Tag Archives: Boris Johnson

Scones, Top

The Cafe@Canada Wood

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Goodness gracious, you’ll never guess!  Yes yesterday, 15th July 2020, we actually went out for a scone. First time since 19th of March. That’s an incredible 118 coronavirus scone free days. Yesterday was the day that Scotland finally relaxed its COVID regulations … yeah! Cafés, hairdressers, shops, even pubs are allowed to open as long as they meet certain criterion. Our local pub first opened in 1827 and obviously doesn’t meet the required standards because it’s still closed … boo! Anyway, by way of celebration, we visited this place, The Cafe@Canada Wood.

It’s close to our house and we used to be regular visitors when it was called Canada Wood Kitchen and Bar.  We’ve even done a Canada Wood revisited. It’s now under new management so they have changed the name though not by very much. It gets its name from the wood which is right next to it … believe it or not, it’s called Canada Wood!

Where have all the menus gone?

Things have changed a bit since our last visit. When we arrived, although we wanted to sit outside, we had to go through the indoor bit and divulge our details; address, telephone number, email, inside leg measurement! No, not that last bit. Our table outside was complete with a QR code which when scanned let us see the menu.CR code for Canada Wood This may seem like a fair old palaver however it’s really not. It’s the new normal! In fact, if any reader wants to scan it you will see the menu as well (use the back camera on your smartphone).

It was busy with people doing exactly the same as us, enjoying newfound liberation and being in the company of others again in the sunshine. Everyone was still abiding by the social distancing rules. We had just popped out to see what it felt like and didn’t really need a menu … one fruit scone to share and two coffees. The coffees came quite quickly but the scone took a while. We were just about to ask when a delightful young server said: “I’ve checked on your scone, it’s just coming out of the oven” … relax!

It arrived a few seconds later and we were excited.happy bunny at Canada Wood Not that you could tell! In the past, we have not been too impressed with the scones here. They were either too big or just a wee bit weird. No worries this time. Maybe it was because we had been away for so long. Perhaps it was because our scone was wonderfully warm. Maybe it was the crunchy exterior and the soft interior … the jam, the cream! Who knows?  It was delicious so we were delighted to award this establishment its first topscone.

And it was card payment, so I still have my £6.36.

A scone at Canada Wood

Pigeons

When I was a young lad I used to be a beater for the shoots on Callendar Estate which owns The Cafe@Canada Wood. I and my fellow beaters would ‘beat’ through Canada Wood driving the woodpigeons towards the gentry with the guns. The toffs would be lined up along Lochgreen Road and shoot the pigeons as they emerged from the trees.  What fun! However, we did get a £1 a day for our trouble and that was good money for a youngster back then.

It’s all very well us getting out sconing again but the easing of lockdown in Scotland comes with huge risks. Although we have not had any COVID deaths over the past week, England has had 527. We think the reason for the disparity is that Boris and his team listen to Nicola Sturgeon’s clear and concise messages on coronavirus. They then wait a couple of days before repeating them but in a garbled unintelligible way. Scotland loves its southern neighbours and welcomes them as visitors but please abide by our rules. Otherwise, you’ll have Nicola to deal with!

FK1 3AZ      tel: 01324 612111     Canada Wood

Scones, Uncategorized

Pumpkin scones

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Pumpkin scones? Have you taken leave of your senses we hear you cry! Nothing to do with us … blame the Aussies. Let us explain. With virtually no COVID deaths in the past week, Scotland is gradually easing its way towards lifting lockdown. The risk of catching coronavirus is now at least five times higher in England than Scotland hence the hoo-ha about health checks on the border. In our previous post from the Wineport, we spoke of the Australian government closing the border between the states of New South Wales and Victoria. No sooner had we done so than we received an unrelated but nevertheless timely report from our Bathurst correspondents in NSW.  In their own words:

Today we went on a firewood gathering excursion on a friend’s farm about 30 miles downriver from our home in Bathurst.  For morning tea our hostess served us pumpkin scones.  Alas, no cream or jam, just butter, but they were delicious.  My understanding is that pumpkin is classed as a pig food in the UK, but you eat swedes and turnips instead, which over here, we wouldn’t touch with a barge pole. The wife of a now-deceased premier of Queensland, Flo Bjelke-Peterson, was famous for her pumpkin scones.

