Tag Archives: Donald Trump

Ordinary, Scones

Janie’s

5 Comments

When Robert Burns said “The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft agley” he was apologising to a mouse whose house he’d just destroyed with his plough. Our “scheme” was to complete a circuit of Arran, spend one night in a hotel then return to the mainland the following morning. A whistle-stop tour to give our Canadians a flavour of the island! However, on the morning of our departure, as we sat in Janie’s cafe scoffing scones we were blissfully unaware of the significance of Burns’s words.

External view of Lagg Distillery
All the Lagg whiskies are very young but having sampled them all I can verify that despite their lack of maturity they are all fine and full of promise.

The previous day we had arrived on the Isle of Arran. After visiting the Old Pier Tearoom in Lamlash we continued on our circuit of the island. At the most southerly point of the island, we came to Kilmory and the brand-spanking new Lagg distillery. At 20×9 miles Arran isn’t very big and already has a distillery in the north of the island at Lochranza. But let’s face it, you can’t have too many distilleries. 

Outlander?

We continued round the coast to Machrie where we visited the Machrie stones. Part of a stone circle much older than Stonehenge, these stones have been standing here in solitary splendour for 4.500 years.

The Machrie stones
When we placed our hands on the stones hoping for an ‘Outlander’ type transportation we didn’t realise that might be the easiest and quickest way to get off the island.

Eventually, we completed our circuit of the island and were able to book into our hotel. The following morning, we ended up here at Janies while we waited for our ferry.Logo of Janie'sIt’s a small friendly cafe situated in Brodick’s Duchess Court – an amalgamation of small businesses. External view of Janie's

Pat and I opted for a fruit scone but the Canadians went for cheese. 

Scones at Janie's
A cheese scone with extra cheese and a fruit scone with jam and cream

Arran must have a thing with cheese scones because, unusually, this one came with extra cheese on the side. It was good but not as good as the previous day’s. Our fruit scone was nice as well but disappointingly did not come with any local produce. Lots of food items are produced on Arran so this seemed slightly remiss. No topscones today.

The MV Glen Sannox in Brodick
This was as close as we got to our ferry the MV Glen Sannox

Soon it was time to go for the ferry, the latest addition to the CalMac fleet, the MV Glen Sannox. We arrived in time for boarding but half an hour later we were still sitting there. Eventually, they announced that it had been cancelled due to a technical fault. No more ferries today … argh!

Best-laid schemes

Our booking was switched to the first ferry the following morning. That meant, however, we would have to stay another night. Fortunately, our hotel was able to take us back. Not long after we settled in, however, we were notified that the morning ferry had also been cancelled. Our booking was now switched to the 4 pm sailing. Suddenly we were concerned that our fellow travellers wouldn’t make their flights back to Canada. The significance of Burns’s words about “best-laid schemes” suddenly became blindly obvious!

View of Lochranza castle
Lochranza Castle dates back to the 13th century

We decided that we couldn’t risk missing flights so the following morning we decided to take our chances on the early morning Lochranza ferry/Cloanaig boat to the mainland. It would mean a three-hour drive to get home but at least we would get home. The MV Catriona is a much smaller turn-up-and-go ferry. You can’t reserve a place. Considering a lot of other stranded people would have the same idea, it was a bit of a gamble. It worked! We were able to drive straight on to the Catriona and half an hour later we were back on the mainland … hurrah!

Tents

However, news that the Trump/Netanyahu combo is resuming their obliteration of Gaza by sending over F-16 and F-35 fighter jets to bomb people in tents, does make us wish we could return to the much pleasanter world of Arran.

KA27 8DD             tel: 01770 302874                Janies TA

///sporting.dumpling.itself

Scones, topweird

Old Pier Tearoom

5 Comments

Today, with our Canadian family in tow we have taken the ferry from Troon to the Isle of Arran. Our means of transport, the catamaran MV Alfred is on temporary loan from Pentland Ferries based in Orkney. Us on board the MV Alfred

On a very sunny but fresh day, it took just over an hour to reach Brodick, the capital of the Isle of Arran.

