Tag Archives: Carron Valley

Ordinary, Scones

The Glen Café

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In our previous post from Simply Sarah’s in Doune we mentioned that the village was famous for making pistols. The sort of weapon used by gentlemen who felt their reputation had been besmirched. Besmirching was usually done by gentlemen to one another and dueling was seen as an honourable way of resolving such situations. Common people couldn’t duel; a) they couldn’t afford a decent pistol and b) it would be unseemly for a gentleman to be shot dead by someone of lower social standing … perish the thought!Logo of the Glen Café

Quick draw

Today we are at the Glen Café in the little hamlet of Clachan of Campsie. Just a few yards from the cafe stand two ancient Spanish chestnuts, “the duelling trees”. They mark the site of a duel between a Tory and a Liberal politician in the 1600s. The Liberal chap, Malcolm Kincaid, lost the duel … and his life. The victor may have retired here (it used to be an Inn) for refreshment and to enjoy the congratulations of his admirers. When you think of the endless inconsequential arguments between politicians these days, dueling seems to take on some merit. Can you imagine the quick draw contests between our current world leaders? The problem is that self evidently all that duelling in the past didn’t actually solve anything. They’re all still arguing. A poster at the Glen Café

Do we need a dog?

This morning the weatherman said “go west if you want sunshine” so we did. Falkirk was decidedly cloudy when we left but by the time we got here we were bathed in glorious sunshine. Well done that weatherman! The café is quite big and virtually joined on to the historic St Machan’s graveyard. It’s a favourite place for people to access the paths onto the Campsie Fells and perhaps unsurprisingly is very dog friendly. In fact there were so many, at first we thought it might be a prerequisite to have a dog but luckily, it wasn’t.

Internal view of the Glen Café

It was still early so we decided on a light breakfast followed by a scone to share. Our coffees arrived first and we were delighted to find that they used our favourite coffee … Henry’s, fantastic! A scone at the Glen CaféThis is the way to start the day! Helpfully the staff had said that they would hold our scone until we had finished our breakfast. Then, when we were ready, they asked if we would like the scone warmed. Why not? No cream but they came with plenty butter and jam. Unfortunately none of it was locally produced, not even from Scotland. A bit of a black mark there. On the plus side the scone itself were really nice.

Who was St Machan?

We really enjoyed this place with its friendly service and beautiful location. We decided to visit St Machan’s graveyard next door and asked one the ladies behind the counter who he was. “Who?” was the puzzled answer. We would have to find out for ourselves.

St Machan's graveyard
St Machan’s graveyard with the remains of the chapel to the left and the Lennox Mausoleaum in  the distant right

Turns out not much is known about him. Firstly he was a Scottish 6th century bishop, educated in Ireland, ordained in Rome and spent the rest of his life as a missionary here in Campsie Glen. Secondly, how did he do all that back then without Easyjet or Ryanair? The chapel in the graveyard was built over his grave. 

Luxury mausoleums

The Lennox mausoleum was built in 1715 by the powerful family who lived at nearby Lennox Castle.

Lennox mausoleum
The Lennox mausoleum

In 1819 Miss Lennox had it restored and added another storey with a fireplace. She used it as a “sitting room” to receive guests between services. She, in turn, was buried here in 1832 and in 1884 it was sealed up permanently using ancient Kincaid tombstones from the graveyard. And we thought one of them might have belonged to our old duelling loser, Malcolm, but apparently not.  It is fascinating to read the inscriptions on some of these graves. They shed light on what life was like centuries ago. However, some were unashamedly looking for an easy passage into heaven. Quite blatantly bragging  about how saintly they had been during their time in Campsie Glen.

Other mysteries

Sadly, besmirching seems be a thing of the past. Perhaps there aren’t enough honourable gentlemen around these days? Vulgar insults and “see you in court” seems to have replaced it.