Pumpkin v Turnip

They raise a number of points which we will try and address here:

  1. Experienced sconeys would not expect jam and cream with a savoury cheese or pumpkin scones … basic error.
  2. Pumpkins may well be pig food over here but we also find them useful as lanterns at Halloween! Other than that pumpkins are as about as useful as Boris Johnson. Okay, we may be coming down on pumpkins a bit hard there! As lanterns, pumpkins do emit some light whereas the same could never be said of Boris
  3. They are right in saying that we do eat turnips. Every year, in January, when we celebrate the birth of Robert Burns, our national bard, huge quantities of haggis, neeps and tatties (haggis, turnips and potatoes) are consumed along with copious quantities of whisky. Burns saw these as the food and drink of the common man and elevated them above the ‘skinking ware’ that the highfalutin aristocrats partook of. He knew what he was talking about!
  4. We can only assume that the Australian aversion to turnips is due to the likelihood that most of them were sent to Australia for stealing said items. 
 
Shrewd Flo!

Our correspondents also alerted us to the wonderful Flo Bjelke-Peterson.  She was an influential member of the Australian Senate who is the first person we have come across to openly admit to using scones for political purposes. She baked them for family and friends but also for the journalists that used to stake out her home. “They help me relate to the women who make them, and the men who eat them.” So we concede that these pumpkin scones must have been pretty good otherwise their influence politically would have been extremely limited.

When readers in the UK have finished gnawing on their turnips they might want to try Flo’s recipe … if they have a leftover lantern from Halloween!

INGREDIENTS:


1 tablespoon of butter
½ cup of sugar
¼ teaspoon of salt
1 egg
1 cup of cooked mashed pumpkin (cooled)
2-2¼ cups self-raising flour

METHOD: Preheat your oven to 250°C. Beat together butter, sugar and salt with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
Add egg, then pumpkin and stir in the flour.
Turn dough onto a floured board and cut into circles.
Place on a tray on the top shelf of a very hot oven (225-250°C) for 15-20 minutes.
Remove from oven, allow to cool and serve with butter.
Note: As with all scone dough, it is important not to overmix the dough. Keep your touch light, knead it as little as possible, and only work it enough to just bring it together. When you have cut your scone rounds out, you can recombine the leftover dough to make more scones, but again, don’t overwork the dough, or you will end up with tough scones.

NOTE: We are, of course, hugely grateful to our Bathurst correspondents. Keep them coming but maybe try some proper scones next time.

BREAKING

Donald Trump has been seen wearing a mask. Apparently, he likes it and thinks it makes him look like the Lone Ranger. Up until now, we suspected that he was suffering from another virus which seems to accompany coronavirus. We’re not singling him out, lot’s of people seem to have the imasthickasshitvirus. Sorry!

Who knows, if things continue to go well, we may be able to get out scone hunting again very soon.

island, Ordinary, Scones

The Wineport- Again

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This is yet another repost from 2016 at the Wineport on the Isle of Arran. Yes, even we are surprised at how many island scones we have consumed. Back in March, we were trying to narrow it down when we decided to repost island scones. But who would have thought we would still be doing it in the middle of July? Amazing but let’s get on with some serious grouching.

The 51st State

Day by day the UK is becoming more and more like the US. As the Union comes under increasing strain over COVID, no UK government official can now be seen on TV without the background being draped in Union Jacks. A  desperate sign of newfound insecurities. Scotland’s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon gets vilified for saying that she cannot rule out health checks on the border with England. Meanwhile, in Australia, the government has just closed the border between Victoria and New South Wales for exactly that reason. These are just two states within a country whereas Scotland and England are two different countries? Make of that what you will!

