Tag Archives: Drymen

The Winnock

10 February 2025 billpaterson1@me.com 13 Comments

You have got to be careful when it comes to dealing with MacGregors. Their reputation as being complete scoundrels even led to King James VI proscribing the name “MacGregor”, the utterance of which was punishable by death. No messing! In spite of all that, however, we have many MacGregor friends and think that they’re actually quite nice. Today we are in the village of Drymen at The Winnock Hotel in the heart of MacGregor country but we didn’t set out to come here.

We actually set out to look for the mysterious MacGregor Monument. Why mysterious? Well, no one seems to be quite sure exactly who built it or why. It’s falling to bits due to neglect and, in spite of it being almost seventy feet tall, it’s nigh on impossible to find. A challenge!

Fine features

Once we had done battle with a rather rude woman who seemed to object to our presence on planet earth, climbed several fences and negotiated some thick undergrowth … voila! Its’ a big monument so you would think it would stick out like a sore thumb but no, it’s so enveloped in trees it only appears when you are just a few feet away. Quite magnificent in its own way but sadly neglected. Covered in moss with several of its finer features having fallen to the ground.

View of the Macgregor Monument — The MacGregor Monument. The bottom half is in the shape of an oak tree,, symbol of the MacGregor family who once owned the estate. In the photo above, devilish technology has been utilised to clear the trees so that it can be seen.

Outcasts

Mission accomplished and feeling rather pleased with ourselves we retraced our steps back to our car. It was a nice day so we decided to take the scenic route home, hence we ended up here at the Winnock Hotel. It’s an old coaching inn which has been catering to weary passersby for almost three hundred years. In the nice lounge area there were no free tables so we were ushered through to a bar area where we were entirely on our own. We felt a little bit like outcast MacGregors.

Back in the day, MacGregor men were hunted ruthlessly in what was essentially state sponsored genocide. Unfortunately, something we are not unfamiliar with today. Even today the Chief of the MacGregor Clan is known rather romantically as the Chieftain of the Children of the Mist. Maybe a reference to MacGregors having to hide out on higher ground.

Great value

Somewhat confusingly, at the Winnock we were told that if we ordered “a scone” we would get two. Rather than risk ending up with four scones we ordered some coffee and “a scone”. Sure enough the scone came with a partner and plenty of butter, jam and cream. They had been warmed which was nice but overall our experience here wasn’t great. Maybe we just got them on a bad day. The scones were nice enough but our experience as outcast MacGregors just didn’t do it for us. On the plus side, however, when we went to settle our bill it came to the grand total of £5. Great value for two coffees and two scones. WARNING: readers contemplating staying here should perhaps avoid rooms 38 and 39. They’re haunted by ghosts of the 16th century witch trails. Don’t say you weren’t told!

G63 0BL tel: 01360 660245 The Winnock Hotel

///freshen.opponent.fearfully

ps: Oddly enough it is MacGregors who are behind our favourite coffee company … Henry’s. Their Cat’s Pyjamas and Blow Your Socks Off brands are second to none. On our return to Falkirk we were invited to their Global HQ for coffee … and scones! Although some might think it a typical MacGregor wheeze and brazen attempt to gain a topscone award by the back door, how could we refuse? Like their coffee, the presentation, service and hospitality were second to none. We really appreciated seeing behind the scenes at Henry’s Coffee Company but, of course, they hadn’t baked the scones themselves and it wasn’t one that our readers could access. No topscone but a huge thank you!

Ordinary, Scones

The Aizle Coffee Shop

29 August 2018 billpaterson1@me.com

Today, we are in Ballat. Ballat is a village in northern Syria not far from Homs. It has has a population of about 574 mainly Greek Orthodox Christians. That’s according to Google. Thankfully we are nowhere near there today because a) it’s dangerous b) it’s unlikely to have scones. Instead we are at Ballat crossroads about fifteen miles north of Glasgow because a) it’s dangerous b) it’s likely to have scones.

Let us explain! The A811 road forms part of our normal route over to Loch Lomond and at Ballat it crosses the main Aberfoyle to Glasgow road … not like a normal crossroads in the shape of a straight forward cross, but rather a cross that has been mangled and flattened … you have to cross at a very weird angle and it can all get a little bit hairy.

