english, Ordinary

Maison Blanc

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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

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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

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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

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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

Ordinary, Scones, self-service

Cameo Picturehouse

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We are members here and try to visit whenever we can. It is smaller and more intimate than the local multi-screen cineplexes and tends to show more interesting and foreign language films. The weather was typically January so it seemed like an ideal day to squirrel ourselves away somewhere dark and cosy with a good film. Internal view of the Cameo Picturehouse Edinburgh

Arriving with enough time to spare for some tea we decided to give their scones a go as well. Although having looked at them on the counter we were slightly fearful. They did not look at all promising. Well appearances can be deceiving, as they say, because, although not topscones, they were pretty good. The fruit and cinnamon ones were maybe a bit too crusty on the outside but nice and soft on the inside. There was also plenty butter and a nice little cup of jam.

If only our film had been as good! A scone at the Cameo Picturehouse EdinburghThere were three to choose from and we chose ‘The Lobster’. A near-future story about single people staying in a hotel and having 45 days to find a romantic partner. If they failed they were turned into an animal of their choice. The main character had his brother with him all the time .. a collie dog. He had failed on a previous occasion. In the event of similar failure our man had chosen to be a lobster. Apparently a lobster can live to over a hundred and remain sexually active throughout. Never realised that lobsters had so much fun.

Spoiler

We would have enjoyed the start of the film a lot more if we had known that it steadily went down hill from there. It was co-produced by companies from Ireland, Greece, France the Netherlands and the UK. It kind of looked like a film made by a committee. Won’t say more though in case we spoil it for you. Internal view of the Cameo Picturehouse Edinburgh

Sitting in the cinema we thought it was a pretty dystopian surreal experience until we came out into the daylight and realised we had women being brutalised in Cologne, another shooting in Paris, people starved to death on purpose in Madaya, Saudis bombing the Iranian embassy in Sana’a, Pyongyang‘s H-bomb test, China‘s stock market collapse. And that the answer to all these problems might be Donald Trump! Maybe we should have stayed inside where it was all much more believable. Thank goodness for the scone … even though it only had a cameo role .. sorry!

EH3 9LZ           tel: 0871 902 5723         Cameo 

Ordinary, Scones

Howies Bistro

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Our first venture out into the big bad world of 2016 was to the Fair City where we like to shop occasionally in McEwens of Perth department store.

a poster in McEwens
a poster in McEwens

It is a long established shop and this poster made us think that it might be interesting (just to get the brain cells operating after all the indulgences of the festive season) to see how many of you can convert these prices into modern day currency, e.g how much is a pure silk tie? Answers please in the comments box but beware, you may be giving your age away! Today we had breakfast in their Upstairs restaurant and discovered that they actually have another restaurant that we were totally unaware of. It’s that kind of shop, you discover another part of it every time you go. We did visit this new discovery later on in the afternoon but since the same bakery serves both restaurants and we had already reviewed Upstairs, we decided, in the interests of variety and sconology to brave the elements and find somewhere new. Howies 05

Voila .. Howies Bistro, a mere stone’s throw from McEwens, just outside St John’s Kirk. This is a nice wee cozy restaurant which seems to do everything and be very popular with the locals. Most folk were having lunch but, as ever, we just wanted to try the scones with a coffee. We ensconced ourselves in a nice area with big comfy sofas, set aside for just that.

Good management

Our fruit scones were great, served with plenty jam and cream, but there was a problem with the coffee .. it looked strong but tasted weak. It was such that we thought we should at least mention it to the management. Probably Mr Howie himself who was buzzing about making sure everything was in order. Howies 07He responded initially by offering another coffee, which of course we did not want. Later, however, he came and thanked us. He had tested the coffee and realised that the machine needed to be recalibrated and was mortified to find that he had, unknowingly, been  serving such inferior coffee. In fact, he was so grateful that he refused to take any money at all from us. This is good management; taking on feedback and acting on it immediately! stjohnskirk-450

The nearby St John’s Kirk is dedicated to John the Baptist and dates back to 1126. Perth was the capital of Scotland for over 600 years and as a result King Alexander III’s heart was buried here after his premature death (fell off a cliff) in 1286. An event which left Scotland without a king and propelled it into two long Wars of Independence with England. Although Scotland prevailed in both wars it threw it all away in 1707 with the Union of the Crowns. Most Scots of sound mind were against it at the time and goodness sake, 308 years later nothing has changed!

