You might think that Bridge of Allan is a slightly odd name for a town but it is pretty obvious really. It’s built around the bridge over the river known as the Allan Water. And the Allanwater Cafe is almost built on top of the bridge. Before railways and cars, bridges were super-important. They provided the means of avoiding long and difficult circuitous routes to cross rivers. Nowadays people driving in and out of the town wouldn’t even be aware that they were crossing a bridge and wouldn’t give it a moment’s thought.
Man and horse
Bridge of Allan is a very pleasant place sporting many large mansion houses much favoured by today’s overpaid professional footballers. Its origins, however, were much more humble … mining copper. The mines closed in 1807 but a few years later the local laird discovered that mineral springs were leaking into the mines and decided to make Bridge of Allan a spa town. No flies on these laird types! In 1830 Bridge of Allan was described as “everything a village ought to be: straw roofed cottages, a mill, old inns with entertainment for man and horse, and a row of neat little villas for the fashionable who flock to it in summer.” If it’s good enough for man and horse it should be good enough for us lowly sconeys. There are many cafes and restaurants in the town and we thought we had visited them all … except this one!
Amazingly, it has been run by the Bechelli family dynasty for more than one hundred and twenty years. There are plenty other cafes around. The multinational Costa is directly across the road but has closed permanently. Also across the road is Nairn’s a brand new up market restaurant venture and but it was almost empty. The Allanwater Cafe, on the other hand, was buzzing. The Bechelli dynasty must be doing something right.
It would have been good to sample some of their lunch offerings but we just wanted some coffee and maybe a scone to share. When we said we wanted to share a scone our waitress said “Yes they are big“!The service was very friendly and helpful … perhaps they were part of the family dynasty. Anyway we soon had everything we needed. The staff seemed to know almost everyone in the place which gave it a very relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere. Our scone was enjoyable as well but fell short of a topscone.
Dynasties
If the Bechelli family dynasty is getting things right the same does not apply to all such dynasties.
The Paterson Memorial (nothing to do with us) to a local doctor
Surely the best news of the week is media-mogul Rupert Murdoch’s announcement that he is retiring. He has been a malevolent force around the world for far too long and if he and his sordid News Corp organisation were to disappear off the scene tomorrow it would not be a moment too soon. Without his interference Trump would probably never have made it out of the starting blocks and Brexit would never have happened. As with all things Murdoch, however, it is not straight forward. He is handing over the reins to his even more right wing son, Lachlan. It’s just a pity his name so ably demonstrates his Scottish ancestry. Perhaps Lachlan should come to the Allanwater Cafe to see how a dynasty should be run?
When we said we wanted to share a scone our waitress said “Yes they are big“!The service was very friendly and helpful … perhaps they were part of the family dynasty. Anyway we soon had everything we needed. The staff seemed to know almost everyone in the place which gave it a very relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere. Our scone was enjoyable as well but fell short of a topscone.