Tag Archives: House of Lords

Ordinary, Scones

Coffee Kiln Café

His great grandfather, Sir Everard, was descended from a London Prince and his other great grandfather, Knight Errant, was descended from the Prince of Wales. No, we are not going off on another rant about the aristocracy, we are talking about the pedigree of the Baron o’ Buchlyvie. Perhaps the world’s most famous and probably most expensive Clydesdale stallion.  He was sold at auction in 1911 for 9,500 guineas after a dispute over ownership that ended up in the House of Lords. That was a lot of money back then! His stud fees were astronomical. However if you want to listen to a bothy ballad on how they could be avoided just click here.

Anyway this is just a rather roundabout way of telling you that today we are in Buchlyvie. It used to be a busy wee place, being the crossroads for two railway lines. However, they were closed long ago and nowadays it is just a sleepy little village with a rather busy road running through it. Internal view of the Coffee Kiln Café, BucklyvieNormally we are part of that busy road as we drive through on our way to the west coast but today we decided to stop at the pottery/café and see what was on offer. Plenty … inside there’s a wealth of lovely pottery in all sorts of patterns and colours. All produced in the workshop at the back of the café. Some of the pottery at the Coffee Kiln Café, Bucklyvie

Drop scones?

We spent ages looking round and ended up buying quite a few different pieces. Of course, this was extremely taxing. We had spotted some scones on the counter so it was kind of inevitable. We decided to share one! A scone at the Coffee Kiln Café, BucklyvieSadly it was a huge disappointment. We had a slice of gingerbread as well which was nice . However, although the scone was served with lots of jam, and cream it just didn’t taste good. The worst we had had in a very long time. Not even sure if the Baron would have enjoyed them. Not sure either if he occasionally got a bit over-amorous. In 1914, after having his leg broken by a kick from a mare, he had to be put down.

Subsequent to his burial however he was dug up and his skeleton displayed at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow. Anyway, it’s a shame, but perhaps the Coffee Kiln should just drop scones (sorry) from their menu and concentrate on their lovely pottery.

View from the window of the Coffee Kiln Café, Bucklyvie
View from the window
A person of principle

Today Donald Trump shook hands with Kim Jong Un but somehow, after all the hype, the world doesn’t seem that much safer. Credit where credit is due however, it may lead to something yet. As might the resignation of Justice minister, Phillip Lee, so that he can vote against the government’s Brexit policy. A person of principle in the British government … wow!

FK8 3LP      tel: 01360 850405       Coffee Kiln Café TA

Ordinary, Scones

Shoreline Café in Craster

Craster is yet another pretty little village on the Northumberland coast. Its main claim to fame, the Craster kipper! They are caught and smoked here then distributed throughout the land. Here’s a question … what do you think the 46th Punjabis and the Tibetan Expedition of 1904 have to do with this village? Give up? Well, the harbour wall was built in 1906 to commemorate Captain John Craster who was shot through the heart while serving with the regiment. His obituary reads “The FIFTH have once more to mourn the loss of a comrade Captain J.C.P. Craster – who was killed in the fighting at the village and monastery on the left bank of the River Gyangtse, in Thibet on the 28th of last month.”  Tibet? … is there a country in the world that Britain has not been at war with?View of Craster village

Craster is very close to Dunstanbourgh Castle which means that it is also very busy with tourists who start here and walk along the coast to reach it.

Dunstanburgh Castle near Caster, Northumberland
the ruined Dunstanburgh Castle … built in 1313 keeping the Scots at bay
Quelle dommage

Besides kippers and castles, Craster also boasts the Shoreline Café. When you walk in you are confronted by a magnificent display of scones … good start. Scone display at the Shoreline Café in Craster, NorthumberlandLike our previous post about the Drift Café in Cresswell this place was buzzing.  So far as we could tell it was the only show in town> However, all the activity needn’t necessarily mean it was good. A scone at the Shoreline Café in Craster, NorthumberlandOur scones, when they arrived with their pots of jam and cream, looked very promising. They did taste very good but so crumbly they were quite difficult to control. Breaking into pieces when you tried to spread them, quelle dommage!

