso a great advert for Old Orkney whisky.

Stromness whisky advertisment at Judith Glue, Kirkwall, OrkneyPat ended up with her bird list totaling a very healthy forty nine … excellent considering we didn’t see any of the usual culprits – blue tits, chaffinches, sparrows etc. Perhaps our biggest surprise was the number of swallows still flying around at this time of year. They have a much longer journey than us ahead of them!

Surprises

This really is a wonderful island. It has been full of surprises … not least of which was the following morning at 7am when we drove from Stromness to St Margaret’s Hope to catch our ferry. In a flat calm! C’est la vie!

KW15 1DH         tel: 01856 874225     Judith Glue Real Food Café

island, Scones, Top

The Strynd Tearoom

The wind is still blowing with wicked enthusiasm. In spite of that, our plan for today is to visit the west of Mainland … Skara Brae and all that, and end up in Kirkwall, the capital. Most sconeys will know something of the rich archaeology of Orkney.

Skara Brae and Skaill House at Sandwick on Orkney
5000 year old Skara Brae neolithic village with Skaill House in the distance

Up here they were building houses and having a high old time of it long before things like the Pyramids and Stonehenge had even been thought of. However, our abiding memory of Skara Brae will be of getting sandblasted by the wind coming off the beach. Certainly gives you a rosy complexion. Road sign to the village of Twatt, Orkney

Stormy weather at Skara Brae at Sandwick on Orkney
Orkney weather is dramatic and changes every five minutes

 

 

Another problem with the wind is holding your binoculars steady enough to identify birds.

We had no problem though with a brilliant view of a female hen harrier not far from Skara Brae. It is a thrill to see these relatively rare birds because they rather stupidly nest on the ground. As a result, their young usually fall foul of predators before they can fledge. Pat’s list is now over forty which she is thrilled about. However, her joy was such that it was all I could do to stop her stealing a road sign to one of the local villages. Completely cobweb free, we eventually made it to Kirkwall and the Strynd Tearoom. Interior view of the Strynd Tearoom, Kirkwall, Orkney
Go north for scones

Like Stromness, Kirkwall also has lots of wee lanes and this tearoom takes its name from the lane where its located. When we asked how to pronounce ‘Strynd’. It seemed to be “Strand’ but with the strangulated pronunciation that maybe a South African would use. It is a tiny place but lovely and everything is home made. Once again we were made very welcome and once again our scones were excellent. A scone at the Strynd Tearoom, Kirkwall, OrkneyWe are developing a theory that the further north you go the better the scones are. We have had nothing but topscones recently. The Strynd scone was warm and served with nice pots of jam and cream. The scone itself looked as if it would be crunchy but wasn’t. It was gloriously soft and absolutely delicious … another topscone!

The Big Tree

Now, while most of you will have heard of the Ring of Brodgar and other Orcadian archaeological gems, how many of you have heard of The Big Tree? Or how many have heard of the Heimskringla? Thought so … let us explain.  The Big Tree in Broad Street, Kirkwall, Orkney

Heimskringla is a book of Old Norse sagas written in Iceland  in the 12th century … you’ve probably read it. The Big Tree is the only one left of three that were planted by Robert Laing, father of the Heimskringla’s translator, in his garden over 200 years ago. When they widened the main street by demolishing Laing’s walled garden this tree was left standing in the street. When you look at it you might wonder why its called The Big Tree? Well, in Orkney terms, it is! And it is obviously much loved. It still supports a luxurious head of leaves although largely hollow. And it is supported by steel girders inserted in its trunk to keep it upright.

DNA

What else has been happening in the big bad world while we have been enjoying ourselves on this island. Here, you quickly feel kind of snugly insulated from the outside world? The media is still largely ignoring the biggest political conference in the UK. The SNP conference. They are concentrating instead on the sexual indiscretions of a Hollywood director that few have heard of and no one could care less about.

Theresa May is still clinging on like a barnacle while Britain skillfully negotiates a “no deal‘, Brexit. Catalonia seems to have rather skillfully blindsided the Spanish government … for the moment! Trump’s big golf courses in Scotland seem to be loosing a fortune … bad! Scotland’s football team is no longer eligible for another pointless World Cup competition because of our DNA according to the manager … good! Well, well, well … the Big Tree has seen it all before.