And like the US, our UK government now has a department to explain what our Prime Minister means when he speaks. Again like the US, usually, the exact opposite of what was actually said. In anticipation of the inevitable enquiry into their lamentable handling of coronavirus, Boris has attempted to offload blame. He said, “We discovered too many care homes didn’t really follow the procedures in the way that they could have.” In true Trumpian style officials then lined up to say that what he really meant was that care homes had done an absolutely brilliant and outstanding job. Unbelievable!

Back to 2016

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 National Trust for Scotland 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.

Summary

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 its 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

Earlier we were berating the National Trust for Scotland for not stocking Scottish produce in their cafés. Yesterday, at least they managed now got rid of their odious President, Neil Oliver over the equally odious David Starkey affair. His leaving may provide the Trust, with all its dukes, barons, earls and lords with a long-overdue and much-needed opportunity to have a long hard look at itself and how it manages its affairs.

shed on the west coast of the Isle of Arran
What’s left of a shed near Balliekine on Arran’s west coast

 

Scones, Top

Super Saturday

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So it’s Super Saturday, we can all relax and enjoy ourselves! For our many international readers who may not know, this is the day when in spite of England having a much worse r-rate than Scotland most of the COVID rules in England are withdrawn. So, as Scotland maintains its rules for another couple of weeks we thought, for this post, you might like to hear how we are coping with all the stresses and strains of months of COVID-19 lockdown. Remember the millenium bug that threatened to bring our computers and the world crashing down round about our ears? Well, it had nothing on this bug! 

Back gardens

Actually though, for us, it’s been quite a relaxing and pleasant experience. There are obvious problems like not seeing grandchildren etc but it’s not all negative. We don’t need to get dressed because no one is coming to the door. And why tidy the house? Can’t remember the last time we washed! Okay, that’s a slight exaggeration but all in all, it hasn’t been bad. Why wouldn’t it be when the reality consists of sitting eating Royal scones in a sunny back garden. That’s not strictly true either. The other day, with local restrictions being relaxed, we had the pleasure of testing our Trossachs correspondent’s Royal scones in their back garden.

Trossachs correspondents scones
Royal scones by our Trossachs correspondents

We behaved! Maintained our social distancing but have to admit to getting up close and personal with the scones. Delighted to report that the result of this official review was an easy topscone. Fantastic and thoroughly deserved. We had a wonderful afternoon with wonderful friends in their wonderful sunny garden. Many thanks … wonderful!

Strawberries

Readers might be lulled into the false impression that we have had an easy time of it in lockdown. Well, we have, however, it has not been entirely worry-free. Recently, for instance, we have been concerned about what to do with a surfeit of strawberries. They are ripening faster than we can eat them. Part of the solution was to eat them every day. Sometimes with ice cream, sometimes just with pouring cream and sometimes with custard. scones from the ovenThe strawberries are winning, however. Eventually, we might have to resort to making jam. In the meantime, we are having them with our scones. Pat made another batch of scones to the Royal recipe and we are eating them with homemade gooseberry jelly, whipped cream and sliced strawberries. Fab!scones and strawberries

Over the wall

So you can clearly see that it has not all been plain sailing. However, we do not want readers to worry. We are just fine sitting in the garden. And to set your minds at rest, we think the strawberry crisis is manageable. When we look over the garden wall, however, we see a world that is confusing, hairy and relatively sconeless and that’s a bit worrying.

Back to Super Saturday. What sort of idiot decided that Saturday the 4th July would be a good day to jettison restrictions and open the pubs in England? Oh yes, that idiot! Boris says he is relying on people’s good sense to behave responsibly. He chooses to overlook the fact that if people had ‘good sense’ he would not be Prime Minister. It’s the downside of democracy. When Gary, Tank Commander says that it was wrong for the army to go into Iraq he observes that it was the government that told the army to do it. And who put the government there? Us! He’s right. Now, at least, folks can get their hair cut in England.

Confusing?