View of Goatfell from the ferry
View of Brodick and the almost 3,000 feet high Goatfell from the ferry

It was mid-morning and so far breakfast had eluded us. We were too early for our hotel so we drove a few miles to Lamlash where we came on the tiny Old Pier Tearoom … breakfast at last!Internal view of the Old Pier Cafe, Lamlash

Natives and locals?
Graphic showing Old Pier and Holy Island
graphic of the Old Pier looking across Lamlash Bay towards Holy Island

Normally we wouldn’t go for scones this early but they had what they called “very cheesy, cheese scones”. Scones with extra cheese. Instinctively we knew that readers would find it unforgivable if they missed out on a very cheesy cheese scone report. So after our breakfast, duty dictated that they had to be sampled. The things we do for our readers?

As we ate we got chatting to a couple of ladies who, seeing that all the other tables were taken, invited us to join them at theirs. When we asked if they were from the island the answer was a little unexpected. One was a “local” and the other was a “native”. The “local” was from Birmingham but lived on the island while the “native” was born and bred and could go back five generations of her Arran family. This was presumably a clear and important distinction for islanders.  They were lovely and the chat was great!A scone at the Old Pier Cafe, Lamlash

Predictably, our very cheesy, cheese scone was indeed very cheesy. With just a little butter, probably the best cheese scone we have ever experienced. Since we don’t have a separate category for such scones we felt this one was sooooo cheesy that we could give it a topweird scone award. Well done the Old Pier Tearoom! You may be tiny but you punch above your weight.

The old pier at Lamlash
Just to prove there is an old pier
Unexpected consequences

Arran is often referred to as “Scotland in miniature“. It has a higher life expectancy, low unemployment, and much lower rates of crime. Even with a large proportion of retired folk living here, it still has a vibrant, independent but Scottish feel about it. It’s odd being on this beautiful island alongside Canadians and seeing the pushback against Trump’s well-thought-out 51st-state/tariffs idea. He may be dividing Americans but he certainly knows how to unite Canadians.

a glove pointing to Ailsa Craig
Someone has very helpfully placed this glove to point out Ailsa Craig in the Firth of Clyde, the source of the world’s best curling stones

KA27 8JN             tel: 01770 600249             The Old Pier

///driveway.depths.creamed

Ordinary, Scones

Kingshouse Hotel

5 Comments

Back in the good old days, as aspiring young rock climbers we regarded this end of Glencoe and the Kingshouse Hotel as “a bit posh”. People up at this end had cars and things. We, as impoverished hitchhikers, hung out at the lower end near the Clachaig Inn where you could camp anywhere for free and the beer was a bit cheaper. From time to time, however, we would come up here to climb on the only hill with a guidebook all to itself, Buachaille Etive Mòr.

View from Kingshouse Hotel, Glencoe
Buachaille Etive Mòr (the big shepherd of Etive) from the Kingshouse Hotel.
Remote

The hotel was built in the 18th century and was used as barracks by the Westminster government to keep the unruly locals in check after the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion. However, back when we used it the hotel was much smaller. It consisted mainly of the white building in the title photograph. Nowadays that’s simply the bar and the accommodation is in a large new extension. High up on the edge of Rannoch Moor, it’s very remote.

External view of the Kingshouse Hotel,
On a day like today all the outside seats were taken so we had to go indoors.

Although it remains a climber’s hotel the expansion has been caused by a couple of developments. Namely the advent of the Glencoe Ski Centre just a few hundred yards away and the introduction of the West Highland Way walking route that passes by the door.

Internal view of the Kingshouse Hotel, Glencoe

Scones and coffee were the order. We were with family from Canada so it was great to sit at a table where we could look out onto the picture postcard views outside. A scone at the Kingshouse Hotel, GlencoeIt was busy inside as well but it didn’t take long for our scones to arrive. They were square! We couldn’t remember if we had ever had square scones before. Was it something to go with that other great Scottish delicacy – square sausage? Apologies, this next bit might be a tad technical. When the already slim scone was sliced in half, each half became quite delicate. This, of course, led to spreading difficulties. Scone breakup was a constant danger. Suffice to say, none of these problems were insurmountable. We could rant about all the non-Scottish produce in such a Scottish place but why spoil an otherwise enjoyable experience?

