Tag Archives: Antonine’s Wall

Ordinary, Scones

4 Coo Wynd

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Although 4 Coo Wynd is only a few minutes walk from our home it’s three years since we were last here. Goodness, a lot has happened since then! Back then we were bemoaning the fact that businesses in Falkirk didn’t seem to last. This place was called Cafe Trio back then and before that it was Sorocha’s and before that it was Mathiesons and before that, in 2003, it was Sleeves … a record shop – remember them? Having said all that, 4 Coo Wynd is right next door to Thomas Johnston Butchers, established in 1861, so what on earth are we going on about??

A view of the Cow Wynd, Falkirk
Cow Wynd with Santa overhead

Three years ago we were debating the important issues of the day e.g. what jam to have with a treacle scone and would Brexit have an effect on the scone supplies. The answer to the first question was ‘none’, just butter is best. Brexit hadn’t yet happened but we were looking forward to the promised sunny uplands. Still waiting! Didn’t bother discussing COVID-19 because we had never heard of it!Logo of 4 Coo Wynd

Back to the present. For the benefit of our far flung readers we should perhaps explain the name “4 Coo Wynd”. Artists impression of a highland cowIt is simply the address of the cafe which, more accurately is 4 ‘Cow’ Wynd. Coo is simply Scottish pronunciation of “cow”. In the 18th century, Falkirk Tryst was the biggest cattle market in the country. The town was a rumbustious place in those days. However, there is more to Falkirk than just cows … much more.

  • This was as far north as the Romans got. They liked it so much they decided to settle here, a sort of shangrila. Emperor Antoninus even built a wall across Scotland and through the town to protect it from less civilised influences. Traces of this period can still be found with the ice cream parlours scattered around the town?
  • Falkirk has seen two major battles. The first, in 1298, was one of the major battles in the First War of Scottish Independence … can you believe it’s still going on? The second was in 1746, the penultimate battle fought on British soil but fought for the same reason as the first.
  • In 1565 the marriage agreement between Mary Queen of Scots and the Dauphin of France was signed at Callendar House. She would become Queen of France as well as Scotland.
  • In the 18th century the town became the heart of the iron industry with 61 foundries. Starting with munitions for the Battle of Trafalgar to the famous red telephone boxes still found all around the world. The inventiveness of these foundries making baths, stoves and sanitary ware led to massive increases in public health and comfort.
  • Now the town has the Falkirk Wheel and the Kelpies and shortly, two distilleries … what’s not to like?
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A scone at 4 Coo WyndOkay, okay, the world owes a great deal to Falkirk but can we just get on with scones, we hear you cry! We decided to start with a bacon roll from their all-day-breakfast menu, followed by a fruit scone. Probably the best bacon rolls we have ever tasted … excellent! The scone was very good too but, unfortunately just not quite good enough to make the topscone grade. Shame, the service was warm and friendly, we thoroughly enjoyed our visit to 4 Coo Wynd.Internal view of 4 Coo Wynd

Predictions

Given the current fiasco that passes for UK government we, perhaps, shouldn’t be all that surprised at the predictions of a recent  poll. It says that, at the next election, ALL Scottish MPs at Westminster will be from the Scottish National Party. We did mention earlier that the first battle of Falkirk in 1298 was during the Wars of Scottish Independence. Soooo, do you think that, if this prediction actually came to pass, it would make any difference? Of course not!

Falkirk High Street
the High Street

Three years ago we also reviewed a scone from Passiontree Velvet in Toowoomba, Queensland. These were the heady days of unrestricted travel and bountiful scones all over the world … ahh, the memories! Once again it looks like our scone adventuring has been brought to a shuddering halt by COVID-19. 4 Coo Wynd will probably be our last for a while. That means we need to take this opportunity to wish all our readers a very merry Christmas and a happy, healthy and prosperous 2022 when it comes. You have put up with our rants for a very long time, best wishes to you all!

FK1 1PL       Tel: 07477 173117        4 Coo Wynd

///deep.tricky.shower

english, Ordinary, Scones

Centurion Bar

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Here we are still in Newcastle. Except this time we are at the station waiting for the train to whisk us back home. It is one of Britain’s busiest stations with a half hourly service to London and others going west to Liverpool and north to Edinburgh and Inverness. It was opened by Queen Victoria in 1850 and is now one of very few Grade One listed railway stations. With almost an hour to wait we found ourselves in the Centurion bar of The Royal Station Hotel. Internal view of the Station Hotel in NewcastleIt’s not just any old bar. It’s a very spacious and grand hall which used to be the First Class Lounge. It was decked out with flags for the Six Nations Rugby Championships. We decided to sit under the nice blue one on the right.

Internal view of the Station Hotel in Newcastle
Nirvana

The name, Centurion’ suggests a Roman connection and, of course, there is. What was it with the Romans? They came all this way to build tourist attractions? In the year 122, Emperor Hadrian built his wall right through Newcastle to end up at, would you believe it, Wallsend in the east of the city. No sooner was it finished than Emperor Antoninus Pius decided, in 142, to build another wall further north. It ran across the entire breadth of Scotland and through the middle of our home town, Falkirk. Trump and the Romans would have got on just fine. Some historians insist that the reason for building these walls was to keep unruly Scots at bay. However we like to think that they just enjoyed life in Falkirk so much they decided there was little point in going further. They had reached nirvana.

Before long, however, the hedonism and feasting on scones served with Rodda’s Cornish Cream drove them back to Hadrian’s Wall where that sort of behaviour seemed more appropriate. Nowadays the remains of Antonine’s Wall can still be seen in Falkirk but apart from the Roman Bar and a few Italian restaurants there are few signs that the Romans were ever around. Both walls, however, still serve very well in their primary function as tourist attractions. The Hadrian’s Wall Path passes close to this station.

More than expected

Enough about Romans, what about the scones? Yes we decided to have a scone but A scone at the Station Hotel in Newcastlelittle did we know that every hot drink ordered came with a complimentary croissant. When our scone arrived it was accompanied with butter, jam and a croissant … too much!! Had we realised we might have asked them to keep the croissant and give us a free scone. And had we not had to pay for the scone it might have fared better in our review. It was okay but definitely not a topscone.

Despicable us

In the end even Newcastle was too much for the Romans. At least, when their Empire collapsed they all just went back to Italy and that was that. Not so with the British Empire. Almost every trouble spot around the globe was designed by us. Iraq and Afghanistan to Palestine and Ireland as well as the current problem between India and Pakistan. All the result of British meddling. When it comes to creating a political mess we do it fantastically well and now with Brexit we can bring that expertise to bear at home as well! Whoopee!

Thankfully, this week, the United Nations highest court in the Hague has ruled against us in what must be one of Britain’s most despicable acts. They have ruled that Britain’s 1968 claim to sovereignty over the Chagos Islands is illegal and they must be returned to Mauritius immediately. Surely you have seen this news splashed all over the media? No? Hopefully, after more than fifty years, all these poor displaced people will be able to return to their homes. What this means for the US military base at Diego Garcia (it was the reason for this crime) no one knows.

We do think, however, that Scotland should raise a similar action against the UK at the Hague … for the travesty of 1707!

Pleasant as it was sitting in the Centurion, the train came and we were duly whisked back to nirvana.

NE1 5DG            tel: 0191 261 6611              Centurion