Meanwhile, Trump wants to put America ‘first’ in the charge to have the highest coronavirus fatalities, however, the UK, or rather England, is snapping at their heels. Both states, of course, have one thing in common … numpties in charge.

scones pre oven
In case you’re wondering, this is what raw Royal scones look like; pre-oven

In Scotland, we are urged to stick to being two meters apart (in case of doubt, that’s one Highland cow or one Highland dancer apart). Boris has now said that in England it has been reduced to one meter or “one and a bit” meters. In the spirit of compromise, an English person in Scotland presumably has to stay one and a ‘big bit’ meters apart? There is also much confusion around the rules for quarantine as England lifts its rules but Scotland doesn’t. The solution, of course, is obvious. Instead of the Scottish government, with both hands tied behind their back, doing a much better job than their Westminster counterparts they should have complete freedom to be a proper effective government.  That only comes with independence, of course.

How will it all end ?

It remains to be seen how Super Saturday pans out and how the pandemic progresses. It’s a crazy world. With the arrest of Ghislaine Maxwell in America, the Queen must be longing for a good old Royal Garden Party, a cup of Earl Grey and one of her scones. if she needs a shoulder to cry on. she is welcome to come round here for a scone and a wee chat.

PS: In case you think we are existing in a boorach of a house on a mono-diet of strawberry scones, we’re not! The other day we found a trout on our doorstep! And we are far from any kind of river! Not only that but it had been smoked. In two shakes of a lamb’s tail, however, Pat had it transformed into this delicious pasta dish. It was the cat’s pyjamas!

smoked trout pasta
A strawberry free tagliatelle with smoked trout in a light sauce.

 

Scones, Uncategorized

Four Hundred

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A multicoloured Four Hundred, that’s a strange title, we hear you cry. What could that possibly refer to? Could it be something to do with the LGBT community? Could it be something to do with the COVID-19 rainbows in everyone’s windows? Well yes, the colouring does reflect the times we currently live in but the number, surprise surprise, denotes the simple fact that this is the 400th post on allaboutthescones.com since we started back in 2015.

Who would have thought it? If you had suggested back then that five years later we would still be blogging about scones we would have fallen about laughing. Scones have certainly taken us to places we would never otherwise have been and to meet people we would never otherwise have met. It has been an extraordinary adventure. Having said that we should really have something better to do with our time! It would be great to be able to say that we have come a long way since then but, of course, we haven’t. Still, the same old scone scoffing and carping endlessly about our illustrious leaders. Of course, that’s not to say that nothing has happened in these five years, far from it.

Back at the start

Hard to think of it now but back in 2015 David Cameron had unexpectedly come to power, UKIP was riding high and the SNP had 56 of the 59 Scottish MPs at Westminster. The UK was still a member of the EU for goodness sake! Jeremy Corbyn emerged as a joke candidate for leadership of the Labour party but ended up winning. Unfortunately, he managed to make Labour unelectable, leaving English voters with no choice but to vote Tory. Hence the mess we are in today with the vacuum that is Boris Johnson in charge.

Scones at Fonab Castle
Fonab Castle’s baking and respect for scones has been our benchmark throughout

What else has happened? Well apart from scone reports from all over the UK, our intrepid correspondents have lodged reports from all over the world … the parts that we find hard to reach. Our gratitude is boundless!

Obviously we have dispatched a lot of scones in that time but, happily, 108 of them have been topscones. It’s great when you come across a topscone but suffice to say we have thoroughly enjoyed finding each and every one of them.

200 scones
This is what 209 scones looks like … imagine eating twice as many?
400

In case you are interested Four Hundred days ago, we were at the Old Inn in Northern Ireland eating fabulous cherry scones and writing about making love to goats. Four Hundred weeks ago it was 2012 and the Queen’s Silver Jubilee. Fred Goodwin lost his knighthood but other bankers got massive bonuses. We were warned that representative democracy was in terminal decline in the UK. The fact that Scotland’s representative in the current government is now a Tory MP in England proves that at least they got that right. Four Hundred months ago it was 1987.  Bill Gates launched Windows 2.0 and China sent its first email to an address in Germany. Four Hundred years ago it was 1620 and the good ship Mayflower departed Plymouth on its way to America. Wonder if they would still do that today now that Trump is President?