Rough and ready

After the Kingshouse we drove down to the lower end of the glen to the Clachaig Inn. The Clachaig InnThis was our place! A corrugated iron shed around the back functioned as a bar back then. Rough and ready it was but ideal for clientele like us. Meeting other hitchhiking friends and exchanging tales of new routes conquered. All over a few beers, of course. Afterwards, there was dancing in the local village hall. It felt like complete freedom. Returning to work meant five days of dreaming about returning the following weekend.

View from Clachaig Inn, Glencoe
View from the Clachaig Inn towards Aonach Dubh
Transactional

The world seems idyllic when viewing it from places like this on a beautifully warm Spring day. Everything is in the process of being renewed. So why is the rest of the world in such a mess? The current US administration is often reverentially referred to as ‘transactional’ Gods, by its supporters. Able to conjure up the best deals out of thin air. The world, or at least America, should be sitting pretty! But it isn’t!

We don’t want to disparage good honest idiots by attaching that sobriquet to Trump and Musk but it’s almost impossible not to. There’s the idiocy of what they are doing but then on top of that, you realise what’s missing from their supposedly super-negotiations. It’s morality! In the US’s unequivocal backing for Israel and Russia, it’s morality that’s missing.

Notice at Clachaig Inn
Notice at the reception in the Clachaig Inn
Hospitality?

Of course, here we are in a place that epitomises what happens when morality goes out the window. In the Massacre of Glencoe in 1692 a party of 120 soldiers under the command of Robert Campbell were billeted with the McDonalds of Glencoe for several weeks, eating their food and using their shelter. One night, however, a signal from Campbell saw the soldiers rise and murder their hosts in their beds. To this day Campbells aren’t welcome at the Clachaig. Perhaps today’s US administration should bear in mind that sometimes folks have looong memories!

PH49 4HY            tel: 01855 851259             Kingshouse

///riding.speared.ghost

Ordinary, Scones

River House

7 Comments

Today we are at River House on the outskirts of Stirling. A lot has happened in the few days since our previous post from the Seagull Trust.Logo of River House

 America’s reputation as the leader of the free world lies in tatters on the Oval Office floor. Oh dear, oh dear, the spectacle of Trump and his rottweiler pals trying to humiliate the defender of the Western world, was shocking and profoundly embarrassing for everyone unfortunate enough to have witnessed it.  And then after a passage of Trump waxing lyrically about his many highly dubious attributes, came “Why do you not wear a suit?” Surely destined to go down in history as the most cretinous thing ever said to a world leader. It was, however, indicative of the hillbilly level of understanding in the room. It was left up to the good people of Vermont to restore some faith by letting JD Vance know he wasn’t welcome in their part of the world.Internal view of River House

Now they want Zalensky to make a groveling apology for not sufficiently appreciating the US and the American people. Have they forgotten that unlike them, Zalensky has some semblance of intelligence and will doubtless grovel like a superhero? Internal view of River House

At last, we made it

We feel confident the American people will eventually come to their senses and sort out this Muskesque Presidency. In the meantime, let’s get back to the serious business of scones. River House is a place we have been meaning to visit for years. We keep seeing the signs but never actually follow them. It is beautifully situated on the shores of a tiny loch with views of Stirling Castle.Internal view of River House

It’s spacious and beautifully themed in the same style as other Cawley Group restaurants. It has a nice relaxed ambience.A scone at River House After a delicious light lunch, our nicely warmed scones were duly presented with a jar of jam and whipped cream in a little ladle thingy. Although not quite the consistency we normally go for they were very enjoyable nevertheless. Salutary to be able to sit in such comfortable surroundings several thousand miles away from the diabolical situation in Ukraine.

Beware of crocodiles at River House
DANGER!
Guarantees?

