Tag Archives: Bridge of Allan

Scones, Uncategorized

Major A A Gordon Gordon Society

9 Comments

This post is a little bit different. It’s not so much about a scone but  a scone recipe.  The Major A A Gordon Society may sound like somewhere you might go for an upmarket afternoon tea but it’s not. Or if it was it would be in Antwerp and we are definitely not there. Let us explain!

Major Gordon in 1901Obviously attentive readers will remember mention of the Major A A Gordon Society in the Wee Timorous Beastie post back in June. Initially the Society got in touch because they had read one of our posts from 2015 about the Scotch Tea House in Nice on the Côte d’Azure. They wanted to know if it was the same “Scottish Teahouse” Major Gordon had visited back in 1939. So far we have been unable to provide a definitive answer but are pretty sure that it is.

So in a way, our’s and Major Gordon’ s paths have crossed.  When we were there the tearoom looked very Victorian and we speculated that it was there because Queen Victoria spent a few months every year in Nice and loved everything “Scottish’`. And it looked as if it had not changed in the last one hundred years. Who knows, we may have even sat at the same table as Queen Victoria or Major Gordon?

Ben Loyal in Bridge of Allan
Major Gordon’s family home in Bridge of Allan

Major Gordon was from Bridge of Allan here in Scotland but is largely unknown here. In Belgium, however, it is a different story. He is a celebrated war hero because of his courageous actions during the Siege of Antwerp in 1914, Suffice to say, serendipity and scones seem to have coalesced in a way that means that Pat and I now do research on the Society’s behalf here in Scotland.

Recipes

As part of the exchange of correspondence they sent us pictures of the cookbook Major Gordon wrote around 120 years ago. They thought we would be interested in the scone recipe.Major A A Gordon cookbook

Turns out Major Gordon was a bit of a sconey … there were several recipes

Major A A Gordon cookbook

Innovating

Anyway, one day Pat decided to try and bring one of the recipes to life. Scones prepared to Major Gordon's recipeThere were problems however, we didn’t have any “buttermilk”. We didn’t even know what it was! When we looked it up it seemed to come in powdered form. Pat improvised with some self-raising flour and a pinch of sugar. Suffice to say the results, with homemade jam and whipped cream, were rather good. We have now discovered that buttermilk can be made simply by adding vinegar to milk to make it curdle.  Think we’ll leave that for the time being!

You just never knowHonorary Membership certificate for Major A A Gordon Society

We sent the pictures off to Belgium and within days they appeared in the November Issue of the Society’s newsletter. They have also made Pat and I and my sister, who has been researching the Scotch Tearoom in Nice, honorary members. You see you just never know where the simple act of eating a scone will lead. We are, of course delighted and delighted to continue helping the Society in any way we can.

Best laid plans

Back in June in the post from the Timorous Beastie Cafe we referred to the poem “To A Mouse” by Robert Burns. The timorous beastie was a mouse and Burns had just destroyed its nest with his plough. It made him reflect  on life and its unpredictability. “The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men / Gang aft agley.” He apologises to the mouse and for the general tyranny of man. With everything going on in the world and now the imbecilic riots in Dublin  last night you might think that man should have progressed a wee bit since Burns’s day. It would appear not! Thank goodness for scones!

The Major A A Gordon Society

Ordinary, Scones

Allanwater Cafe

7 Comments
You might think that Bridge of Allan is a slightly odd name for a town but it is pretty obvious really. It’s built around the bridge over the river known as the Allan Water. And the Allanwater Cafe is almost built on top of the bridge.  Before railways and cars, bridges were super-important. They provided the means of avoiding long and difficult circuitous routes to cross rivers. Nowadays people driving in and out of the town wouldn’t even be aware that they were crossing a bridge and wouldn’t give it a moment’s thought.A sign for the Allanwater Cafe
Man and horse
Bridge of Allan is a very pleasant place sporting many large mansion houses much favoured by today’s overpaid professional footballers. Its origins, however, were much  more humble …  mining copper. The mines closed in 1807 but a few years later the local laird discovered that mineral springs were leaking into the mines and decided to make Bridge of Allan a spa town. No flies on these laird types! In 1830 Bridge of Allan was described as “everything a village ought to be: straw roofed cottages, a mill, old inns with entertainment for man and horse, and a row of neat little villas for the fashionable who flock to it in summer.” If it’s good enough for man and horse it should be good enough for us lowly sconeys. There are many cafes and restaurants in the town and we thought we had visited them all … except this one!Letter head for the Allanwater Cafe
 
