Tag Archives: Duke of Montrose

The Pier Cafe (revisited)

The Pier Cafe in Stronachlacher is one our Trossachs correspondents favourite haunts and the last time we were here we were with them. Not today, though, they are sunning themselves in Spain. However, diligent, as ever, they have just sent a report from the Lemon Tree in Mijas which they last reviewed in 2019.

The Lemon Tree, Mijas
The Lemon Tree Cafe, Andalusia

In their own words Greetings from Mijas. The Lemon Tree is still here maintaining a good standard with Scones,Jam and Clotted Cream. As on previous trips this is so far the only source for scones that we have discovered in Andalucia. The search continues. Now that’s dedication … all that way just to check a scone!

External view of the Pier Cafe, Stronachlacher
Looking over to Factor’s Island with the trees. Rob Roy MacGregor imprisoned the Duke of Montrose’s factor here when the Duke confiscated the MacGregor lands as punishment for not supporting the Act of Union in 1707

Meanwhile, Stronachlacher is also basking in sunshine though probably not as warm as Mijas. The Pier Café is sometimes described as Scotlands most picturesque cafe and it’s easy to see why. The views over Loch Katrine are superb. To get here requires an eleven mile drive over a single track dead end road. The road ends at Stronachlacher. You pass Loch Ard, Loch Chon and Loch Arklet on the way so it isn’t any kind of hardship on a day like today. You can, however, get here by bicycle or take one of the cruise boats from the other end of the loch.

Small world

A scone at the Pier Cafe, StronachlacherWe were here with one of our neighbours who thoroughly enjoyed the drive and, of course, we were all looking forward to some lunch. The cafe has always been great but it is now under new management so it was going to interesting. No worries it was all delicious. The fruit scones we had to finish were delicious as well. They had been warmed and came with raspberry jam and little cubes of butter. No cream, so not quite a topscone but a very good effort. We were served by a super friendly lady from Kinlochard who actually knew our Trossachs correspondents. We didn’t dare tell her they were eating someone else’s scones in Spain.

Lady of the Lake arriving at StronachlacherAs we were about to leave we could see the Lady of the Lake approaching the pier. Myself and our neighbour had positioned ourselves near the railings to watch proceedings when a freak wave came over and soaked us both. We were both absolutely drenched! A situation, which wasn’t helped in the slightest by the hysterical laughter coming from Pat and everyone else watching. External view of the Pier Cafe, Stronachlacher

Judgement

You know how sometimes you just can’t take to someone. You don’t really know them but for some reason, which you can’t quite put a finger on, you just don’t like them. For us, Dominic Raab, the former deputy Prime Minister, was one such person. Why Rishi Sunak appointed him in the first place is beyond comprehension. Now he has resigned following a report into his unacceptable behaviour towards his staff and others. Typically, perhaps, he hasn’t gone gracefully. It must be galling for these guys, however, when the seat at your desk isn’t even cold before someone else is sitting in it. Disposable politicians!

R.I.P

And we have just heard that Sir Les Patterson has died. Now there was a diplomat if ever there was one! We can only imagine what he would have had to say about people, like Dominic Raab who take themselves so seriously.

FK8 3TY       tel: 01877 386374           Pier Cafe

///greyhound/files.odds

A scone in Corpus Christips: Just as we were congratulating our Trossachs correspondents on their dedication we received a note from our Texas correspondents in Corpus Christi. They said “A top scone, known here in Texas as a biscuit, butter from Kansas and jam from Ohio!”. Honestly, what is wrong with Americans? They can’t call things by their proper names, they can’t spell things correctly, they can’t drive on the correct side of the road, we could go on. 😀Hopefully some American readers will get in touch to tell us what is wrong with them!

Inversnaid Hotel

When Gerard Manley Hopkins, approached this hotel by boat in 1918 he was struck by the Arklet Falls on it’s right. He duly walked up the bank of the burn until he reached the high open ground and was so inspired he wrote a poem, imaginatively called ‘Inversnaid’. It’s a lovely poem, one of our favourites and the reason for our visit today. Retracing his steps, so to speak. The first verse starts at the waterfall as it drops into Loch Lomond then the following two verses illustrate the journey upwards to the high ground where he finishes with the fourth and wonderful final verse:The Arklet Falls at Inversnaid

What would the world be, once bereft
Of wet and of wildness? Let them be left,
O let them be left, wildness and wet;
Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet.

He was a religious man and he is looking at a scene, as he sees it, created by God. It was the Duke of Montrose though that created Inversnaid in 1790 as a hunting lodge, and in September 1869, Queen Victoria, who had been staying at Invertrossachs Lodge on Loch Vennacher, arrived here by horse drawn coach from Stronachlachar for a trip around the loch on the Prince Consort steamship. Even today this is a fairly tricky road to negotiate by car so goodness knows what it was like back then? She was particularly taken with the northern part of the loch with its views to the west … and why wouldn’t she be impressed?

View from Inversnaid Hotel across Loch Lomand to Ben Ime
Ben Ime in the middle distance with Ben Vorlich and the Loch Sloy hydro scheme to the right

Tarbert to Inversnaid

Nowadays, as the Inversnaid Hotel, it is almost exclusively used by bus parties and walkers on the West Highland Way.  As such it suffers in the same way as most hotels that specifically cater for this sort of custom. A bit soulless. Arriving, like Manley Hopkins by boat from Tarbert we were hoping to be inspired by scones as well as the scenery. View from Inversnaid Hotel across Loch Lomand to Ben ImeNo such luck! They didn’t look at all inspiring so we just shared one and our fears turned out to be totally justified. Edible, but only just. At least we were able to sit out on a beautiful day and admire the scenery.