Nevertheless we thoroughly enjoyed them and, with its shop area filled with local arts and crafts, we also like the whole ambience of the place itself. No topscone but well done Shoreline, keep up the good work. Interior view of the Shoreline Café in Craster, NorthumberlandNE66 3TH              tel: 01665 571251             Shoreline Café

Later in the day we had a trip booked to Coquet Island, a must for birdwatchers in this part of the world. The island is owned by Ralph George Algernon Percy. Probably better known to you and I as the 12th Duke of Northumberland. But then he owns almost everything around here.

The ferry to Coquette Island off Amble, Northumberland
Our cruise ship at Amble harbour
Keeperless

Interesting (we promise this is the last time we mention it) that on the eve of the wedding, Theresa May managed to sneek another ten Tory and DUP peers into the Lords. This after promising to reduce the House of Lords last year. The woman knows no shame and it exposes her desperation over Brexit.

When the island’s lighthouse was built in 1841 the Duke ordered that it should look like a castle rather than a lighthouse so as to fit in with all his other castles along the coast. Perish the thought that it should look like a lighthouse! The first lighthouse keeper was the elder brother of the heroic Grace Darling. Nowadays it is keeperless and solar powered.Coquette Island off Amble, Northumberland

The list

Anyway the reason for our trip was to see roseate terns. Coquet is one of the very few places where they exist in the UK. Unbelievably, in the 19th century, exploitation for the millinery trade almost brought this elegant little bird to the edge of extinction. We also saw the other members of the tern family; common, artic and sandwich, as well as loads of puffins, kittiwakes and seals … fab! This signals the end of our trip and the end of Pat’s list. Her grand total was seventy one different species. Amazing when you consider that we never saw a robin or a greenfinch. The birds we see every day at home. Many thanks to our local Scottish Wildlife Trust for organising the event.

For those interested, here is Pat’s list: swallow, starling, song thrush, goldfinch, carion crow, jackdaw, pied wagtail, chaffinch, eider duck, shelduck, magpie, skylark, yellow wagtail, snowy owl, tree sparrow, wheatear, buzzard, chiffchaff, blackbird, mute swan, canada goose, lesser black backed gull, common tern, black headed gull, moorhen, mallard, grey heron, coot, wood pigeon, collared dove, barn owl, artic tern, house martin, pheasant, oystercatcher, common gull, tufted duck, longtailed tit, grey partridge, house sparrow, blue tit, great tit, reed bunting, sedge warbler, blackcap, whitethroat, lapwing, redshank, gadwall duck, cormorant, fulmer, turnstone, feral pigeon, herring gull, avocet, dunlin, stonechat, kestrel, whooper swan, willow warbler, sandwich tern, sand martin, linnet, gannet, greater black backed gull, dunnock, roseate tern, guillemot, puffin, kittiwake, swift.

 

 

 

Ordinary, Scones

The Taste Café Deli

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For those in the know it is common knowledge that both Mary Queen of Scots and James VI’s daughter, Elizabeth of Bohemia, were avid sconeys. In the 16th century they both lived in Linlithgow Palace and a scone, of an afternoon, would have provided a welcome diversion from embroidery and harping. The reason we mention this little known snippet is because their scones would have come from here, the Taste Café Deli. Okay, not exactly this café but back then, this building used to be the bakery for the Palace. So you can see the royal connection … can’t you! Apparently Mary liked a fruit scone but Elizabeth’s preference was for plain. The question was, would they still do them?

We were here with my sister who, although Scottish through and through, has spent her entire adult life on the Côte d’Azur and, over the years, has acquired all the culinary skills and good taste of the French. The problem was that, to get to the café, you have to go through the delicatessen. A real problem for someone afflicted with good taste! And so it was that, on leaving, we were equipped with a couple of haggises, haggi … whatever and a full blown Stornoway Black Pudding! You see, you can take the lass out of Scotland but you can’t take Scotland out of the lass! As you read this post all of these items are being used to titillate the palates of the good folk of Nice. Educating them in the delights of Scottish cuisine.

Petted lips

Anyway, what about the scones? We had just had a pleasant, if muddy, walk around Linlithgow loch but still did not feel hungry enough to handle a scone each. So we ordered two scones between the three of us. Interior view of Taste Café, LinlithgowCream was not on offer but when they saw our quivering petted lips they miraculously produced a lovely bowl of it for our delectation … brilliant!