Ukraine used to have the third biggest nuclear arsenal in the world until, in the 1994  Budapest Memorandum, it was persuaded to give it up completely in exchange for international guarantees that its borders would be respected. We don’t think they would have signed had they known that a bunch of muppets would be their guarantors in 2025.Garden deco at River House

FK9 4TW           tel: 01786 465577           River House

///clasps.duties.daylight

Scones, topweird, weird

Compass Café

8 Comments

We know this flies in the face of logic but today we are In Perth with some whisky we are taking to auction. “Why don’t you just drink it?” we hear you cry. Well, if it was ours, that’s exactly what would happen, but it’s not. We’re delivering it to Perth’s  Whisky Auctioneer on behalf of a friend. To make things more exciting our satnav proudly announced “you have arrived at your destination” when we clearly hadn’t. We were still on the A9 Perth bypass but our destination was actually in the Inveralmond Industrial Estate. With the satnav switched off we entered what turned out to be a vast network of roads and industrial units. After several unsuccessful attempts, eventually we did actually reach our destination. Mission accomplished we headed for home but, lo and behold, before we had even left the estate we spotted the Compass Café.
Logo of the Compass Café in PerthAs you can see from the title photograph, the Compass Café is part of the Tiso Outdoor Experience.

Big news
Dougal Haston's Everest suit
On display, an eiderdown suit used by Dougal Haston on the 1972 attempt on Everest. The overboots belonged to Hamish MacInness

Tiso is a name that featured prominently in my youth. Every weekend involved hitch hiking to Glencoe so that me and my companions could do precarious things on vertical rock faces. It was amazing and the sense of freedom it gave us was unbelievable. Back then in the 60s we knew everyone in the glen as well as our weekender friends who would hitch hike up from Glasgow. You could bump into your mountaineering heroes like  Hamish MacInness, Dougal Haston almost every day. However, while we had ambitions on some tricky local routes they had bigger fish to fry. Notably a direttissima on the north face of the Eiger in 1966 and, of course, Everest itself. On the 1972 assault on the SW ascent of Everest, Graham Tiso got trapped in a storm and spent four days alone, cut off from the rest of his party, Climbing was a tiny activity in those days but all these “risky” adventures were controversial and consequently became big news stories. The media couldn’t get enough of them.

Tiso original

Tiso’s original shop was in Edinburgh. It was tiny but back then there wasn’t that much available to buy. In his shop I spent what seemed like an absolute fortune on my boots  (La Sportiva, Himalayas) and a Tiso designed rucksack that you could sleep in. 

View of Tizo Outdoor shop
Just part of the Tiso shop. Amazing how much stuff you need to go outside these days

Most of our climbing gear was collected from rock faces where other, presumably more affluent climbers, either couldn’t be bothered or were unable to retrieve. Those were the days!

Unfortunately, many of our climbing heroes died pursuing their passion. Ironically, Haston died, aged 33, in a skiing accident but is still a legend in Scottish climbing circles.

A sign at the Compass Café in Perth
For some reason this sign caught my attention

As you all know, I have little use for climbing gear nowadays. And that’s just as well because it appears I still can barely afford it. Some mountain bikes in the store cost £5000 and looked ferociously complicated. The Compass Café involved an ascent to the upper floor and was as much climbing as I could manage today. Internal view of the Compass Café in Perth

Enthusiasm

The café is big and has a wide range of produce on offer. We were attended to by a wonderfully happy girl who was probably Polish. She said she only had five “cheese” and one “wild berry” scone left. Covered in icing, the wild berry one looked like a bit of an extravagant concoction. However, our girl told us with great delight that they were absolutely scrumptious. “when they come out of the oven in the morning … ooo, they are warm and “. her voice drifted off as she gave a little ecstatic wiggle. Seldom have we been sold a scone with such irrepressible passion. A scone at the Compass Café in Perth

When she brought it to our table she also brought two plates so we could share. We could tell she was genuinely excited for us to try her wild berry scone. She wasn’t wrong! Readers know how we like our scones … not too big with a crunchy exterior and a soft middle. Well this was the complete opposite but it was delicious. It was quite big and had loads of fruit which made it moist and unctuous. The icing covering made it sticky and messy to eat. The butter and jam were probably superfluous but we did use the jam. A fruit overload! Not a traditional topscone but definitely a top weird scone.