Incidentally, the captain of our boat informed us about the pipes of the Loch Sloy Hydro Scheme. A major feature on the hill opposite. Nothing to do with Hydro. They are, in fact, part of a massive haggis factory buried deep in mountain. The means of delivery to the packing hall below at the lochside.

Scotland’s economy on its knees

We have no way of verifying this but it doesn’t seem any more far fetched than the recent GERS (Government Expenditure Review Scotland) figures. On the face of it, it is bad news. We spend much more than we bring in. You have to bear in mind that GERS was set up back in the day by Ian Lang specifically to counter nationalism so it is hardly likely to deliver good news. View into the sunlight down Loch LomondGERS does however benchmark against other countries of similar size and again we do rather badly by comparison. The trouble is that no one seems to ask how we got to this situation  … under Westminster management? It’s all supposed to be Scotland’s fault and prove that we could never ever ever be a viable independent nation. These benchmark countries would give their eye teeth for Scotland’s assets:

  • Norway is far more reliant on oil than Scotland, but is doing ok thank you very much.
  • Denmark would love to have whisky generating £120 of exports every second.
  • Belgium would love to have the Edinburgh Fringe, adding £261m to its economy.Interior of Inversnaid Hotel
  • Ireland would love to have Scotland’s online gaming industry, grown over 600% and potentially worth more than oil ever was.
  • Sweden would love to match Scotland educationally. According to the Office of National Statistics the adult population of Scotland is the most educated in the whole of Europe.
  • Finland would love to have Scotland’s tidal and wave energy potential, 25% of the entire EU.
The Problem

So what’s the problem? Let’s guess! Could it be the way we are governed? Surely not! Entrance to Inversnaid HotelAn independent Scotland would be sporting an embarrassingly large fiscal surplus. And now they want to drag us out of the EU? Yet still people cling to the illusion that we are “better together”. As someone as  eloquent as Manley Hopkins would say …. aaarrgghhh!

FK8 3TU      tel: 01877 386223       Inversnaid Hotel TA

 

The Pier Tearoom

The writing was on the wall from the start. When James Graham, Marquess of Montrose was promoted to Duke as reward for his support in bringing about the Act of Union in 1707, he was never going to be best buddies with Scotland’s Robin Hood, Rob Roy MacGregor. When the Duke, no doubt flushed with his new found importance, confiscated the MacGregor lands, that really put the tin lid on their relationship.

Factor's island, Stronachlachar
Factor’s island, Stronachlachar

In an act of retaliation, Rob Roy imprisoned Montrose’s factor (rent collector) on an island on Loch Katrine and to this day it is still known as Factor’s island. Rob Roy was born at Glengyle, just a short distance away.

Punishment

View from the pier
View from Stronachlachar

As if to punish the Factor further, the island is less than a 100 meters from this great wee tearoom with a glass conservatory, so he would have had to sit alone and hungry on his island watching folk tucking into cakes, scones and all sorts of other goodies. Absolutely no mercy!

We have no idea

We were here to meet with our intrepid Trossachs correspondents who, readers will remember, were recently reporting from Gibraltar. What better place for a debriefing session than here at Stronachlachar, one of the most beauStronachlachar 08tiful spots on the planet. The steamship Sir Walter Scott usually docks here but on this occasion the much smaller Lady of The Lake came into the pier and disgorged her cargo of happy walkers and cyclists. The tearoom has everything you would want; free wifi; fine coffee; fine wine; home made cakes … and scones, but not homemade?? Stronachlachar 11Why, when they make their own cakes, they don’t make their own scones, we have no idea.

Anyway, in the middle of an intense discussion on modern trends in sconology, we received our scones. Nicely presented with lots of jam and cream. They were enjoyable enough though the overall feeling was that the bicarbonate had been overdone, leaving a slight aftertaste. No topscone unfortunately but this is still a great tearoom in a great setting and, if you go, you will enjoy it, thougStronachlachar 07h hopefully the use of this old phone box will not be necessary!

Loch Katrine, of course, has been the water supply for the city of Glasgow since the 1850s, a phenomenal feat of engineering and far-sightedness. The water flows 35 miles into the city only dropping 10 inches in every mile. Do we have similarly far-sighted politicians today? We fear not. Modern day neo-liberalism means that those in power cannot see much further than the end of their noses! Musn’t speak too ill of them however, as the debacle over the EU referendum has been interrupted by the tragic murder of Labour’s Jo Cox. It’s very much a time for sympathy and solidarity.

FK8 3TY          tel: 01877 386 374          The Pier Tearoom

New gin venture

On our journey home we unexpectedly stumbled upon this .. the Trossachs distillery … fantastic. Only opened two weeks previously, we thought we should at least give it a mention. Brainchild of the affable Dale McQueen, it produces gin in a variety of flavours using a unique distillation method. He even puts it in nice, dark blue ceramic bottles. The gin market is ‘busy busy’ at the moment so we hope Dale gets a favourable wind for his venture. Online shop at the link below. We chose the ‘sweet citrus’ and the ‘mocha’ and the … noooo we didn’t buy them all. Might go back for the others!Trossachs distillery 03bFK17 8LR        tel:07968 063125            Trossachs Distillery