The Taste Café is just a really good honest no frills kind of place. Lots of books and toys for the kiddies as well as exhibits from local artists. A scone at the Taste Café, LinlithgowNot sure what Mary Queen of Scots would have made of our fruit scones but we thought they were very good. Not topscones but very enjoyable nevertheless.

Unelected bunch of old folk

In terms of senses, taste is extremely useful: sweetness helping us identify energy rich foods and bitterness warning us of potential poison. Chancellor, Philip Hammond’s budget yesterday seems to taste more of the latter. He says it is necessary to take unpalatable steps to get us out of the mess we currently find ourselves in. After how many years of his government’s rule??  This week also saw the House of Lords defeating the government for the second time over Brexit. Oh dear, an unelected bunch of old folk standing up to an unelected Prime Minister … crazy politics?

Mind you, had Guy Fawkes been successful in his Gunpowder Plot in 1605, Elizabeth of Bohemia, that scone munching Linlithgow lass, may well have ended up as Queen of England … so perhaps there is nothing new about crazy mixed up politics!

EH49 7ED    tel: 01506 844445       The Taste Deli Café

Scones, Top

The Butterfly & The Pig

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tearooms3In what now seems like another life, we actually used to work for a living. Much of it in Glasgow Royal Infirmary. In 1896 the Infirmary was the first in the world to have an operational X-Ray department and that was down to a chap called John Macintyre. He leapt on Röntgen’s invention, just a few days after it was announced, and put it to practical use for the benefit of the people of Glasgow. He even produced the world’s first X-Ray movie of a moving frog’s leg.B&P 03

We mention this simply because he lived almost next door to where we are today at The Butterfly & The Pig Tearoom in Bath Street. As well as being a bit of a clever clogs Macintyre was a well known bon-viveur. Famously throwing soirées for the likes of Dame Nellie Melba, Paderewski, Thomas Edison, Joseph Conrad to name but a few. When you walk into The Butterfly & The Pig, you get the feeling that, if he were here today, he would feel instantly at home in it’s quiet, comfortable atmosphere.

Down to business

Recently we have been avoiding Glasgow because of the disruption caused by the electrification of the Edinburgh/Glasgow railway line. However, unable to throw off some of the doctors we used to do work for, we were in town for a little business. A scone seemed like an obvious optional extra. We loved this place! It has a large restaurant/bar downstairs, a drawing room upstairs. For our scone we were here in the tearoom on the ground floor. B&P 07

We were made to feel very welcome by two girls who genuinely seemed to be happy at their work .. wonderful! There was a choice of, plain, fruit, apple and cinnamon, or berry scones. Pat opted for fruit and I for berry. While we waited, an afternoon tea was delivered to the next table and it looked fabulous.

They certainly don’t hang about with their portions here. It was very much on the generous side. B&P 05Our tea and scones came nicely presented and the scones … also of generous proportions, were fab. Even the berry one was beautifully light and fresh.  B&P 08Little touches like the red currant berries with the cream, the mixed and matched china, the embroidered tablecloth, make all the difference. They combine to create a really nice experience. Great selection of home made cakes as well. Anyway it was good to be back in Glasgow and doubly good to find this place. May even come back for dinner sometime.

Brexit

We cannot quite make up our minds but watching the contortions both sides are going through in the run up to the EU referendum … is it sad or comical? We are sure most folk are completely befuddled. Scotland is well used to it, hence there is not nearly so much excitement up here as there is down south. We have seen all the antics and heard all the lies before … quite recently in fact. Of course, we had Macintyre to help us see through it all .. get it? B&P 04Like most of Scotland we are probably ‘remainers’ though it is a knife edge decision. The very fact that Cameron, who just a few months ago, was threatening to take us out of the dastardly EU, is now telling us how calamitous that course of action would be, almost makes you want to vote ‘leave’.

According to the brexiteers, of course, we are supposed to vote ‘leave’ so that we can have our democracy back. Never mind all the Scottish Lib Dem MPs who were seen as unfit to be MPs by the voting public at the last general election and voted out of office. Now they sitting in the House of Lords, still ruling over us. If that is UK democracy then we may as well just have the crappy EU version. We think that David Cameron would like it here. By all accounts he has a fondness for pigs and judging by his flighty stance on the EU he may like butterflies as well. Whatever happens it won’t make a whole lot of difference. There is always this oasis of calm to retreat to for a topscone.