Amazingly, it has been run by the Bechelli family dynasty for more than one hundred and twenty years. There are plenty other cafes around. The multinational Costa is directly across the road but has closed permanently. Also across the road is Nairn’s a brand new up market restaurant venture and but it was almost empty. The Allanwater Cafe, on the other hand, was buzzing. The Bechelli dynasty must be doing something right.Internal view of the Allanwater Cafe
 
It would have been good to sample some of their lunch offerings but we just wanted some coffee and maybe a scone to share. A scone at the Allanwater CafeWhen we said we wanted to share a scone our waitress said “Yes they are big“!The service was very friendly and helpful … perhaps they were part of the family dynasty. Anyway we soon had everything we needed. The staff seemed to know almost everyone in the place which gave it a very relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere. Our scone was enjoyable as well but fell short of a topscone.
 
Dynasties

If the Bechelli family dynasty is getting things right the same does not apply to all such dynasties.

The Paterson Memorial
The Paterson Memorial (nothing to do with us) to a local doctor

Surely the best news of the week is media-mogul Rupert Murdoch’s announcement that he is retiring. He has been a malevolent force around the world for far too long and if he and his sordid News Corp organisation were to disappear off the scene tomorrow it would not be a moment too soon.  Without his interference Trump would probably never have made it out of the starting blocks and Brexit would never have happened. As with all things Murdoch, however, it is not straight forward. He is handing over the reins to his even more right wing son, Lachlan. It’s just a pity his name so ably demonstrates his Scottish ancestry. Perhaps Lachlan should come to the Allanwater Cafe to see how a dynasty should be run?

FK9 4HN          tel: 01786 833060       Allanwater Cafe

///smashes.crowd.formation

Scones

Wee Timorous Beastie Café

8 Comments

People often ask us how we plan our scone adventures. The answer, of course, is we don’t … they just kind of happen. How we ended up here at the Wee Timorous Beastie Café in Bridge of Allan is a typical example.

A few day ago we received an email from the Major A A Gordon Society, based in Antwerp. They had read one of our posts from 2015 about the Scotch Tea House in Nice. Major Gordon hails from Bridge od Allan and although pretty well unknown here he is a national war hero in Belgium, The Major A A Gordon Society is dedicated to preserving his memory. Their enquiry arose because In 1939  he visited Nice and, according to his letters, had taken tea with his sister-in-law, Dolly, in the “Scottish Tea Rooms”.

Research

They wanted to know if we thought it would be the same tearoom. We had mentioned that its dark cool interior and proximity to the Promenade des Angles made it ideal for Victorian ladies to seek shelter from the sun and partake of tea and scones. Queen Victoria spent a lot of time in Nice. They eventually built a special hotel, the Excelsior, to accommodate her and her entourage of over 100 attendants. She was a fan of all things Scottish so it seemed likely that the “Scottish Tea House” would have also been created around that time. When we replied we also mentioned that we lived close to Bridge of Allan. There then followed a list of requests for us to research in the town. Hence you find us in the Wee Timorous Beastie Café obtaining sustenance before we begin to scour the town for clues to Major Gordon’s existence.Internal view of the Wee Timorous Beastie Café

Of mice and men

“Wee Timorous Beastie’ may seem like an odd name to many readers but, of course, all Scottish folk will identify with it immediately.  The timorous beastie in question is, of course, a field mouse, the description given in the poem,”To A Mouse”, by Robert Burns. He wrote it in 1785 to express his sorrow after he inadvertently destroyed the creature’s nest with his plough.

Back then

Coffee logoThe last time we were here in 2015 it was called  Café 33. Back then it was raining and we were not very impressed with the experience we had there. In addition, David Cameron seemed hell bent on bombing Syria. He had been in power for five years and hadn’t yet managed a war. Surely a significant failure for a British Prime Minister?  Anyway, Syria seems to have disappeared off the face of the Earth and this time we were desperately seeking shade.

In the splendid display of cakes on the counter we noted that there was only one scone. We asked if they had some in reserve but they didn’t so we had to reserve this solitary example. After some excellent lunch the scone arrived with our coffee. This time, of course, we didn’t have any choice but to share. No cream but it did come with plenty jam and butter. Not a topscone but we enjoyed it nevertheless.A scone at the Wee Timorous Beastie Café

We were looking for local people to help us with our research so we asked the lady sitting at the next table. She was no use whatsoever! She was from Northampton and had only moved to nearby Dunblane a couple of weeks previously. Her son had had the good sense to marry a Scottish lass and she had decided to move up to be nearer to them. She was still trying to find her way around. A delightful conversation but eventually we had to take our leave, we had work to do!Internal view of the Wee Timorous Beastie Café

Helpful people

Suffice to say that we now know Bridge of Allan much better than we did before. We poked into most of its neuks and crannies and met some lovely people along the way. The folks in the local library were fantastic. One couple were having lunch in their garden in the sunshine until we interrupted their idyl with our questions. That resulted in them going into the house to bring out some local history books and spending ages trying to help. Wonderful! We eventually got answers to most of our questions and have reported back to Belgium. 