Things change

The climbing world has changed drastically since we were hanging out in Glencoe every weekend. The glen that we regarded as “our own”  is now a huge tourist attraction due to its scenic beauty and, of course, the site of the famous  Massacre of 1692. The National Trust for Scotland does its best to maintain the glen as near as possible to its original state in spite of the pressure from tourism.Internal view of the Compass Café in Perth

Weird

To go with our “weird scone” award we should probably give another “weird” award for the Leader of the Free World. In his new role as  spokesman for President Putin he has announced that the war is all Ukraine’s fault. Ukraine must be thinking “with friends like this who needs enemies?“

PH1 3EE          tel: 01738 449041              Compass Café

///dragonfly.writers.refills

Ordinary, Scones

Castle View

5 Comments

Logo of Castle View RestaurantToday we are more pleased than we ought to be about being here at the Castle View Restaurant in Menstrie. Why? For many years we have passed along the road at the foot of the Ochil hills and looked up at Broomhall Castle and wondered what it was all about. It never seemed to be anything that you could actually visit. But today we are visiting!The building has had a fairly colourful and chequered history.Internal view of Broomhall Castle

Rumours don’t need facts

Built in 1874 it was originally called Broom Hall, a tribute to the blaze of yellow broom on the hillside that provides a backdrop in the Spring. Entrance to Broomhall CastleAs the private home of a wealthy mill owner its demise reflected the decline of the woollen industry.. By 1906 it had became an Italian Riding School and then a boys boarding school. In 1940 it went on fire. because the headmaster was German it was rumoured  that the fire was set deliberately to act as a guide for the Luftwaffe bombing Clydebank. The fact that there was no bombing in Scotland at that time did not seem to affect the enthusiasm behind the rumours.

After the war the ruins were sold on to various owners who didn’t do anything with them. A delight for the local children who used it as a very scary playground. Following a spell as a nursing home, in 2003, approval was given for use as a hotel. Recently they’ve set up the Castle View Restaurant and that’s why we’re here. 

Sam’s the man

He introduced himself and explained that the Castle View venture is very much his baby. For the duration of our visit Sam seemed to single handedly run the place, like a butterfly flitting round the tables talking to everyone at the same time. A scone at Broomhall CastleHe was busy busy but amazingly he was successful, everyone was happy. A maestro of hospitality! Our scones were delicious and nicely presented with jam and a little bowl of cream. This was very near to a topscone but not quite.  The place needs a bit more investment but maybe that will come in time.

Size matters

Some readers might think we are “picky” but the chandeliers were a little on the small side. In our opinion chandeliers should be the same size or bigger than the ceiling rose above them.  Okay you all think we are “picky”! Suffice to say there is room for improvement with the decor.

A lounge at Broomhall Castle
one of the lounges
Unbelievable

But there is much more room for improvement elsewhere. Trump’s comments that the Reagan airport plane crash was caused by misfits  in air traffic control was moronic even by his standards. To be even more outlandish he claimed to know this because he had “common sense”? Maybe we should send Sam over to help him with his interpersonal skills?

FK11 7EA         tel: 01259 928292          Castle View Restaurant

///meant.processes.sting

Ordinary, Scones

food@34a

5 Comments

We’ve been to food@34a before. Many of you will be aware that from time to time we go to the Hippodrome cinema in Bo’ness. Although it’s the oldest cinema in Scotland that’s not what takes us there. Rather it’s its proximity to our garage. Whenever we have a problem we

External view of the Hippodrome Cinema
The Hippodrome cinema

drop the car off and they take us to the cinema and pick us up when the film has finished and the car is fixed. It’s a great arrangement which has been going a few years now. Today’s film was “Went The Day Well” an old black and white film from 1942.