G2 4SQ      tel: 0141 243 2459       The Butterfly & The Pig Tearooms

Ordinary, Scones

Barony Castle Hotel

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Regular readers will know that we have a propensity for trying to find things we have read about, Raratongan princesses, Gartmore moon dials and the like. Today it is big concrete maps of Scotland. We came across some scrappy details of this thing several months back but had never managed to get round to actually finding it. View of a turret at the Barony Castle Hotel, EddlestonWhat we did know was that the weather would have to be kind if we were to get detailed pictures. Today was one of these days, cloudless skies, no wind. Ideal for taking pictures of big concrete maps.

Weather

We had established that it lay in the grounds of this hotel in Eddleston. However we had not taken account of the fact that in the thirty odd miles it took us to get there the world would be transformed into a winter wonderland. Three inches of snow covering everything! When we left home there was no snow whatsoever. Best laid plans etc etc. View over snow covered fields from the Barony Castle Hotel, EddlestonDetailed pictures were obviously out of the question, but at least we found it … and it was quite something.

A little history. In 1942 the hotel building was requisitioned as a training college for the Polish forces based here to protect the east coast of Scotland from German invasion. In 1968, one of the former soldiers, Jan Tomasi, ended up buying it and for reasons that are not entirely clear, in the mid 70s, set about building this concrete relief map in the grounds. Now known as the ‘Great Polish Map of Scotland‘ or Mapa Scotland.

Photo taken from a display board to show the size (40mx50m) and location, the hotel is top right
Photo taken from a display board to show the size (40mx50m) and location, the hotel is top right

It was built exactly to scale so that when the seas were filled with water the lochs etc would also fill. At the moment it is being restored by Historic Scotland. As well as being covered in snow it didn’t have any water either .. great!

view of snow covered Mapa Scotland
Looking from SW, annotated to help orientation. The pole in the middle is to indicate Ben Nevis. Water would normally come up to the top of the dark walls.
Imagination

With a little imagination however it is not hard to see that, when fully restored, it will be rather special. All well and good but, having completed a lap of the country, scone time was fast approaching so we headed off back towards the hotel. Feeling frustrated by the lack of good pictures but quite pleased at having found the object of our expedition. Entrance to the Barony Castle Hotel in Eddleston

The hotel building dates back to 1666 and is  now part of the Mercure Group. It has a slightly foreboding  welcome sign above the entrance. On the other hand, if He is actually here, would the baking be devine … exciting! Our scones were nicely presented with lots of jam, butter and cream. Unfortunately, however, the presentation turned out to be the only good thing about them. The cream was of the scooshie variety which very quickly dissolved into an insipid white liquid. The scones, meanwhile, although looking good, had been fashioned in the same way as the Great Map, from concrete. Definitely the worst scones we have had in a very very long time. If God had a hand in their preparation he was definitely trying to tell us something. Scones at the Barony Castle Hotel, Eddleston

When it came to paying our bill, we suggested that, if they had any more of these scones, they should put them in the bin. Much to our embarrassment they took them off the bill. Embarrassment, because there wasn’t a trace of the scones left, we ate the lot. Such was our appetite after tramping all the way round Scotland in the snow!

Fit for purpose?

Embarrassment is obviously not something felt at Westminster, though goodness knows why not!  For the first time ever in the three hundred odd years of the Parliament of Great Britain all Scottish MPs were banned from voting. The Parliament of Great Britain is now a very different place. The unelected House of Lords was also at it trying to rewrite the Act of Union. Presumably in an attempt to save it. The fact that they are even thinking about it is tantamount to an admission that the Union is no longer fit for purpose.

The 1707 Act of Union was gained through bribery, threats and the support of a tiny minority of Scots. The rest being vehemently opposed. It will be interesting to see what concoction they come up with this time in this wonderful democracy of ours. Whatever it is ’embarrassment’ will not be making an appearance. When it gets to the stage that both the Parliament of Great Britain and the Union is seen as broken perhaps the best course of action would be to just ditch both. Hard though that may be .. it probably wouldn’t be as hard as a Barony scone!

EH45 8QW     tel: 01721 730395     Barony Castle Hotel