Tag Archives: Dormy Clubhouse

A Ton Of Scones

Motorcyclists often refer to ‘doing a ton’, meaning 100mph, so this post is the scone equivalent. Not reviewing a particular scone but rather 100 scones; a ton of scones .. as a pie. Our last post from Liberty was our 100th so we thought it was time for some analysis. Bearing in mind our limited mathematical dexterity, 100 makes it easy to work out percentages. Our first post was Palmerston’s in Dunkeld almost exactly one year ago which works out at almost one scone every 4 days. How’s that for dedication, and amazingly, we are just as sylph-like as ever .. or at least Pat is.Pie chart illustrating anaysis of 100 scones

The Results:

  • 75% gained no accolade or categorisation other than they were just fairly ordinary or self service scones. That does not make them bad. In fact many of them were very good, but not good enough for an award. Notably the Biscuit and the Bingham Hotel just missed out on a topscone award.
     a sign at the Wee Blether, Kinlochard
    Wee Blether

    Annoyingly the Corinthian had superb scones but abysmal service, otherwise it would have had a topscone award. 1% of this category, the Buckhaven scone, wasn’t even a scone. Some, like the Wee Blether were just great fun.

  • 21% gained a topscone award. We think this is rather good but like the ordinary scones not all were equal. If we were to select our top three topscones it would be Fonab Castle, the Olympic Studios and the Dormy.
     a scone at Ardanaiseig Hotel
    Ardanaiseig

    The other 18 topscones were all excellent but not quite as good as these three. Some locations like Ackergill Tower and Ardanaiseig  were fabulous. Our most expensive scone was undoubtedly Claridges but what an experience!

  • 1% was classed as ‘foreign’. The Duke was based on information from our Iberian correspondent.
  • 2% was classed as ‘homemade’ … made by friends and not sold commercially. One, Dan’s was so good it got a topscone. The other was on Nicola Sturgeon making scones but we didn’t taste them so couldn’t give them an award, though we are sure they would have been first class.
  • 4% were classed as ‘weird’. This did not mean they were in any way bad. They were just weird. The ‘thunder and lightning’ scone at Mother Murphy’s was memorable as was the ‘bacon and cheese’ scone at Habitat.
  • 22% were self service scones. In itself this did not make them bad but none of them made topscone This was partly because it is about the whole experience and waiting in a queue is never as good as being waited on.
  • 8% were island scones … The Puffer on Easdale being the best.

    ERxternal view of the Puffer, Easdale
    The Puffer
  • 11% were English scones. Difficult to say if English scones are better than Scottish, they certainly have some odd ideas about the prioritisation of jam and cream. Might need further investigation.

A Dash of Politics: Our rants have probably got progressively more and more ranty as the year passed. Sincere apologies to all, but it makes us feel better!

Summary: All in all it has been a wonderfully enjoyable year. There are some places we won’t be rushing back to, either because they were too bad or too expensive. The vast majority, however, we would happily visit again .. which is great! _BIL4531Many thanks to our benefactors who have treated us to the odd scone here and there and thanks to our correspondents who have shared their scone stories with us. Thanks are also due to the places we have visited who, by and large, have enjoyed the reviews and given us lovely feedback. Will there be another ton? We shall see!

Dormy Clubhouse Gleneagles

The intention was to go for afternoon tea to the five star Gleneagles Hotel .. but we were refused. Can you believe it? For goodness sake, do they not know who we are? Actually they were very nice and very apologetic. A man spent quite a long time trying to fit us in but eventually had to admit defeat. They were sooo busy. Serves us right for not booking. By way of a consolation prize he directed us back down the drive to the Dormy Clubhouse which overlooks the 18th holes on both the King’s and Queen’s golf courses. Gleneagles Dormy 07

This means a lot to some folks but to us it is just grass that needs cutting. We had a look inside and decided that, if we were going to have to rough it, we could just about get by in here. The cozy fire in the middle of the floor was more than enticing considering this was our first really cold wet day of the winter.

Sugar lumps

By this time we had jettisoned the idea of afternoon tea. We both opted for a simple fruit scone and a coffee. But, this being Gleneagles, it seemed to take a team of four to deliver this relatively simple order. Not complaining, we were just sitting by the fire reading the papers while they fussed around us. If nothing else the Dormy is notable for it’s sugar lumps. They are all individually wrapped? When our scones arrived they came with a little pot of butter and three different jams; raspberry, strawberry and marmalade. Gleneagles Dormy 04The butter was beautifully soft so that it spread really easily. Just as well because the scones were so light that they almost needed to be pegged down to keep them on the plate .. absolutely fantastic!

Why surprised?

Now, being at a golf club, we had thought that this post might be about sport and the trials of the IAAF in particular but unfortunately the tragic events in Paris have overtaken everything. In spite of wall to wall coverage by the media and the usual platitudes from politicians there is virtually no hard information as yet. Cannot help thinking of a recent Twitter spat between Rupert Murdoch and ITN’s Jon Snow. Murdoch was bitterly bemoaning the cruel state of the world and Snow rather aptly replied. “I find that in life one reaps what one sows”.

There are only 22 countries on the planet that the UK has not invaded at some time or another. France is probably not much better. Paris is a bit like a doughnut, white in the centre and black on the outside. So, when this sort of thing happens, it’s surprising that the West is constantly surprised .

Maybe you, like us, get angry when an advert comes on the telly from a charity asking us to send £5 for a mosquito net. Apparently it would completely transform the life of a child in Africa but our government simultaneously spends trillions on wars. For a tiny fraction of that cost they could supply every single child in Africa with mosquito nets. And render the charity pointless!

Fonab rivals

Until our governments start to find money to help people as easily as they find money to kill them these horrendous events will keep happening. They’ve got a bit of a cheek, we hear you say .. sitting there pontificating in their posh surroundings, eating their scones. We know, we know! Anyway, you will be aware that our favourite scone comes from Fonab Castle but these Dormy ones, along with the recent ones from Olympic Studios, might be worthy rivals. Maybe we will have to check them all again to make a final decision. In the meantime our thoughts are with all those caught up in the disaster in Paris.Gleneagles Dormy 01

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