Tag Archives: bagpipes

Wee Winchburgh Café

18 December 2024 billpaterson1@me.com 4 Comments

We were here at the Wee Winchburgh Café yesterday only to find it closed. There was a notice on the door which read “Just had a baby, closed today, open tomorrow“. Obviously we had to come back to meet this superwoman! It turned out to be a day of surprises!

Surprise 1

Winchburgh village used to be on the main road between Falkirk and Edinburgh but it has long since been bypassed by the M9 motorway. Before the motorway we used to pass through it often. Back then it consisted of the Tally Ho Hotel and several streets of mainly miners cottages. The miners were employed in the shale oil industry … Scotland’s first oil bonanza. If you blinked you could miss it. Little did we know that it harboured ambitions to be a city. Almost 4,000 new houses are being built as we speak. The original village has been completely consumed by what is now a ginormous building site. We couldn’t find the old village and our satnav unhelply said “unmapped area”. Eventually we had to stop and ask someone. However, when we eventually found it it was pretty much just as we remembered it with rows of little terraced houses.

When we entered the cafe the first thing we saw was a set of bagpipes displayed on the wall. A reminder to chase up our bagpipe man we talked about at the Turkish Mint Café in Stirling.

Surprise 2

Unsurprisingly the Wee Winchburgh Café is small … only three tables. When we asked the owner if she had indeed had a baby she just laughed. Turned out her daughter, who lives in Preston, had the baby and she had closed the café the day before so she could visit her new granddaughter, Sienna Rose. We were treated to some photos of the bonny baby and even a video of her sleeping.

Surprise 3

Pat asked for a fruit scone and I thought I should try one of the cherry and almond scones on offer. Initially, when we asked about cream she said that they didn’t have any. Then she came back and said she remembered she had some canned cream. And apparently, it was much better than the usual sort of canned cream. Normally we wouldn’t have what we call ‘scooshie’ cream but she sold it to us with her enthusiasm. However we weren’t prepared for the scones to come preloaded. They were presented ‘ready to eat’ complete with jam and scooshie cream. Unfortunately, the cherry almond combo didn’t quite work and Pat wasn’t too keen on her fruit scone.either. Sadly no topscone but a great community café which we thoroughly enjoyed.

Wall decor at the Wee Winchburgh Café — The Broons visiting the Forth Rail Bridge

Surprise 4

As the couple at the next table were leaving and paying their bill they said that they would like to pay our bill as well. Wow! For years we’ve been trying to perfect that art of looking like an little old couple with a purse from which we would count out the pennies one by one but this was the first time anyone had actually fallen for it. Seriously, we thanked them and as they left they simply said “It’s Christmas“. Wonderful when complete strangers do things like that! Earlier our host, new grandmother and scone loader took a phone call from someone placing an order. She finished the call with a “That’s great, I’ll bring it over to you rather than you having to cross that busy road“. It was that sort of place.

Pig cruet set at the Wee Winchburgh Café — our salt and pepper

More surprises

There’s been lots going on that’s taken us by surprise: (a) Ukraine has blown up a Russian army General in downtown Moscow (b) the Church of England is having difficulty replacing the Archbishop of Canterbury because the prospective candidate seems to have been involved in the same sort of sex abuse scandals as the man he is replacing (c) the Royal Mail, started by Henry VIII in 1516, has been sold to Daniel Kretinsky a Czech billionaire. Britain is in a right old state … but that’s not a surprise!

Thank goodness for places like Wee Winchburgh Café whose heart is in the right place. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all our readers.

EH52 6RA 01506 200659 Wee Winchburgh Café FB

///cared.childcare.watch

Ordinary, Scones

Mint Café

12 December 2024 billpaterson1@me.com 3 Comments

You know how it is … you go into somewhere like Mint Café in Stirling for coffee and a scone and by the time you come out the world has changed. Okay, Syria to be more precise but who knows what is going to happen next. The hellish Assad regime has fallen and people are rejoicing. However, within a day of the Russians stopping their bombing of the country, Israel, Turkey and the US have started. All trying to protect their own interests but hardly an auspicious launch of a new era! There are all sorts of tensions mostly caused by slightly differing interpretations of the same religion … clerics have much to answer for! Nowhere are these tensions more evident than on the Turkish/Syria border with the third longest wall in the world separating the two countries. Only the Great Wall of China and the US/Mexico wall are longer.

Anyway, purely by accident we are here in Mint, a Turkish café. But why? Well, we were hoping to pick up a set of bagpipes in Stirling but having been unable to contact the guy who was renovating them, we decided to pay a visit to his shop.

Just our luck, when we arrived, it wasn’t open. The word on the street, however, was that he normally opened a bit later in the day. What to do? Our solution was to go away and come back later, hence you find us here in Mint. Not only are we here but we are the only ones here. The place was deserted … just the Turkish owner busying himself behind the counter, and us. It seemed to be a place that specialised in cakes but there was a bowl full of scones on the counter … yeah, the day was taking a turn for the better!