And that’s how we plan our scone adventures!

In “To a Mouse” Burns reflected on life and its unpredictability. “The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men / Gang aft agley.” He apologises to the mouse and for the general tyranny of man. Unfortunately, in the intervening 250 years, everything has changed but when it comes to the tyranny of man it’s still the same. 

FK9 4HN        tel: 01786 834998         Timorous Beastie FB

///gurgling.presides.documents

Ordinary, Scones

Westerton Arms

3 Comments

When Robert Louis Stevenson wrote “Treasure Island” he may have been thinking of the place we are in today. He certainly was when he wrote “Memoirs of an Islet” and the poem “A Good Boy”. We know this because his ill health meant he spent much of his childhood years in this small spa town. Later when he was living in Hyères in the South of France he wrote “I shall never forget the days at Bridge of Allan; they were one golden dream”. Yes, we are in Bridge of Allan, not to take the waters but rather the scones at the Westerton Arms.

Footballers

How times have changed! Seems odd nowadays to think that, in Victorian times, whole towns grew up around a spring. There was nothing particularly special about the water apart from the fact that it was clean; something we now simply take for granted. Wealthy Victorians would flock to these  towns for their health benefits. You can see echoes of this past everywhere in Bridge of Allan. Lots of green spaces and grand mansion houses that, nowadays, are largely the preserve of obscenely overpaid footballers. By the way, if you look to the left of the title picture, you can see the Paterson Memorial clock … nothing to do with us! The Paterson in question was a local doctor who served the local community for many years.Internal view of the Western Arms

The Westerton Arms began life in 1831, almost twenty years before Stevenson was born. He, like us, may well have come here for a scone? Although almost 170 years old it is surprisingly fresh and modern inside and would appear to be undergoing still more refurbishment. The staff were very welcoming and soon had us kitted out with some excellent lunch.

Reasons to go to Samoa?

Henry's Coffee Co coffee cupThey brought our coffee while we waited for our scones and lo-and-behold it was our favourite from Henry’s Coffee Company. It doesn’t get much better than this so things were looking very promising.  Unfortunately, it didn’t continue. A scone at the Western ArmsThe scones (£2.95 each) were decidedly average and served with American jam and French butter … quelle dommage! The scone itself was a fairly lifeless affair. When we expressed our disappointment we were told that all the other cakes were made in their own kitchen but they didn’t know where the scones came from?? Maybe this is why Robert Louis Stevenson left Scotland and ended up in Samoa?

Holding your breath

The Pope, on his recent visit to Greece, has scolded almost all western leaders over their treatment of immigrants. Likewise Tony Blair has been scolding the same leaders over their handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Neither Tony or Francis have the power to do anything about anything so it’s easy for them to go off on one! Will their words  effect any change? Don’t hold your breath!

FK9 4HR        tel: 01786 200545.      Westerton Arms  

///honest.tucked.boots

ps: The next day we got a lovely surprise when one of our neighbours popped in with some scones. If only the scones the day before had been as good as these they would have been topscones.Ann Style's scone

Ordinary, Scones

The Hideaway Café

3 Comments
Hide and Seek

We often stop off in Bridge of Allan as we go to and from the north … for the size of the place it has a lot to offer. For me the reason for stopping is Woodwinters Wine & Whiskies, one of the best off-licences I know. The excellent Allanwater Tinpot Brewery/Pub is also good. Pat, on the other hand, likes several of the fashion shops. It was one of these fashion shops, Ruby Tuesday, that led us to this place, the Hideaway Café. It is tucked away at the end of a mews that runs down the side of the shop. We thought we knew Bridge of Allan quite well but had no idea this place existed. It is aptly named but well worth finding. It has a much more relaxed ‘coffee shop’ vibe than our usual Bridge of Allan haunts, Jamjar and Café 33.

hideaway-01Everything on the menu , including the scones, is freshly prepared every morning. It also has an outside area with a playhouse for the kiddies. A surefire blessing for all the mums of Bridge of Allan. It was unfortunate that we arrived at the end of the day. There was only a single lonesome fruit scone left so we decided to share and put it out of it’s misery. hideaway-03Perhaps it was because it was the last  one that it caused us some difficulty. It was very very good, nice jam and cream, but we felt it lacked a certain freshness. Had we been earlier in the day it would definitely have achieved a topscone. Next time we will get there earlier and not spend so much time and money in Ruby Tuesday!!