Problems
A picture at food@34a in Bo'ness
A picture at food@34a

We’d love to tell you how good it was. However, as we sat there with everyone else wondering why the movie was so late in starting a young lass appeared in front of the screen to inform us there was a technical problem. No showing today! Aargh! Our flabber was well and truly gasted! What to do now? The car wouldn’t be ready for at least a couple of hours

It was a nice day so we went for a walk round the old Bo’ness harbour. Bo’ness used to be called Barrowstouness but in the Great Letter Shortage of 1652 they were forced to shorten it. We’re pretty sure  if Donald Trump came away with that sort of nonsense at least half of America would believe it. Anyway, these days the harbour is a mere shadow of its former self. Gone are the days when this was a great trading port. It even had its own Customs House. Logo of food@34a in Bo'nessEventually we headed back into town past the Steam Railway Museum. You may remember our post in 2019 from one of their steam trains when the Einsteinian like Theory of Sconativity was developed. Internal view of food@34a in Bo'ness

When we arrived at food@34a it was very busy and we were fortunate to get the last available table. By this time it was almost lunchtime but we decided on their small breakfast. A scone at food@34a in Bo'nessGoodness knows what their big breakfast is like because the small one with bacon, egg, link suasage, square sausage, tattie scone, beans and two slices of toast was more than enough for us. After all that, did we need a scone? Definitely not, but we had one anyway, to share. They didn’t have cream but when it arrived the butter looked more like cream than butter. The service was great and without asking they brought two plates and two knives so that we could share. Unfortunately the scone was too big and although nice enough there was no way we could finish it. A sign at food@34a in Bo'ness

The Donald has now been installed as the 47th President of the USA in a Disneyesque ceremony. His inaugural speech was notable for being completely devoid of anything approaching grace. He sees his task for the next four years as making the richest country in the world even richer and to hell with everyone else. The fact that inequality is at the root of most of the world’s and the US’s problems seems to have escaped him. If. on the other hand, by the time you receive this post he has resolved the problems of the Middle East and Ukraine, like he said he would, then we take it all back.

When we last posted from food@34a in 2023 our then PM, Rishi Sunak, had just appointed an ethics adviser to help him differentiate between right and wrong. Might be an idea for the new US administration? 

Even though we didn’t see our movie “Well The Day Went” our day went well. The walk was really enjoyable and when we finished at food@34a the garage delivered us our car … fab! 

EH51 0EA           tel: 07380 600235             food@34aFB

///reservoir.skill.gobbles

Ordinary, Scones

Smiddy Farm Shop

5 Comments

We all know people who could start a fight in an empty room, don’t we? But do you know folk who could do that over a scone at the Smiddy Farm Shop? But more of that later.Internal view of the Smiddy Farm Shop

We come here quite a lot because we pass it on our way to other places. It’s strategically located at a fork in the road. Blair Drummond Estate runs the Smiddy and a lot of the produce comes from its own farms.

Life and limb

Attentive readers will, of course, remember that a couple of years back we also reported from here on banana and chocolate scones. On thatLogo of the Smiddy Farm Shop ocassion  we were just doing some shopping – Pat likes the milk that comes from the the Wee Isle Dairy on the Isle of Gigha. At the checkout we noticed packets of banana and chocolate scones. In the interests of the further education of our readers we, of course, risked life and limb and tried them out at home. The verdict was surprisingly quite favourable.

Extra super attentive readers will remember our initial visit to this café back in October 2016.  It had opened its doors for the first time just 75 minutes before we arrived. Unsurprisingly there were some teething problems but we could see huge potential. The scones on that occasion were nice with lots of fruit but there was no cream and we judged them to be just a bit too big.Internal view of the Smiddy Farm Shop

Our visit today proved that the potential had indeed been realised. It was very busy and we were fortunate to get the last available table. The scone display cabinet, however, was bereft of Afternoon treat menuscones … just a few sad crumbs. When we asked they simply told us that if there were none in the cabinet they had all gone. Disheartened, we looked at the menu to see if any thing else tickled our fancy. Lo and behold, on the menu they had “afternoon treat with mini scones“. When we asked if we could just have the mini scones our server steadfastly informed us “you only get them with the afternoon treat!!”  