Probably fine when only used by carthorses but now with juggernauts thundering through at a rate of knots it is an altogether different proposition … the scene of regular accidents.

The narrow sliver of land between the two roads is occupied by a complex of shops called the Aizle, one of which is the Aizle Coffee Shop. Goodness knows why anyone would call it that but apparently it is an old Scots word meaning ‘hot ember’ or ‘spark’ … it rhymes with hazel … whatever! Normally we are so thankful at just making it safely to the other side of the junction that we have never bothered stopping here. The only reason we are stopping today is that our tummies are rumbling and we still have a fair bit to go.

Problem, we had not realised the time. We were arriving just as they were closing for the evening. Nevertheless, although we were the only ones around, we were very warmly welcomed. They didn’t have any proper food left, just the odd cake … and the odd scone. Initially we thought this fortuitous however our scone turned out to be pretty awful … dry and hard … perhaps because it had been lying out all day? Serves us right for arriving so late. Our visit was brief but we felt sustained enough to carry on our way so it did its job. No topscone here however, nowhere near.

One nice thing about this place was that it provided some light reading material at each table. Rather than our usual political rant we will just let you read our table:
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A driver was stuck in a traffic jam on the M25 near London. Nothing was moving. Suddenly a man knocks on the window.

The driver rolls down the window and asks, “What’s going on?”

“Terrorists have kidnapped all members of Parliament, and they’re asking for a £100 million ransom. Otherwise, they are going to douse them in petrol and set them on fire. We are going from car to car collecting donations.”

“how much is everyone giving on average?” the driver asks. The man replies, “Roughly a litre.“

Okay, not in good taste but then again it did match the scone! We actually felt a modicum of sympathy for politicians when we read that piece. Some of them must have a modicum of sense after all. But then we saw the pictures of Theresa May dancing with some black kids in South Africa and all sympathy evaporated. For years, she, along with David Cameron branded Nelson Mandela a terrorist. Now, in the face an impending hard Brexit caused by her own party’s stupidity, she is in Mandela’s country desperately kowtowing for business. Another litre?

G63 0SE tel: 01360 440456 The Aizle FB

Ordinary, Scones

Brenachoile Café

20 August 2016 billpaterson1@me.com 1 Comment

Here we are in the Trossachs … again! If you are going for a sail around Loch Katrine on the Sir Walter Scott steamship you will have to get on board here at Trossachs Pier. It’s a busy place because the smaller Lady of the Lake also does cruises. Also Katrinewheelz will kit you out if you want to cycle round the loch to Stronachlachar … busy, busy! The Brenachoile Café sits on the hill above the car park giving it a great view of the loch and all the activity below.

The Last Eighty and the Great British Pound

We were just passing the time while some our younger and fitter compadres climbed the nearby Ben A’an. A fantastic wee hill that, once upon a time, we used for practice rock climbs. It even has it’s own guide book. I distinctly remember ‘The Last Eighty‘ causing me some problems. It was a dull day so the prospect of a good cuppa and a scone was uppermost in our minds. Sadly it was not to be.
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The Brenachoile Café probably suffers in the same way as many such places that have a captive audience .. if you don’t come here there is nothing else for miles, so they, unfortunately, can get away with inferior food and inferior service. They don’t close until 6 but at 3.30 they were piling chairs onto tables as if they were closing … not a good look and more than a little unwelcoming. What a shame when the whole place is buzzing! Our coffee was okay but the scone was pretty dire and just as disappointing as the rest of the place.

Almost as disappointing as Bloomberg’s 2016 report on the performance of world currencies. The great British pound languishes in last place as the worst in the world, just behind the Argentinian peso. Still, none of that matters a jot when we have wall to wall coverage of things totally meaningless in Rio … like a cosy anaesthetising blanket! As long as Team GB is doing well, we don’t need to know about anything else … do we? The Brenachoile is run by the Winnock Hotel in Drymen. There is much room for improvement before they see any medals or awards from us!FK17 8JA tel: 01877 376799 Brenachoile Café

Scones, history and a dollop of politics