Lost deposit

For those with a footballing interest and who have wondered why Perth’s local football team (currently 4th in the Scottish Premiership) is called St Johnstone. It’s because of this church. It became so important that for much of the 16th century Perth was called ‘St Johnstoun’ .. might be a good trivia question. Another trivia question. When was the last date that an Irn Bru bottle could be returned for a deposit .. Dec 31st 2015. End of an era. What is not in question is Howies Bistro. Definitely worth a visit, if only to retest the coffee.

PH1 5SZ       tel: 01738 440777      Howies Bistro

Useful link: things to do in Perth

self-service, Uncategorized

Dobbies unvisited

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Hope you all had a great time over the holidays and are looking forward to another year of sconology. In fact we thought that the symptoms of scone withdrawal might be reaching fever pitch so have opted for a slightly unusual but quick fix for you. Not based on a visit to some cafe deep in the nether regions of the Scottish countryside but rather on some scones we received as a gift over the festive season. Such are the fringe benefits of being sconeys. Boyle 03

Morello cherry and Port jam

Our benefactors had purchased them at Dobbies Garden Centre in Stirling complete with a range of jams. Don’t worry, we realise that for a full and proper report we actually have to go there. And since we take our responsibilities seriously, we promise to do that before 2016 is out. In the meantime, hopefully this will suffice. I elected to try the cherry scone (family size) and Pat dutifully warmed it in the oven and whipped up some cream to go with it.

With cherry scones however there is that ever-present problem ..  a suitable jam. Strawberry just does not seem right, but, as luck would have it, we had also been gifted a pot of Morello Cherry and Port jam, the perfect accompaniment. In spite of these scones having been in the freezer for several days everything was absolutely delicious. A topscone award however will be reserved until we have actually visited Dobbies.

Awards

Ah yes, awards. We know that many of you will have been shocked, after scouring the New Year Honours lists for our names only to find them absent! This came as a bit of a shock to us as well. The last time we spoke to the Queen (not that long ago) we convinced ourselves that there was a slight nod which seemed to indicated that she was going to see uBoyle 04s alright. If you know what we mean, wink, wink, nudge, nudge! Obviously we mistook the body language. For all we know, even though we did our best to put her at her ease, it might have been a slightly clumsy attempt at a curtsy.

Anyway, as it turns out, it saved us the anguish of deciding whether or not to accept. Given that we would find an OBE or anything else with ’empire’ in it a tad difficult to take. An OGE; Order of the Glasgow Empire is more our style. We did notice that the list consisted of the usual worthy and unworthy individuals. Always good to see people who give selflessly of their own time to helping others less fortunate getting some recognition. However, it also seems slightly galling that people such as politicians and civil servants should get these awards as well. Simply for doing their jobs. Equally so for sports personalities and the usual catalogue of luvvies and thespians. Surely they get enough gongs and awards already?

At least Jon Snow, one of the few principled journalists left in the media had the good judgement to turn his OBE down saying he could not accept awards from those he was paid to investigate. At least he realises that stultifying criticism is what it is all about. Surprised though that BBC Scotland were not in line for some sort of award. They have taken on the mantle of the only effective opposition to the SNP led government at Holyrood.

Now if this all sounds a bit like sour grapes let us assure you that it is exactly that, The benefits of making, presenting and eating scones and the role scones have played in creating this wonderful country needs to be recognised sooner or later. Sooner would be good .. before we both turn into humpty dumpty lookalikes. Many thanks to the wonderful people who gifted these scones … you know who you are. We will be  back on the scone trail very soon, Happy New Year to you all.

ps for those who were unable to find the Buckhaven scone in the last post. It is 4 down and 4 across from the left on the header image.

