Tag Archives: Dunkeld

Palmerston’s revisited

Goodness, it’s over nine years since we last wrote about Palmerston’s, here in lovely Dunkeld. In the 9th century there was a union by marriage between the Scots and the Picts and King Kenneth MacAlpin made Dunkeld the capital of his new Scotland. The village is strategically placed at the entrance to a pass leading to the Highlands and sits on the north bank of the River Tay. In fact it is just upstream from Ballathie House where we were earlier this month. On the opposite bank of the river is the village of Birnam, made famous by Shakespeare for its mobile forest.  

A witch’s word

Apparently it put the jitters up the villainous Macbeth when he was informed that  Birnam Wood was moving towards his fortress at Dunsinane. After all, several witches had told him he was safe as long as that highly unlikely event ever came to pass … and who wouldn’t believe a witch? However, he was right to be jittery, oh yes! It was actually the English army that had cut down the branches and were using them to camouflage their stealthy approach. Suffice to say, Macbeth’s head ends up in a different place to the rest of him. Is that a suitable ending for a villain? That was way back in the 11th century and we don’t have villains like that any more … or do we?Scones at Palmerston's cafe Dunkeld

But before we go into that let’s look at something altogether more wholesome, Palmerston’s scones.  Nine years ago you will clearly remember that they were a little unusual. They were baked in a large round then cut into triangular quadrants. A scone at Palmerston's cafe DunkeldWell, they still are and they had four different types for us to choose from!  Somewhat unenterprisingly we decided on fruit scones, or sultana as it’s known in these parts.

They’re very friendly here. Straight off we were asked if we wanted butter and jam or cream and jam? Very sensible. We opted for cream and jam! When the scones arrived at our table, however we had cream, jam and two different types of butter. Not so sensible. As you know we’re partial to a crunchy exterior and a nice soft fluffy interior. These couldn’t be described in that way but nevertheless they were absolutely delicious with lots of big juicy sultanas … topscone!

Is that light at the end of the tunnel?

Let’s get back to villains! All in all it’s seems to have been a good day for us here in Dunkeld but a bad day for villains … hurrah! The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and his associates. They’ve done the same for the Hamas resistance. However, there’s been a similar warrant for Putin’s arrest since 2023 so don’t expect these new warrants  to make a whole lot of difference any time soon. Perhaps more importantly Norway, Ireland and Spain have announced their intention to recognise Palestinian statehood … hurrah again! This is what is needed to get people talking seriously about a two state solution. Also, Paula Vennells, a priest but seen by many as a villain, starts her submission to the inquiry into the horrors of the Post Office Horizon scandal.

UK style democracy

Unfortunately this is also the week when Rishi Sunak labelled people who want Scotland to be an independent country again (that’s at least half the people of Scotland) as extremists. A danger to the UK. This, in spite of the fact that no-one in the 100 years or so of Scotland’s passionate bid to regain its self-respect has suffered so much as a nose-bleed. We thought Trump was pretty stupid among political figures but he may have competition. 
Jam at Palmerston's cafe Dunkeld

Perhaps more serious than all of that, the last time we were here Palmerston’s had just returned from the World Jam Championships with a bunch of prize certificates. Sadly we were informed that these Jampionshios, have been discontinued since the COVID pandemic. Happily you can still get their excellent jam here.Jampionship certificate 2014

PH8 0AJ          tel: 01350 727231               Palmerston’s FB

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ps: What a day! Sunak has just announced a General Election for the 4th of July. Independence Day for some but probably not for Scotland.

Sconeless in the North

First, a word of warning, especially for the faint-hearted. This post covers three different venues many miles apart but does not feature any scones. Yes, not a single scone was harmed in the making of this post. Not that we regard ourselves as ever doing any harm to scones, we simply help them fulfil their glorious destiny. Hence the title – Sconeless in the North. Let us explain how we managed to get through an entire day without our delicious little friends.

Highland Folk Museum

We are still with our coach party and staying in Newtonmore just north of Aviemore. While there we visited the Highland Folk Museum. It’s a fabulous place where they try and recreate what life was like in the Highlands a century or so ago. It’s been done by rescuing old buildings and transporting them to this site where they get a new lease of life.

Knockbain school at the Folk Museum, Newtonmore
Knockbain school originally a few miles west of Inverness

It’s spread over a very large area and after a while I wasn’t feeling my best and the weather wasn’t the best either so I excused myself and thought I would just wait for Pat and the others in the cafe. I wasn’t actually thinking about a scone because, obviously, I can’t review them without my beloved. It did, however, give rise to a rather traumatic scone experience. It’s a slightly long winded explanation but bear with me.

Write it down

There was a relatively short queue at the cafe but it was moving very slowly. The reason became obvious when it eventually came to my turn. Only a young lad and a lass were looking after everything. They, pretty obviously, were not happy, He was front of house and she sCafe at the Folk Museum, Newtonmoreeemed occupied with something at the back. I said “ a black americano and a scone, please“. it would have taken all of thirty seconds to pour me a cup of coffee and hand me one of the scones that were right in front of me, but no.

I was still there a couple of minutes later as the exact details of my request were written down longhand on a fresh pad of paper. “Did I want milk?” No, no need in a black americano … he wrote it down nevertheless, “did I want sugar … did I want butter? and so it went on.