Scapa distillery, Scapa, Orknay
Scapa distillery in the distance on the shores of Scapa Flow

KW15 1HG       tel: 01856 871552     The Strynd Tearoom

island, Scones, Top

Julia’s Café & Bistro

When you leave South Ronaldsay you have to cross several causeways to get to the Mainland. Confusing for simple folks like us because, as far as we were concerned, we had left the mainland far behind at John O’ Groats. On Orkney, however, an archipelago of over 70 islands (the 20,000 population is spread over 20 of them) the largest island is called Mainland. When you become aware of the intricate system of small ferries and flights going to and fro between these islands it is easier to understand why.

This is a very self contained and independent community so they would naturally think of their biggest and most populated island as “the mainland”. To get there, all we had to do was drive across four causeways from South Ronaldsay to the island of Burray, then the island of Glimps Holm, then the island of Lamb Holm and we were there … simple. Simple yes, exciting .. very! The storm meant that waves were crashing right over all the causeways. We just closed our eyes and hoped for the best. The Italian Chapel, Orkney

On Lamb Holm we came to the Italian Chapel. Amazing to think that this entire church was created by Italian prisoners of war, from a Nissen hut and nothing other than scrap materials e.g. the lanterns were made from corned beef tins. The Orkney Wine Company is right beside the Chapel. We had to buy some of their ‘Tattie Wine’. It’s hand crafted from three varieties of Orkney potatoes and matured in whisky barrels. “Discover more with every sip” it says. We’ll let you know.

A view of Stromness, Orkney
Stromness with a Northlink ferry in the middle distance

 

Lost café

Eventually we reached Mainland and Stromness where we were lodging for the duration of our stay. Driving in Stromness is almost as exciting as driving the causeways. High Street Stromness, OrkneyThe main street, which bears seven different names, appeared more like a lane and we were not sure if we were supposed to drive along it since it was only about the width of a car … no problem. It is actually two way and no one here seems to have the slightest difficulty with it. Never even heard a horn being honked!

Login's Well, high Street Stromness, Orkney
Login’s Well on main street where Capt Cook watered the Resolution and Discovery in 1780 and Sir John Franklin watered his ships Erebus and Terror in 1845 … names to fire the imagination

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By this time a scone was definitely called for and it was Julia’s Café & Bistro that rode to the rescue. It is situated at the harbour where the big NorthLink Ferries leave for Scrabster on the mainland. That’s the mainland mainland! Again the service was very friendly and helpful and yet again the scones were fab. A scone at Julias café, Stromness, OrkneyOur second Orkney scone was served with little disposable pots of jam and cream and although not too crunchy on the outside they were delicious .. another topscone. Apparently there is another café in Stromness but we couldn’t find it. It is doubtless tucked away in the plethora of tiny back lanes.

Raised eyebrows

We did find the An art exhibit at Stromness Art Centre, OrkneyPier Art Centre however which is a state of the art building with a wide variety of exhibits, one of which you can see here. All a bit beyond us but great to find such a modern and dynamic facility in Stromness. We spent quite a long time perusing. It was great to be out of the wind which was still blowing a hooley. Will it ever calm down? When you speak to Orkney folk about things like Hurricane Maria you usually just get a raised eyebrow. Hardy, no nonsense folk!Interior view of Julias café, Stromness, OrkneyKW16 3AE        tel: 01856 850904             Julia’s Café Bistro

Again on main street we found a functioning K6 hiding in a corner next to the museum … made in Falkirk.A Falkirk K6 in Stromness main street, OrkneyPat, by the way, is now at thirty two with her bird list and still a few days to go.

 

island, Scones, Top

Robertson’s Coffeehoose

As we headed out from the shelter of Gills Bay near John O’ Groats on the Pentalina ferry we could think of no better description of what lay ahead than that of Neil Gunn. “Beyond the mainland the blue of the sea was more intense than the blue of the sky, and the Islands of The Orcades lay at anchor like fabled ships: long shapes, with clean prows to the west, with sheer sides, not riding the sea but crouching to it with that odd menace which, like tenderness, is for ever at the heart of strength”. Gunn also says that “all adventuring races have been drawn to these islands”.