Amidst all this technological wizardry and political idiocy, scones remained a consistent and calming influence throughout. A beacon of good taste and sensibility. Long may that happy situation continue!

Lastly, a big thank you to our readers for your forbearance and many comments. The next post will be another old scone from the past … it’s not our fault!

Scones, Uncategorized

The Royal Garden Party

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theroyalfamily's profile picture

We know that this may come as a shock to readers of our humble blog who had assumed over the years that we were just ordinary people. You know that we go to great lengths to expand your sconological knowledge but you probably thought that that was about as special as we could get. However, rest assured, when the Queen requested our company at the Royal Garden Party at the Palace of Holyroodhouse we didn’t see it as some sort of high faluting privilege but rather a simple scone opportunity? While we were there we ended up being introduced and chatting to HRH, Elizabeth I of Scotland (we call her Ma’am for short) for ten minutes or so. It was all very polite and interesting but it went so quickly we completely forgot to ask her for the scone recipe … remiss of us we know. We didn’t get round to sheds either! A bit of a wasted opportunity. Thank goodness she never asked if we were Royalists! However, we are about to make amends with a Garden Party recipe.

We know that you are all thinking “That pair never got an invitation from the Queen! If they got to a Royal Garden Party they must have climbed over the gates”! Well, we did get an invite and just to prove it there’s no way we could have climbed the gates dressed like this.Royal Garden Party

Special

That was almost a decade ago, of course, and the only reason for bringing it up now is that HRH, has just released her scone recipe for Garden Parties and we thought we should place it in some sort of context. It was before our scone blogging days so the scones didn’t get critiqued but we are sure they would have been topscones … especially if there’s a chance of a knighthood!

We should add that having met many members of the Royal Family; the Queen Mum, Charles, Diana, Anne etc, the Queen was definitely the best. We’re not sucking up it’s just that yes, we are so special we are able to make such judgements! And that knighthood!

Recipe

Actually, you may be surprised to hear that HRH does not actually bake the scones for her Garden Parties. This is the recipe for fruit scones used by the Royal Pastry Chefs so presumably, it has been “approved”.

???????????:
-500g Plain Flour
-28g Baking Powder
-94g Butter
-86g Sugar
-2 Whole Eggs
-140ml Butter Milk
-100g Sultanas – a type of raisin (Cover in hot water and leave to soak for 30 minutes)
??????:
-Preheat oven to 180 C
-Mix the flour, baking powder, butter and sugar together in a bowl, until a crumb is formed
-In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs and buttermilk together
-Add the liquid to the crumb mixture
-Continue to mix the dough, until it is smooth
-(Optional) Add the sultanas, and mix until evenly distributed
1Remove the dough from the bowl, flatten the dough and cover
-Leave to rest for approximately 30 minutes
-Roll out the dough to a thickness of 2.5 cm and cut to desired shape
-Rest the scones for another 20 minutes
-Gently egg was the top of the scones
-Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes until golden brown
-Cool before serving with jam and clotted cream

There is even a short video, just click here! Royal Garden Party scones

Leadership

Many thanks to HRH for the invite and a very interesting day. Actually, it was interesting just walking through the streets of Edinburgh dressed like a couple of people going to a Royal Garden Party …. many photos of us must now be adorning mantlepieces all over the world. And now you have the recipe you can have your very own garden party!

After George Floyd, Trump has bunkered down in the White House and threatened to use the army against his own people. Meanwhile, Boris has gone AWOL as UK becomes the most unstable it’s been in living memory. A world with Garden Parties suddenly seems a little bit surreal!

We could give you the postcode etc of the Palace of Holyroodhouse but what’s the point if you’re not special?

We’ll keep you posted on the knighthood thingy …services to scones! Will the investiture be at Scone Palace?

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island, Ordinary, Scones

Liosbeag Café – Again

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Okay, we are back to old regurgitated scones … sorry! This one is from 2015 at the Liosbeag Café on Lismore.