Bridges and Jacobites

Bridge of Allan, like most spa towns is ‘nice’. Robert Louis Stevenson visited every year in his youth. But it was not always so genteel. It got it’s name in 1520 when a narrow stone bridge was built to replace the old ford across the River Allan. Soon after that it became a sort of ‘klondyke’ town when copper, gold and silver mines were established nearby and by 1745 the bridge had been commandeered by a group of Jacobites who charged a toll to cross. Most famously of all, of course, in January 1963 the Beatles played the Museum Hall, now converted into luxury flats. At that time, even the Beatles themselves had little inkling of what lay in store for them. A bit like the Labour party at their recent annual conference in Liverpool. hideaway-02

Shooting yourself in the foot

In spite of what seemed a reasonable, if not rousing, closing speech by Corbyn, the sight of a large part of the audience doggedly stuck to their seats and refusing to applaud does not bode well for the future of the party. Or for that matter, the country, which desperately needs an effective opposition. With the Tories in almost as much disarray, the UK appears to be in some sort of free-fall. At home, Scottish Labour has shot itself in the foot so often there is nothing left below the knee except bloodied strands of gristle. What is wrong with the country?

Picture of childrens playhouse at the Hideaway Café
Kiddies playhouse

Perhaps it was summed up this week by Sam Allardyce walking off with £1m for a couple of months work as England manager. Instead of being booted out on his ear as he should have been. Yet another example, like the bankers, of the ‘success of failure’. As long as we continue to reward those who fail us the future will look decidedly unpredictable. Perhaps they should all hole up in that kiddies playhouse at the Hideaway Café for a while until they have sorted themselves out?

FK9 4EN      no telephone       Hideaway

Ordinary

Café 33

1 Comment

Café 33 is run by the Tortolano family from the Lazio region of central Italy so we expected a small family run restaurant with good food and a warm welcome. 33 01Strangely though it did not have the atmosphere we normally associate with such places. Perhaps it was the weather? Maybe it was the tired decor? Perhaps it was the fact that there was no one there except us. The overall feeling was one of disappointment. However, they are keen to point out that Café 33 is on the sunny side of the street in Bridge of Allan. The street runs east/west and Café 33 is indeed on the sunny side, almost directly opposite Jamjar. We reviewed Jamjar back in May.

It was not sunny today however. Exactly the opposite, rainy and quite cold so it was good to get into the warmth for a coffee. 33 04The scones are homemade every morning and are not at all bad but nothing out of the ordinary either. In fact there was nothing particularly wrong with this place, but nothing particularly right either. If you find yourself in the middle of the street (mind the traffic) torn between this place and Jamjar, go to Jamjar.

Who kills the most?

Our sense of disappointment extends to the ongoing Paris situation which continues to generate more heat than light with all the political leaders slavishly following the script written by IS. Never mind that IS’s buddies, Boko Haram, have killed many more people, we are not aware of any bombing raids on them. Not even an outcry, in fact, not even a mention … but they are in Africa of course! Instead, we seem to risk getting involved in a war that is essentially an argument between two warring factions of Islam. Like all religions each faction regards itself as the only true religion. It is a hard one, if not an impossible one, to win.

Distractions

Did you notice Dave’s response at the dispatch box when Corbyn asked if they would go after the people who fund IS before they start bombing. “Yes, yes, that’s all very well but it’s no substitute for bombing.” The poor guy is bustin’ a gut to join in. He has been PM for over five years and still hasn’t had a war for goodness sake. Now would be a perfect time for such a distraction what with the EU referendum, immigrants, the deficit .. and don’t let’s forget the full fiscal framework for Scotland.

Warning to Scots

Also, in these austere times, he has acquired his own private jet, so that he can sit down with the other big boys who all have their own planes. Playground stuff really, he just doesn’t want to be left out. It does raise a fairly fundamental question however about just how many countries it takes to completely flatten Syria? In fact, who on earth would want to be Syrian? Oh, St Andrew, patron saint of Scotland, he was Syrian. Maybe Dave’s desperate desire to bomb the country is actually subliminally meant to send a message to Scots. We had better behave! Anyway, besides all that, we probably just got Café 33 on an off day. Maybe we will visit again when the sun is shining on the sunny side off the street. That’s provided we are not at war and scone rationing has not been introduced!