After the Romans and Vikings, now it was to be the turn of sconologists! In the name of ornithology (Pat has started a new list) and sconology, we were enduring the remains of Hurricane Maria. Boy, it was windy. So it was that, somewhat relieved, we sailed into St Margaret’s Hope on South Ronaldsay.

The Hope

And our first ever encounter with an Orkney scone at Robertson’s Coffeehoose. Just the spelling announced that we were somewhere  a little bit different. Interior view of Robertson's Coffeehoose, St Margaret's Hope, OrkneyThe interior reminded us of Ireland.  When we lived there you would go into a grocery store and find a few beer pumps gracing the end of the counter. It was the same here. Turns out that it used to be the general store but has recently been converted into a café/bar. It now plays a significant role in the local night life. We were served by a young girl who not only made us feel very welcome but also regaled us with stories of the history of Robertson’s. She also told us about The Hope, as the town is known locally.

Hard to stand up weather

The town may have got its name from Margaret, Maid of Norway and uncrowned Queen of Scotland, who died here from the effects of seasickness in 1290. She was on her way to her coronation. Luckily, we had no ill effects on the crossing but we deeply sympathise. A scone at Robertson's Coffeehoose, St Margaret's Hope, OrkneyIt may have been the warmth of the greetings or maybe it was to do with the ‘hard to stand up in’ weather outside, but our scones were particularly welcome and tasted delicious. They were warm and served with butter and a generous pot of jam. No cream but hey, we were out of the storm so who cares? All things considered we thought that this scone just slipped into the topscone category. Well done Robertson’s.

Two equal countries

After the Maid of Norway’s demise the disputed succession sparked the Wars of Scottish Independence. When we read of the extraordinary goings on in Catalonia, you realise that it should be so much easier for Scotland to become a self respecting independent country. After all, that is what most people under sixty  want. As stated in the Treaty of Union, the UK is a union between two equal countries, Scotland and England. Scotland is already a country in its own right.  In 1707, when the Speaker of the House of Commons  said “we have won Scotland … and we will bind her fast“. He wasn’t joking. The democratic deficit, designed to subjugate Scotland, has worked well in ensuring just that. Of course, in Catalonia there’s also a lot of unionist sentiment. However, we can’t help feeling that, like Scotland, the problem will not be resolved with anything less than independence.

A K6 from the Saracen Foundry on South RonaldsayIn our previous post from Hotel Montefiore in Israel we reported on a K6 made in the Saracen Foundry. Lo and behold, on our way to the Tomb of the Eagles at the southernmost tip of South Ronaldsay what should we come across but another. This one was being used as an exchange library for books, CDs and DVDs.

Be warned, we are on Orkney for a few days so there may be more Orcadian scones to follow. By the way, the Tomb of the Eagles was closed so not even a dead eagle for Pat’s list!

KW17 2SR      tel: 01856 831 889        Robertson’s Coffeehoose FB

island, Ordinary, Scones

The Wineport

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This is a lovely spot, in Cladach on the outskirts of Brodick.  Cladach actually used to be the main village before modern Brodick was built on the south side of the bay. Now most of the former houses are used for small businesses. The Wineport is just one example. It probably derives its name from a small harbour area, now disused, a short way along the coast which at one time would have been used by all ferries and imports to the island.

Last year it came under new management and now provides a fantastic family friendly relaxed atmosphere with all the facilities you could think of. Unlike Brodick Castle they use lots of local food and drink suppliers such as; Arran Dairies, The Arran Butcher, Island Cheese Company, Creelers, Arran Brewery, Taste of Arran, Arran Ceramics, and Arran Aromatics. That’s more like it. This place can show the NTS how to do it!

Outside the front door is a large beer garden, perfect for our kind of birdwatching. It’s at the start of the path up Goatfell, maybe we would catch sight of an eagle? Wineport 03We sampled some of the local beer and then, because we had seen some scones on the bar, we thought we should give one a try. It came with lots of jam and the coffee came with a little piece of millionaires shortbread … nice touch. The scone was fine, lots of fruit but just a tad on the heavy side.