With Bojo keeping Dominic Cummings in his job at least we know now for certain that Britain has joined that merry band of countries like the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, N Korea and Kazakhstan which have unelected leaders at the helm. The British are also getting a taste of what it is like to be governed by the shambolic self-interested British. Something many countries have experienced in the past and, of course, Scotland, Wales and N. Ireland still do. Anyway, enough depressing stuff, let’s go back five years.

We took the car ferry from Oban to Achnacroish in order to right a wrong. We had never before visited Lismore. Looked at it many times from Mull and Appin and various other places but had never actually set foot on it. This was to be our first time .. exciting. External view of Liosbeag Café, Isle of LismoreWe were guests at Bachuil Country House but before we arrived there we came to the Liosbeag Café at the local Gaelic Heritage Centre. It was just about scone time. As it turns out there is one Kiki McColl who is the manager and responsible for all the baking here. She doesn’t scrimp! A scone at Liosbeag Café, Isle of LismoreThe cakes and scones all came in what might be termed ‘man-sized’ portions. Kiki’s raspberry scones looked huge, to begin with, but when they appeared complete with jam and cream they were indeed, something to behold. A scone at Liosbeag Café, Isle of Lismore

All we can say is if you are ever on Lismore you must have one of these Kiki masterpieces. You won’t need much else for the rest of the day. If you fancied something else however there is a whole range of other food on offer, a shop, and a history centre. Well worth a visit. Considering it is the only café on the island it is just as well that it’s a good one. Well done to Kiki and the girls for the friendly welcome and excellent food. We would love to come back!

PA34 5UL          tel: 01631 760020        Liosbeag Café

 Our hosts on Lismore were Niall and Anita Livingston, perhaps better known as the Baron and Baroness of Bachuil. Niall was also the Abbot of Lismore, Coarb (Successor) of St Moluag and Chief of Clan MacLea. Quite a guy you might think … and you would be right! They made us extremely welcome Niall regaled us with interesting tales about his various titles and this wonderful island. Perhaps most importantly Niall taught us how to eat porridge correctly. One morning however he warned us against the chocolate cake at Liosbeag Café. We thought it a bit strange but next morning on the 4th June it all became clear. Niall and Anita had bought a full chocolate gateau to help celebrate Pat’s birthday. How nice was that?

Pat's Lismore birthday
Pat and the Baron of Bachuil on her birthday

Moving on

We have taken out the contact details because since our visit. Bachuil House has closed. And as far as we can gather Kiki has moved on from the café. We need to revisit the island when all this coronavirus stuff is cleared up. Peculiar to think that it was in the middle of March that we were at Tobermory on the Isle of Mull and since then we have barely been out of the house. We are quite enjoying it now. Hope you all are as well.

LISMORE SHED

A shed at Achnacroich, the capital of Lismore

 

Scones, Uncategorized

Narrow Neck Beach Café

So here we are at the Narrow Neck Beach Café! Have the coronavirus restrictions been lifted we hear you cry? No, of course, they haven’t. Fortunately, not all countries are led by buffoons. New Zealand, for example, is led by Jacinda Ardern, who is about as far away from our own idiotic leaders as it’s possible to get. She has just continued a live interview during an earthquake for goodness sake! As a result of that leadership, our wonderful Kiwi correspondents have been able to travel and meet friends in cafés that are actually open. Bravo NZ! Perhaps more importantly, their report allows us to provided a brief respite from our never-ending diet of old island scones. Though come to think of it, New Zealand is an island!

Devonport to Takapuna

Anyway, we can do no better than let them describe this mini scone adventure in their own words. We are sooo jealous! “We spent the day walking to Devonport and back to Takapuna 20kms.  Beautiful day as you can see, and another 50 odd photos ?.  We stopped for late breakfast at Narrow Neck Beach Cafe on the way.  An excuse for me to try a very cheesy scone.  Seated on a bench, in the sun on a beautiful autumn day, Rangitoto Island for a view, Trim Latte and scone.   It looked delicious, very cheesy a little crisp on top, warm, and relatively soft inside and with extra butter!. And it tasted delicious ?.  A perfect scone I think?“A scone at the Narrow Neck Beach Café

In case you are wondering ‘trim latte’ is kiwi-speak for a latte made with skimmed milk. It’s all part of your sconalogical education and could avoid potential embarrassment while ordering a coffee next time you’re in NZ. Obviously, our correspondents are not qualified to classify scones officially but we are happy to believe that we would have given them a topscone had we been there. When the restrictions lift?? Many thanks to S&O.