I’ve always had a soft spot for Turkey since hitchhiking to the country in 1970 and experiencing the hospitality and kindness of the local people. Our host was no exception ,,, he made us very welcome. He soon had us sorted with a scone and some coffee. Rather odd presentation but the scone was nice and warm with a very pleasant texture. It came with butter, jam and a dollop of ‘scooshie’ cream. The coffee was great but the rest maybe not so much. Ten out of ten for effort but some way short of a topscone.

Afterwards, we made our way back the bagpipe shop. Hallelujah, it was open!

Lifestyle notice in Mint Café, Stirling — It’s not working

Turned out that our man was uncontactable because he had lost his phone. He had a new one but didn’t want to use it in case he found his old one?? And, in spite of having had the pipes for almost three months he hadn’t even started on them. He apologised profusely and promised to get on to it straight away. He would even deliver them to our house! Chaotic is the only way to describe his business operation but the workmanship is excellent so we remain ever hopeful of a delivery before Christmas.

Being here in Mint made us feel a little closer to Syria. Bashar al-Assad and his family have successfully escaped to Russia. Presumably with him being an ophthalmologist he saw his downfall coming 😃. Sorry! The brand spanking new Syrian government has an uphill struggle ahead but hopefully they can magic up some real stability for the region.

FK8 1BJ tel: 01786 357541 Mint Café TA

///bucks.agent.sculpture

Ordinary, Scones

Battle of Bannockburn

14 August 2019 billpaterson1@me.com 3 Comments

This Post May Contain Rants. We thought we should make that clear at the start for people of a sensitive disposition.

Purely by some fluke of circumstance we have ended up here at the Battle of Bannockburn Visitor Centre. We’ve been here at the site of the battle many times before but never bothered to go into the visitor centre. Today was different, however, it was pouring with rain. It was so heavy that we couldn’t get a decent photo of the outside of the building. It’s pretty ugly, however, so you’re not missing much. That could be the first rant. Why has such an iconic site got an ugly grey box for a visitor centre?

The second is about the signage. The Battle of … What? It has been so over designed it is barely decipherable. Considering that most folk coming here are foreigners this seems to add an unnecessary level of complexity to their understanding of what went on here. We see it all over the place. It’s the triumph of academia over common sense.

Borders

Of course the Centre celebrates the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 between England and Scotland. It does beg the question of why there was an English army just outside Stirling in the first place. Okay, okay, Scotland has never been the easiest of neighbours … we’re a bit rough! Our national flower is not the jaggy thistle for nothing. Our bagpipes have not been declared a ‘weapon of war’ for nothing. Even wearing tartan has been seen as provocative … but still! We think that after Brexit, when an independent Scotland has rejoined the EU, instead of a wall along the border, we should have a leylandii hedge and then England can fight with us over what height it should be. It would help maintain a long tradition between difficult neighbours.

Robert the Bruce’s victory, of course, led to the Declaration of Arbroath which set Scotland up as a proud self respecting and independent country. Most importantly it declared that the independence of Scotland was the sole prerogative of the people of Scotland. A few centuries later, however, it all went pear shaped. A “parcel of rogues” in the form of a handful of Scottish aristocrats sold Scotland down the river in exchange for English gold. Scotland became the only country in the world to be ruled by another … as it still is today. Thankfully this sorry state of affairs is about to come to an end when, hopefully, within the not too distant future, the people will reassert their right to self determination and Scotland will be independent again … FREEDOM! Apologies, got a little bit carried away there.

Footnotes

This ranting about independence is all well and good but what about the important stuff … the scones, did they have scones.? Yes they did! It’s a little known fact but a footnote in the small print of the Declaration of Arbroath (as a small concession to the defeated English) states “if ever there be a visitor centre established at Bannockburn it must sell little packs of English butter from Wiltshire with the scones” And so it came to pass! There was no cream but our fruit scones came with said butter as well as jam that you dolloped on your plate from a large bowl at the servery.

A scone at the Battle of Bannockburn Visitor Centre — spot the fruit

It reminded us of how many cafés in Norway serve jam with their fabulous boller. Unfortunately these scones were very disappointing. They just did not taste right … as if something was missing. The fruit was certainly missing.

Kitsch

Scotland badge at the Battle of Bannockburn Visitor Centre — scottish tat

Something is missing from this Visitor Centre as well. Hard to put your finger on it but it could easily be much much better. They have the usual assemblage of tartan tat as well as a large display of Hollywood kitsch in the form of plastic props from the Outlaw King film … what’s that all about? That was the last rant. Don’t get us started on Boris. Just remember that although he doesn’t have a clue where he is taking the UK, it will all be great! Smile be upbeat, that will do the trick. Last rant … promise

FK7 0LJ tel: 01786 812664 Bannockburn

///item.wing.slope

The Pedant has just sent this picture of a brace of K6s at Knightsbridge Green in London. Both from the Lion foundry in Kirkintilloch and one of which is still fully functional. Many thanks.

Scones, history and a dollop of politics