So, by way of a recap … as we sadly prepare to leave Arran after a great trip, all the scones have been enjoyable enough but we are left with a total of one topscone -at Machrie Bay Tearoom. Well done them. Wineport 02

Barcelona and the Saltire

Today, of course, is football day with the English and Scottish Cup Finals both being played. Arguably of more interest, however, is the Copa Del Ray cup final in Madrid between Barcelona and Sevilla. The Catalans are just as uppity as the Scots so the Spanish government, in their infinite wisdom, banned the use of the Estelada  (Catalan flag) at the game. The Barcelona supporters, however, said they would use the Scottish Saltire instead. That was enough for the government to revoke it’s ban … the power of the Saltire!  Grey wagtail might be the last to be added to the list, but we still have a little time left on Arran, so our final bird count won’t be revealed until the next post. Will there be an eagle on it?

KA27 8DE      tel: 01770 302101         The Wineport

island, Ordinary, Scones, self-service

Brodick Castle

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On the opposite side of Brodick Bay from our hotel stands the imposing Brodick Castle. We have been here before but having looked across the water at it for the past few days we thought another visit might be worthwhile. But first, so that you can get this scone in context, a little history.

King Hakon and all that

Some sort of fortification has been on this site since at least the fifth century. By the tenth century Norse influence had grown, and Arran was controlled by King Hakon of Norway. However, when some Scottish upstarts began to question his authority, he sent a large fighting fleet to sort things out. That resulted in the Battle of Largs in 1263 … which he lost. He retreated to Brodick and then to Orkney where he died the following yeBrodick Castle 03ar. The ensuing Treaty of Perth in 1266 ceded Arran and other islands to the Kingdom of Scotland. Oliver Cromwell occupied the castle for a while and then it fell to the Hamilton family who occupied it for several centuries. In 1957 it was gifted to the nation by the Duchess of Montrose to avoid death duties. The National Trust for Scotland eventually took it over.. and now we are here!

Scottish produce

The grounds are immaculately kept and there is a tearoom for visitors but of course today we’re sitting outside in the spring sunshine. Like most NTS places, it is self-service so we duBrodick Castle 05ly selected a mixture of cheese and fruit scones. Sometimes, if we are feeling particularly daring, we mix things up and have half each. Everything was fine though we can sometimes get a little irritated by the presence of the ubiquitous tubs of Rodda’s cornish cream. The Arran Creamery is just down the road, do we really have to bring it all the way from Cornwall? The jam was from Manchester … c’mon NTS! Do you know what the ‘S’ in your name stands for? What must tourists think?

Brodick Castle 07The scones were very nice but not quite nice enough for a topscone. We got plenty exercise chasing fly away napkins but, all in all, it was a lovely scone-break in a beautiful setting.

MacBraynes

We have probably traveled on a couple of dozen ferries over the past year or so and, as a consequence, have become quite familiar with Caledonian MacBrayne. It was once said that “God gave us the earth and MacBraynes the Western Isles”. A slight, inferring that the ferry company held the islands to ransom. There may have been an element of truth in that at one time but, with the introduction of RET (Road Equivalent Tariff), not any more. Our trip to Arran, involving four ferries, cost a grand total of just over £50 for a car and four passengers. Not too bad at all!

Building ships in Scotland again

So, we are delighted with the news that the Scottish government, in the face of all the EU regulations, have managed to award the ongoing £900m contract to publicly owned CalMac over privately owned Serco. And build their ships on the Clyde. Even King Hakon would have been proud.Brodick Castle 02

We had walked along the beach to Brodick Castle from our hotel but decided to get the bus back. Brodick Castle 08The bus stop on the main road opposite the castle entrance makes waiting for the bus a real pleasure. There were seals sunning themselves on a rock and an oystercatcher’s nest on the seaward side of the wall. You are almost annoyed when the bus comes.

Amongst other things, today we saw siskins, sedge warblers, guillemots and red-legged partridges. Alas, still no eagles.

KA27 8HY       tel: 0844 493 2152           Brodick