 The fact that Dominic Cummings is still in his post following his really stupid behaviour amply demonstrates that he actually IS the Tory party and he actually IS the government. Nothing happens without his say so. The arrogance of Johnson and Cummings is mind-blowing, they clearly think they are truly exceptional. Cummings particular skill lies in being able to persuade the public that what is good for the elite is actually good for them as well. Hence there are bigger things than a trip to Barnard Castle he has to answer for: Brexit, food banks, privatisation, homelessness for example. He won’t go until he has given his hapless boss, Boris permission to get rid of him. However, he may find out shortly that his real boss is the great British public.

As New Zealand rolls into autumn, we go into summer. Let’s hope that we can have the same liberties as our New Zealand friends by then.

Auckland 0624.     tel:+64 22 495 9659       Narrow Neck FB

island, Ordinary, Scones

Isle of Raasay Distillery 2

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 A few years ago we watched a tv documentary about the Isle of Raasay. They interviewed Duncan, a crofter in his eighties, who had spent his entire life on this tiny island. You might think he was just lacking ambition however he seemed the very essence of contentment. As we sit discontented in coronavirus lockdown it is perhaps salutary to think of him and how he enjoyed his life. We visited Isle of Raasay Distillery 2 in 2019 when Brexit still made the news.

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 its 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

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

Miracles

We fully understand old Duncan not wishing to leave this island, we didn’t. When we were there, Pat bought me a bottle of “While We Wait” the whisky the distillery is selling until they can produce their own. I still have it … as yet unopened, it’s a miracle!

So far BoJo has fronted 4 coronavirus briefings, Nicola Sturgeon has fronted 59. As we learn from the First Minister of Scotland that we are to gain greater coronavirus freedoms as of next week we should perhaps bear in mind that in the very near future, with Brexit, we will be losing lots of other freedoms. We will be the only citizens of Europe unable to travel, study, work or retire freely across our own continent. England voted for this so we hope the Prime Minister of England can sort it out for England. Scotland emphatically did not, so we hope the First Minister of Scotland can sort that out as well. Another miracle required.

A SHED ON CALUM’s ROAD

Shed by a sheep fank, Isle of Raasay
This tumbledown shed is in an almost inaccessible sheep fank, Maybe they took the sheep out by boat before Calum built the road which you can see above?

island, Ordinary, Scones, self-service

Brodick Castle – Again

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This visit to Brodick Castle was back in 2016 in cahoots with the Scottish Wildlife Trust. Things were better then. For one thing, I was four years younger and my arthritic hands had not deteriorated to the extent they have today. I mention this because it raises an important question. 

Pat and I are muddling through this COVID-19 isolation business as best we can. The other day, however, while trying to extract a cork from a bottle of prosecco I noticed I was having some difficulty. So what is the question? Well, women have babies; they have to contend with everything mother nature throws at them; wear high heels; look beautiful; put up with men all while being sensible. So, if a man can’t even pop a cork … what’s left? It’s okay I’m not un dergoing some sort of crisis … I don’t think? Anyway back to the wonderful Isle of Arran.

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 travelled 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

We may owe Boris an apology. He has singlehandedly broken the UK up into its constituent parts. Bravo! It has always been thus, of course, but before now Westminster and the media have always thought of the UK as ‘a country’ rather than a ‘state’ made up of four equal countries. Okay, two countries, a Principality and a province to be precise but you know what we mean. Boris has unwittingly downgraded himself, to Prime Minister of England, the selfless wee soul that he is.

Still got £5.36 in my pocket

ARRAN SHED

A shed at the Kilmichael Hotel, Isle of Arran
A shed at the Kilmichael Hotel on Arran