Now we weren’t exactly spoiling for a fight but we did question the logic. If they had mini scones surely we could have them! Especially since they’d run out of proper scones? Eventually she relented and said she would go and ask. Happily the response was “no problem!” We ordered two mini fruit scones with jam and cream and some of our favourite Henry’s coffee. Internal view of the Smiddy Farm Shop

Awkward customers

We were happy when they arrived because they were just ever so slightly smaller than how we like them … success! Miniscones at the Smiddy Farm ShopNo cream, however, so we had to remind her. There was only a couple of bites in each scone so there was no point in starting without it.  Five minutes later and still without cream we had go and find her. She had forgotten again! She scurried off to get some, no doubt muttering under her breath “what is it with these mad scone people?“. Eventually everything was assembled. The scones were really nice but with all things considered there wasn’t to be a topscone today. To be fair, our server was very busy and in the circumstances handled us awkward customers extremely well … no blows were exchanged.

External view of the Blair Drummond Smiddy

The 47th

Donald Trump still has a week to go before being sworn in as the 47th President of the USA. However, trouble is brewing already. Amongst his stated ambitions is to take over Greenland … by force if necessary! Greenland is resource rich and strategically placed on Russia’s main shipping route to the Atlantic. Scotland is also resource rich and strategically placed on Russia’s main shipping route to the Atlantic. Will we be next? He can maybe take Greenland but he’ll be in for a shock if he tries it on with Scotland! We’re permanently angry and we’ve got claymores!

FK9 4UY                 tel: 01786 235024           The Smiddy

///keen.collected.bugs

Ordinary, Scones

Glenkinchie

6 Comments
Statue of Johnnie Walker with his dogToday we are in the pretty little hamlet of Glenkinchie just a little southeast of east of Edinburgh. About 90 people live here. It’s a little bit unusual. because unlike the surrounding towns and villages which are all built from stone, here it’s all red brick. Not sure why this should be but it certainly applies to the distillery in the heart of the village which is entirely made of red brick. It’s owned by the drinks giant Diageo who use it as the “Lowland”corner of what they call the “four corners distilleries” The other three are Clynelish (Highland) Cardhu (Speyside) and Caol Ila (Island) and they are all used in the making of the Johnnie Walker range of blended whiskies.Sign at Glenkinchie Distillery
Battle of the distilleries
We have a love hate relationship with Diageo. About thirty years ago the company also owned our local Rosebank Distillery just a few hundred yards from our home in Falkirk. It was generally seen as the King of Lowland whiskies, however they closed it in favour of  Glenkinchie … booo! It fell into a sorry state. This year, however, there were fanfares as Rosebank was opened again. Bought by Ian MacLeod Distillers who spent £millions returning it to its former glory. The town also has the added bonus of another brand new Falkirk Distillery. All is forgiven, hence we thought this rival might be worthy of a visit.
Internal view Glenkinchie Distillery
part of the visitor centre restaurant
Becoming legal
It began in 1825 by a couple of local farmers presumably trying o diversify away from farming. They ran it for about 12 years as Milton distillery before deciding to make it legal and renaming it Glenkinchie after the little river Kinchie which runs past it.
Window seat at Glenkinchie Distillery
looking out on to the gardens
Scones
Distillery tours are of no particular interest. They’re all much of a muchness so we decided to leave this one out. A scone st Glenkinchie DistilleryScones, of course are another matter and we had spotted some in their café restaurant earlier. The staff were very friendly and helpful and they so had us sorted with some fruit scones and coffee. No cream but there was plenty butter and jam served on nice crockery with unusual bronze cutlery. Everything was well presented and although it wasn’t a topscone it was very enjoyable nevertheless. Sign for Glenkinchie Distillery
 
Johnnie Walker is the world’s biggest selling scotch whisky brand with 205 million litres going down the hatch every year. That’s a lot of whisky and a fair amount of that must be made here at Glenkinchie. It is marketed under different coloured labels, red, black, green, blue etc. we’re not sure what the difference is except to say that ‘blue’ is four times the price of ‘red’, a marketing triumph!Whisky barrels at Glenkinchie Distillery
 
Troubled
We’re raising a glass of Glenkinchie to toast the health of all our readers in this strange and troubled world. Logo of glenkinchieThe ICC (International Criminal Court) has issued an arrest warrant for Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu. Not before time many might say. He is now classed as a ‘fugitive’ along with Mad Vlad Putin. We live in peculiar times when the leaders of Israel and Russia are international fugitives and America’s President Elect is a convicted felon.  Another dram please and make it a large one!
 