FK9 4HN      tel: 01786 834988        Café 33 TripAd

Ordinary, Scones

The Royal Ivy Hotel

1 Comment

When the Royals have created such a stooshie over the Crown Estates in Scotland it is perhaps appropriate that we are visiting the Royal Ivy Hotel in Bridge of Allan. For afternoon tea no less! Fortunately the Buckingham Palace spokesman who started all the fuss has retracted his statement saying it was a misunderstanding. Presumably so that we can relax and enjoy our scones without being tormented by thoughts of HM being upset.

The Royal Ivy is situated on the the Stirling side of town and we can only hope that since it is a ‘Royal’ establishment that the Queen might see fit to distribute some of the £150m refurb of her London pad in the direction of this place. It needs it! Strawberries at the Royal Ivy Hotel, Bridge of AllanThe dated and soulless decor is such that it kind of pervades everything.  It makes you feel a bit down … depressed even. It certainly makes you acutely aware of how much general ambience matters. A huge pity because the afternoon tea was really good.

We were offered chocolate dipped strawberries and presecco to begin with .. a very nice touch. This was followed up with one of the most generous presentations of afternoon tea that we have come across. Afternoon tea at the Royal Ivy Hotel, Bridge of AllanMore chocolate dipped strawberries, strawberry tarts, assorted sandwiches, cakes and very presentable pancakes and scones. We were offered endless top ups of prosecco, tea and coffee.

All in all it was very good value for money, the only thing letting it down was the surroundings. We hope they sort it out so that this Ivy becomes more akin to its more famous namesake. Maybe a note to the HM asking for 0.0000001% of her refurbishment budget. That would cover the cost of a decent website as well!

FK9 4HH                   tel: 01786 834166                    Royal Ivy Hotel

Ordinary, Scones

JamJar Café

1 Comment

Bridge of Allan is the kind of Belgravia of central Scotland. A favourite hangout for the well off to live and play so there are lots of hotels, cafés, bars etc. Today we decided to stop off at the JamJar Café.  A nice day though not quite warm enough to sit outside on their pavement patio area. Inside though it is toasty no matter what the weather. A couple of big log burning stoves blazing away all day. It has the atmosphere of a well run but relaxed bistro and you can get pretty much anything you want from Sunday lunch to a snack. Internal view at the Jamjar Café, Bridge of Allan

Needless to say we were after the scones so I got my usual fruit one and Pat got a savoury cheese one. Since our last post, of course, the election has come and gone .. and what an election. The media are having a field day trying to figure out what happened with the loss of three party leaders within as many hours. Scotland, typically some might say, has gone off on its own in a direction almost diametrically opposed to England. It managed to get PoshDave returned with an overall majority thus proving that polls are not worth the paper they are written on.

Again typically, Scotland seems to be getting blamed for all the ensuing problems. Bringing down Labour , bringing down LibDems and, for all I know, bringing down UKIP. Though I’m not sure that could actually be classified as a problem. NastyNige bleating on about his 4 million votes being worth only one seat whereas the SNP’s 1.5 million  votes gets them 56 seats. Of course, conveniently forgetting that the SNP only stood in 59 seats compared to over 600 for UKIP.

Statistics

However, the most interesting statistic to emerge was the one that determined that if every single voter in Scotland had voted Labour (or any other party) it would not have made the slightest difference to the result. That for me encapsulates ‘the Scottish problem’. When it comes to voting, Scotland may as well not bother. Except maybe this time with virtually the whole country turning yellow, it might be different. Emphasis on ‘might’.

Anyway PoshDave and his classmates can pretty well do as they want now but I suspect that most of England will not be happy with the results. That, along with the EU, the Union, and him being unpopular within his own party, may turn out to be the least of his problems. “He’s gonna catch a cold, from the ice inside his sole” as Christina Perri would say. A scone at the Jamjar Café, Bridge of AllanIt will be fascinating to see how it all pans out.

Meanwhile the scones in the JamJar Café were consumed with varying degrees of indifference. Pat didn’t finish her cheese one and although I finished both of mine (I got two because they said that they were a little bit small but they probably just wanted rid of them) it was only because I was peckish. They did not seem fresh and certainly not produced on the day.

Daughters of Bridge of Allan

Everything else looks good in the JamJar, and it’s busy so they are obviously not depending on their scones. On the plus side log burning stoves are great. The service was efficient if not overly friendly. The daughters of Bridge of Allan are probably forced to work here so they can experience ‘the real world’. No passwords for the wifi, it is just there, brill! So why is the website so useless?

FK9 4HR      tel: 01786 831616      www.jamjarcafe.co.uk