Takeaway

Eventually it came time to pay. At this point he said “it’s takeaway only now, we’re closing“. Nothing of this had been mentioned to the previous customer so I asked when they closed. “3.45” was the answer. “but It’s only 3 o’clock“, I said, to which the answer was “we’re short staffed.” I was flabbergasted, the prospect of carrying my coffee and scone outside to the wind and rain didn’t appeal so I left empty handed. In hindsight, I could have explained that I was on an educational mission for people all over the world but I don’t think it would have made the slightest difference.

Arderseir village hall

After a while outside enduring the worst of the effects of the fresh air I thought I would return to the cafe for shelter until Pat and the others returned. To my great surprise  almost every table was taken. Okay, everyone had takeaway cups but what was going on? When I asked the young chap he said “They are supposed to go outside but nobody listens they just take their stuff and sit at a table“. With that, the girl from the back appeared and said “We’re doing our best but nobody listens to us” and promptly burst into tears. Goodness, I have really no idea what was going on here but it was pretty obvious that these kids needed a lot of help, training and better systems. Maybe even counselling? So that was non-scone number one. 

Fort George

External view of Fort GeorgeWe soldiered on. Fort George was another impressive stop on our outing. It sits on a promontory jutting out into the Moray Firth and the scale of the place is phenomenal. The British government must have been feeling very insecure just after the Battle of Culloden in 1746. Goodness knows how many millions were spent building this place over a twenty year period. Continuing unrest in Scotland over the 1707 Act of Union and the ever present perceived threat from France were responsible. Ironically, by the time it was completed much of the threat had dissipated.External view of Fort George

There were actually soldiers with submachine guns at the patrolling the place, so someone had clearly tipped them off that we were coming. If you look at the title picture you can see a white sentry box on the right under a red flag. A submachine gunned sentry still has to stand in that all day. The only thing he is liable to see is dolphins and we’re not aware that they are an actual threat.

Canons at Fort George
Some of the Falkirk made canons on the ramparts

Pat and I decided to walk the whole of the perimeter ramparts. It takes quite a while and then, if we had time, visit the cafe.

The Chapel at Fort George
The Chapel

Eventually we also visited the chapel, chatted to some American tourists and ended up pushed for time at the cafe. No matter, it was sconeless anyway. Non-scone number two. 

Lovely ladies

MacKies's of Alloa busAfter Fort George it was back on the bus and only a very short hop to the village hall in Ardersier where lunch was waiting.  Ardersier is where the villagers of Blacktown were resettled after their village had to be removed in order to build Fort George. Some lovely local ladies provided a great lunch but still no scones. Non-scone number three.

A special place in scone history

After that we were finished with the north and headed back south to Dunkeld where we were due to visit the local Museum. It was late in the day when we got there and unfortunately we had to walk from where the bus was parked to the Museum past Palmerstons Coffee Shop  …argh! This was the venue of our very first scone post on this blog back in March 2015. We  couldn’t just pass it by?Externalview of Palmerstons Cafe, Dunkeld

You will all remember distinctly that in that post all these years ago we explained that this place was winner in that year’s World Jam Championships. Apparently the lady who was running it then doesn’t take too much to do with the Coffee Shop any more … she’s next door … in the Jam Shop! So here was non-scone number four. We were too late, all the scones had gone. Time for home.

Bus trips are like some sort of alternative reality. You are cocooned with a particular group of people all pursuing the same sort of thing. You are isolated from the actual reality of a world gone completely mad. Hopefully it will all have sorted itself out by the time we get back. 

Our fellow bus passengersWe survived this traumatic day mainly due to this lot … the singing was dreadful 😁. Many thanks to Falkirk Local History Society for organising a very memorable trip.

ps: for telephone box aficionados, this was taken in Fort George.

K6 telephone boxes at Fort George
Two K6s on the left were made in the Saracen foundry in Glasgow. The post box and other K6 were made in Falkirk.

pps: I have written to Highland Council over my concerns for the kids in the cafe at the Folk Museum. Will let you know if I ever hear anything back from them.

 

Palmerston’s Coffee Shop

If you find yourself in Dunkeld on a wet March day and a bit tired of walking round the town you could do a lot worse than pop into Palmerston’s Coffee Shop on the main street. Palmerston's Coffe Shop champion jam certificateIt’s small and welcoming with a wonderful display of homemade jams which have been super successful in the World Jampionships over recent years. A scone at Palmerston's Coffe Shop, DunkeldWe had the raspberry and nectarine and it was not difficult to see why it had been such a hit.

Also, each table had a note with the wifi password .. great! Wish everywhere did this rather than tediously having to ask.
A scone at Palmerston's Coffee ShopScones are a little bit different. They are obviously baked in a large round then quartered to give a sort of triangular end result. They were light and airy with generous amounts of fruit and we could have had plain or even a rock bun. Served with a little bowl of clotted cream we thought it was great value for money. Come to think of it, it does not have to be a wet March day. Anytime would be good for Palmerston’s Coffee Shop.

And if you like fiddle music this is the place to come. Neil Gow was born here in 1727 and quickly became renowned as one of the best fiddle players in the land. He is commemorated today with the Neil Gow Festival which is held annually in the town.

PH8 0AJ                  tel: 01350 727231                    Palmerstons

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Useful link: things-to-do-in-dunkeld