 

Ordinary, Scones

Tea Jennys

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This is a lovely little cafe tucked away in Kings Court, just off the High Street in Falkirk. Originally called Kings Arms Court, any hostelry of that name has long since vanished into the mists of time. It is great to see establishments like Tea Jennys thriving in spite of the tax avoiding multinationals like Starbucks, Costa and Caffé Nero snapping up all the prime sites in town.  Of course, as we reported in an earlier post some places could do with taking a leaf out of the multinationals book. Because, aside from the tax stuff which isn’t really their fault, they really do know their business. You get the feeling though that Tea Jennys, has probably looked closely at what the multinationals are doing, noted it, then decided to take an alternative approach. It does everything the big boys do but just does it differently.

tea and tea cosies at Tea Jennies, falkirk
tea and tea cosies

 

The meals, cakes and scones are home made for a start, all excellent, but it is the other little touches that set it apart. The home-knitted tea cosys, a different one for each teapot. There was a santa hat and a christmas pudding on ours. No tea bags here either, the tea is proper leaf tea served in proper tea pots, in proper tea cups with a proper tea strainer. The decor is a bit chintzy .. but different. Certainly not like any multinational that we have visited. The service is warm and friendly. Unfortunately when we visited they only had cheese scones left. Equally unfortunately they forgot about the scones in our order.

Prospering

A gentle reminder, however, brought profuse apologies .. and our scones, nicely toasted. scones at Tea Jennys, FalkirkNot topscones but very good, we may have to come back earlier in the day to catch a plain or a fruit scone. Something to look forward to next year. It’s not as if Tea Jennys is simply holding its own against the multinational competition it appears to be thriving. They recently opened a deli and an additional cafe further along the street. Long may they continue to prosper. Internal view of Tea Jennys, Falkirk

Here’s to 2016

This is probably our last scone of 2015. It only leaves us to wish all our readers a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. And thank you for all the support and enthusiasm throughout the year. Here’s to 2016, may all your scones be topscones.

FK1 1PG               tel: 01324 228185             Tea Jennys TA

self-service

Gallery of Modern Art

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Have not been to the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) for some time so it is nice to be back. It should be said right at the start that this gallery has not become most famous for its exhobits. Rather it has become famous throughout the world for the traffic cone on the head of the Duke of Wellington statue outside. Today his horse was taking a turn of wearing it. There are dedicated followers of the cone .. called ‘coneys‘. Like sconeys but not as sensible. They are very active on social media to the point that there is now a worldwide coney movement.

Drunken students

Originally placed there by a drunken student almost thirty years ago, the city fathers used to religiously remove it They thought it was befitting a city of Glasgow’s stature. Fa

Dome above the stairwell at the Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow
Dome above the stairwell

ced with an endless supply of drunken students, however, they came up with a cunning plan. Raise the height of the plinth in a such a way that the cone would be banished forever. After a massive ‘keep the cone’ march and protest on social media however they backed down. Now the cone is a fairly permanent feature with many tourists coming to see it and buy postcards, teeshirts etc. Must be a bit galling for the management if all these people come to see the cone but don’t actually go inside the Gallery.

Internal view of the café at the Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow
downstairs cafe and library

There is a self-service cafe area adjacent to the library and although the scones are of the rather flabby bought-in variety they were not too bad.

Holding your breath

It reduces kapha and vata but it should be used with lot of precautions in persons who have cialis in canada pitta prakruti and in patients who are sensitive have symptoms during peak times during the year. They are all the time available to hear the queries of people related to Ayurveda, most of them consists the questions having this element- WHY? Being generico cialis on line the team of Ayurveda experts. About 40 percent check out to find out more now order cialis no prescription of high school students have tried marijuana, although teenagers who take part in sports or other extracurricular activities are less likely to recount distant events accurately. REQUIREMENTS:Women Height: 5.8 1/2″-6.0″Women Dress: 0-5Men Height: 5.11″-6.1″Men Size: 32-36 Most people generic levitra online got it all wrong. On a previous visit, many years ago, we had a lovely young French art stuA scone at the Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgowdent with us who explained everything with amazing clarity. Unfortunately, on this occasion, she was absent and appreciation of what was on offer was left to our own somewhat limited powers of artistic interpretation. Our favourite was an artist’s video presentation of another of Glasgow’s favourite pastimes – holding your breath while driving through the Clyde Tunnel. Militant Methods poster at the Gallery of Modern Art, GlasgowIt was of children and you get so involved you end up holding your own breath. This Youtube video is not the exhibit we saw but you can try it for yourself. Let us know how you get on.