This was a beautiful day. We returned home via the Carron Valley, which supplies all the water to Falkirk. Seldom do we think, when turning on the tap or taking a bath, that this is where it all comes from.  How does that work? It’s almost as mysterious as St Machan’s travels all those centuries ago.Carron reservoir

G66 7AB         tel: 01360 238258            The Glen Café FB

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Ordinary, Scones

Courtyard Coffee Shop

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You may remember that in our last post from Antonios Deli we narrowly avoided a potentially tricky contretemps over the last scone. All ended well, however, and we came away with a scone recommendation for Denny. Hence today we have ended up here at the Courtyard Coffee Shop. Denny (pop 7,000) is only a couple of miles from our home yet it’s somewhere we almost never visit. We are only here today because a) it was a beautiful winter’s day and we opted to take a drive up the Carron Valley and b) because we were in pursuit of that scone. There are a number of reasons why this town does not figure highly on our radar … or anyone else’s for that matter.

Carbuncle of the Year

Over the last 40 years the town has had the misfortune of finding itself surrounded by a triangle of motorways. The effect is that the town, which used to be on direct routes of communication, is not any more. It has a bypassed look about it and it’s extremely easy to avoid. Some of the pubs have closed and, perhaps as a direct result, even the police station has gone. The folks who live here, however, are a plucky lot. In 2010, to draw attention to the poor state of the town, they asked for it to be considered for the Carbuncle Award as the most dismal place in Scotland … they won! Normally towns live in dread of these awards but not Denny. Not sure if it had the desired effect or not.

Cattle markets

Anyway if it wasn’t for the wonders of SatNav it’s debatable whether we would ever have found the Courtyard Coffee Shop. Turns out it’s on a farm – the Home Farm to be precise and the road it’s on is called Drove Loan. Drove Loans wLogo of Courtyard Coffee Shop, Dennyere the routes used by drovers to walk cattle from all over Scotland to the main market in Falkirk. Driving cattle in this way was a major activity in these parts for almost 200 years from 1750 onwards.

This particular Loan would have provided access to Falkirk from the west. We also live on a “Loan” but ours would mostly have seen sold cattle moving south to England. The Home Farm seems to consist of a rather untidy jumble of buildings of which the Courtyard Coffee Shop is but one. There is another containing a beauty salon. It typifies perhaps the way farmers have been obliged to diversify in order to survive.

 

Luxury scones

For being a bit off the beaten track it was buzziA sc one at the Courtyard Coffee Shopng when we arrived. The staff were very friendly and helpful and soon had us both sorted with a first class lunch. Because we had eaten quite a lot the decision was to share what was termed a “luxury fruit scone”. Think the “luxury” bit meant it came with cream. Our expectations of the first topscone of the year were dashed, however, when we realised that the scone had probably been baked yesterday. Not bad but some way of the standards required for our highest accolade. It was a pity because this is really a great place. Other than the scone everything was excellent. Because the clientele seemed to know all the staff as well as everyone else in the place, the noise of chat and laughter was deafening. But we love that sort of noise.

Internal view of the Courtyard Coffee Shop

Dare to be different?

Most of the noise elsewhere this week has been about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Goodness knows, when the monarchy decided to admit someone with more than half a brain, trouble was almost inevitable. The fact that Meghan was an articulate  American divorcee ‘of colour’ with a highly successful career didn’t help either. It’s incredible to see the media that have been saying “how dare she come over here with all her freethinking ideas” swing round to ” how dare she even think of going off somewhere else”! Good luck to them in their big bid for freedom. They will certainly need oodles of luck to disentangle themselves from the wholly unnatural strictures of Royal life. If they can realise their admirable wish to become self sustaining, … even better.

Internal view of the Courtyard Coffee ShopPerhaps we should be  thinking of setting the rest of the Royals free as well. Is it morally justifiable for us as a society to do this to a family? Is it cruel or is it cruel? Surely we should not be allowed to hold a family to ransom like this . We expect them to do our bidding unquestioningly just because we pay them billions. Okay, they are a tourist attraction for people to gawp at but how many readers would like to be a tourist attraction? Thought so. Whatever happens it’s pretty obvious that their is little room for someone with the ambitious free thinking attitudes of America in Britain’s starched monarchy. Pity really, it was the best chance for the Royal family to drag itself into the 21st century. We’ve still got Kate, however, baking scones, giving birth and saying nothing … proper Royal.

While we watch Harry and Meghan’s plight being played out in the glaring media light you should get yourself along to the happy noises of the Courtyard Coffee House. Don’t forget your SatNav!

FK6 5LH       tel: 01324 815579        The Courtyard

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