EH34 5ET          tel: 01875 342012            Glenkinchie Distillery
 
///gravitate.bongo.talking
Scones, Uncategorized

Lost Shore

9 Comments

Weird things happen. By “weird” we mean things that just seem a bit out of place, a bit incongruous! Logo of Lost Shore CanteenThese days that takes in a lot of things. For us, surfing is normally associated with sun bleached beautiful people on beaches like Bondi and Waikiki, not Scotland! But what do we know? Here we are at Lost Shore Surfing Centre and it’s only twenty minutes away from home on the outskirts of Edinburgh. We know the area well because the Edinburgh International Climbing Arena is in a quarry right next door but “surfing?” It just opened last week so we thought we should be nosey and check it out. Maybe catch a wave or two.

External view of Lost Shore Canteen
The Canteen restaurant

From the car park you have to walk down into a large sunken area which presumably was also some sort of quarry at one time. It’s incredible!  A kind of assualt on the senses.  Music playing, hundreds of people milling around, some with surf boards, some just lounging in deckchairs (warm enough in a wetsuit) and others in the water actually surfing.Surfers at Lost Shore Canteen

They are surfing in what turns out to be Europe’s largest wave pool. It’s situated in a 60 acre country park with accommodation, restaurants, bar, shops and a wellness studio. The accommodation consists of anything from small pods to more than fifty three and four bedroom lodges. It’s almost a small town and seems to have just dropped out of the sky. Miraculous, it may be but it has obviously been a long time in the making. Ten years planning and construction apparently and we didn’t know anything about it. Surders at Lost Shore Canteen

There are two ponds each making more than thirty different types of wave. Don’t ask how they can produce more than 1000 waves per hour but they do.Internal view of Lost Shore Canteen

Because they seemed to have thought of everything we thought there wouldn’t be a problem getting a scone in the Canteen restaurant. It houses three well known Scottish restaurants serving a variety of food.A morning roll at Lost Shore CanteenTurns out scones probably aren’t really cool enough for the surfing fraternity. They want straight forward food and aren’t too bothered about how it’s served.  No scones so just to add a bit more weirdness to our day I had what they called a “morning roll” in the middle of the afternoon.

Not like a roll, it was more reminiscent of a cinnamon bun. No idea how it got its name. It was good though and came in a polystyrene box, the coffee in a paper cup. Great vibe though! We ended up chatting to a family who had driven up from Durham and were staying for a few days.  Their teenage daughter was learning to surf so they thought the whole Lost Shore facility was fabulous.Surfboards at Lost Shore Canteen

Apparently Scotland has some of the best waves in the world. We should have known that because one of our favourite islands Tiree holds the annual Tiree Wave Classic one of the oldest competitions of its kind. They’ve even written books about it. We consider ourselves educated. 

Even weirder

However, Scotland doesn’t have a monopoly on weird happenings. Take the recent Presidential election in America for instance. With apologies to our American readers, here’s a little quiz.

This is how the rest of the world views Trump becoming President Elect … again! It is, however, democracy in action so we will just have to suck it up as they say. However, the prospect of four years of schoolboy economics isn’t exactly thrilling. Throwing an isolationist ring around the US in an attempt to make the wealthiest people on the planet even wealthier at the expense of the poor elsewhere is more than a little bit crazy. Of course, there will be the inevitable backlash but Trump will be gone again by then. That’s assuming he hasn’t done like Xi and Putin and made himself President for Life. Internal view of Lost Shore Canteen

Also weird was the ancient Mike Tyson’s recent fight with a YouTuber more than thirty years his junior.  Whatever happened to standards?Surfers at Lost Shore Canteen

Perhaps not so weird was the fact that we seemed to be the oldest folk here … probably by a factor of almost forty years! Just the thought of trying to get in and out of a wet suit is exhausting. No waves and no scones were caught by us today but it was great just being in this amazing place. 

EH28 8AY            tel: 0131 287 4590             Lost Shore

///imposes.hazel.arise

ps: We thought we were finished with Pat’s recent Macmillan Coffee Morning but more contributions have come in. Final total now stands at £4,810.05 … amazing!