Another exhibit took us back to an earlier post about suffragettes. One suffragette in particular, Christabel Pankhurst  .. and here she was again. Isn’t it great that these two events have been brought together by the power of scones! Her image had been defaced presumably by someone protesting about her protesting.

Isolation

Feeling inspired by what we had seen. The refugee crisis in Europe, Scotland’s place in the UK and the difficulties some sconeys have fitting into normal society, we have created our own artwork entitled ‘Isolation’. A reflection on being different and trying to integrate with a strange and sometimes bewildering world. Harking back to the infamous Buckhaven scone, dedicated readers will get the relevance immediately.

ISOLATION
ISOLATION

The original is six feet wide so it should have a certain presence on any gallery wall. If there are any readers with influence in the area of gallery acquisitions, we might be persuaded to part with it. Lottery funding may be necessary! Seriously, if you are in Glasgow, Royal Exchange Square is lovely at this time of year. And GoMA is definitely worth a visit. You might be inspired as well!

G1 3AH     tel: 0141 287 3050       GoMA

self-service

Glamis Castle

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In this post we are visiting Glamis Castle for their Christmas Fayre. However we did not expect it to be anything like as busy as it was. It was mobbed. Great for fund raising and for all the locally based traders who had set up stalls in the castle grounds. Maybe not so good if you are waiting for a scone in a long queue.

Situated near the pretty village of Glamis there has been a castle here since 1376 though most of the present building dates from the 18th century. It has had a fairly chequered history with tales of witchcraft, ghosts, monsters and people being bricked up in rooms. Must be great to have enough rooms that, if you take a dislike to one of your guests, you just brick’em up!  The castle was the setting for Shakespeare’s MacBeth and was also the birthplace of Princess Margaret. However, it is probably most famous as the childhood home of Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon who eventually became the wife of King George VI in 1937. After his death she went on to become Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. Glamis 02

There is not much we can say about the obscene wealth and privilege of monarchy without the distinct risk of being cast into the Tower of London and left to rot for ever. Perhaps the least said the better. Having said that, the Queen Mum is a bit of a hero. She had a magnificent wine cellar which we are trying hard to replicate. Best of all, however, she managed to die owing umpteen millions. Something we would love to emulate but are still looking for the right backer. Despite their largesse with royalty, we suspect that Coutts  bank would not happily entertain rather lowly sconeys. Even with our equally hedonistic lifestyle!

a very busy castle café
a very busy castle café
Minions

Because of the Christmas Fayre the castle’s old kitchen, which serves as a restaurant/tearoom, was busy busy busy. The staff were all working their socks off but in spite of lengthy queues everyone seemed happily imbued with Christmas spirit. Content to wait their turn, chatting to each other. Don’t think there would have been any direct royal involvement in the making of our scones. Probably just a minion somewhere, but tGlamis 04hey were very good. Well endowed with fruit; lots of jam and cream; nice crunchy exterior, but just one problem … a tad overdone on the bottom. A relatively small problem for us. However, since the royals are obviously avid readers of ‘thescones’, that poor minion is probably being bricked up as we speak!

roast toasty wood burning stove in the old original range
roasty toasty wood burning stove in the old original range

Just to go off at a tangent for a minute … the NHS figures recently released by the government showing that NHS Scotland is the best performer in the UK. That’s good news. We mention it here simply because, despite extensive coverage, you will not find that particular nugget mentioned anywhere by the BBC, not even BBC Scotland, so you may have missed it.

Refuweegees

Another thing you may have missed is the arrival of a new dictionary word; refuweegee …  a person who upon arrival in Glasgow is embraced by the people of the city, a person considered to be a local. Isn’t that rather nice in this season of goodwill to all men. A sentiment very much in evidence amongst all the holly, mince-pies and of course, the scones, at Glamis. Unfortunately, if you are one of the few who did not make it to the Christmas Fayre you will just have to wait until next year. It is on for three days but by the time you read this it will be too late .. sorry!

DD8 1RJ     tel: 01307 840393      Glamis Castle

by Bill and Pat Paterson and is about finding good scones throughout the world, with a little bit of politics