When we started this blog all these years ago we never dreamt that we would be reporting on scones from a defunct silver mine called the Day Dream Mine. Obviously we’re not dreaming. Yes, of course, our itinerant Toowoomba correspondents are on the road again just wandering from scone to scone across the Australian outback. Here the scones can be quite far apart so are all the more welcome when they appear.
On this road from Broken Hill to Silverton they came across a rare cap tree
At Day Dream they seem to have decided that some people may not want to venture down a mineshaft but they sure as hell won’t miss a scone.
In their own words:
“We have driven 4000kms for these scones! We have had a couple of nights in Broken Hill, Western NSW. Broken Hill is an inland mining city, mainly of silver ore. It was always referred to as “The Silver City”. It is pretty much surrounded by desert. The colours of the area are very muted, red soil and grey foliage. We drove about 20 kms north of BH towards Silverton to a derelict mine called “Day Dream Mine “ – where that name comes from I would not hazard a guess! However, the sign in the gate tempted us to go through. To be honest the experience was pretty underwhelming! The fact that we paid over $70 to walk around rocks and dust looking down a few holes was not terribly exciting. I did venture down the mine shaft, narrow, dark, steep and at last, cool!
Miners worked by candlelight
It did make me think of the years gone by when men were men and very tough at that. Their lives must have been hell. The bonus after all that was when you reached the top – waiting was a mug of tea and freshly baked scone and “real” cream. Not sure that we would hurry back for that experience again, but you always meet interesting people in these places. On to Silverton from there – the frontier setting for such movies as Mad Max, Priscilla – Queen of the Desert, Razorback and the list goes on!”
The list may well go on but none of these movies can be described as “homely” or even “normal”. Just as well our correspondents have scones to keep them on the straight and narrow!
It would appear that it’s called the Day Dream Mine because the miners used to grow poppies … nuff said! Anything to make the working conditions slightly more bearable.
This scone has strongly connections to Robert Burns, Scotland’s national poet, and one of his poems in particular. With the current political Sunak/Braverman furore you would be forgiven for thinking the poem would be “Such A Parcel Of Roques In A Nation“. In that poem Burns railed against the aristocrats who in 1707 treacherously relinquished the Scottish Parliament and passed all powers to England. No, no, no, this scone is from Clarinda’s Tearoom in Edinburgh and it’s about an altogether different kind of poem … a love poem. We feel, however, that a little background is required before we get on to the all important scones. Bear with us!
Sense and nonsense
Robert Burns famously loved the lassies but he was particularly besotted by one, Agnes Maclehose, in particular. However, she was already married, unhappily married but married nevertheless. Her husband had long since left her and gone off to Jamaica. The relationship between Agnes and Robert, though intense, remained platonic throughout. They conducted their romance through letters and exchanges of poetry and to keep their correspondence confidential they adopted pseudonyms … her’s ‘Clarinda’ and his ‘Sylvander’. Sir Walter Scott referred to the resulting love letters as “the most extraordinary mixture of sense and nonsense, and of love human and divine, that was ever exposed to the eye of the world.” Didn’t they write beautifully back in the day!
Clarinda and Burns
In December 1791 Agnes decided to sail to Jamaica to try and salvage her marriage. Just before she left Burns penned “Ae Fond Kiss“, a beautiful poem of love and yearning. She arrived in Jamaica only to find that her husband had already started another family with another woman. What are men like?? Never mind, how devastating that experience must have been for Agnes! Broken hearted she returned on the same ship on which she had arrived. She and Robert met once more before he died aged just 37. She never remarried and died in 1841 aged 82.
Queues
In spite of there being several other cafes in the vicinity we had to queue to get into Clarinda’s. Was this a good sign? The last time we had to queue was at the Elephant House, not far from here. It was where the Harry Potter books were written. Have you realised that the word ‘queue’ is just a letter with four silent letters waiting in line? This queue was formed mainly of tourists so Clarinda’s is obviously well known, either for the associated story of romance or the quality of its scones … or maybe both … exciting!
It is a tiny place and there were six in our party so not easy to get a table big enough. No problem they soon had us seated and ready for our scones. The only way to describe Clarinda’s Tearoom is ‘chintzy’. Lace table clothes, loads of pictures and plates hanging on the walls.
Obviously, with a queue outside, there was no let up for the staff. They were lovely, however, and treated everyone as if they were the first customers of the day. We had a scone each and thoroughly enjoyed them. They came with generous pots of jam and cream and a couple of large teapots of tea to go with their eclectic mix of chinaware. Perhaps not the best topscone but we enjoyed Clarinda’s so a topscone nevertheless. No doubt the queue, which was still outside, was delighted to see the six of us leave.
The above picture was taken from near Clarinda’s Tearoom. You can just about see the top of the Burns Memorial, slightly to the left of the obelisk in the middle. It gazes down on Canongate Churchyard where Clarinda is buried. The romance continues!
Heinous crimes
The obelisk, by the way, is the Political Martyrs Monument. It commemorates five men who campaigned for parliamentary reform and universal suffrage in 1773. Their crime was consider so heinous they were given an equally heinous sentence … transportation to New South Wales! Don’t people pay for that nowadays?
More news from our Bathurst correspondents as we in Scotland gently edge towards the same sort of freedom that they enjoy. Freedom to not only leave the house but to venture further afield … and to meet people … yeah! We’re not complaining, we are very happy with the way the whole COVID-19 thing has been handled in Scotland but like everyone else we have almost forgotten what ‘normal’ actually means. In New South Wales our correspondents can at least move around the state … and this little corner of Australia is four times the size of the UK! Anyway, today they made their way to the village of Leura and the Wayzgoose Diner. And what sort of name is that anyway? In their own words:
“Today we passed through Leura, a village halfway between our home in Bathurst, and Sydney. A spot we often stop at when travelling to Sydney. As it was coffee time, we called into the Wayzgoose Diner, and decided to sample their scones. To our surprise the scone arrived in a terracotta flowerpot, in which it had been cooked. Quite a nice scone, if a little odd looking with its tapered bottom”.
A flower pot scone
Intrigued by the name “Wayzgoose”, and thinking it was some sort of Canadian bird, I googled it and found:
“A wayzgoose was at one time a celebratory dinner given by a master printer to his workmen each year on or about St Bartholomew’s Day (24 August). It marked the traditional end of summer and the start of the season of working by candlelight.”
Working by candlight … those were the days! Our correspondents also sent these clippings about the Country Women’s Association (CWA) from the Sydney Morning Herald.
Sconversations for the anxious and depressedKnead to know
In another cutting a Mrs Whitton explained that the secret of a perfect scone “Don’t knead the dough. Don’t fiddle or keep laying or touching it”. You have been told!
Mrs Whitton and a tray of 40 scones
As always, a huge thanks to our Bathurst correspondents. But, would you believe it – another Aussie report has just come in! This time from our Brisbane correspondent. We think the intention was to assure Pat and I that not all Australians are as boorish as him.
Apparently, at a recent function, he was belittled, berated and generally ridiculed by colleagues for putting jam on top of the cream on a pikelet (crumpet) he was preparing to eat. Serves him right … not going to get any sympathy from us. But good to hear that Australia is not indulging in those devilishly delinquent Devon ways.
Back in the UK, Boris promised that everything would go back to the way it was once Brexit was achieved. And so it has, one of the few promises he has kept … rioting on the streets of Northern Ireland. Thanks Boris, you could do well to heed Mrs Whitton’s advice.
When we got an email from our ever inventive Bathurst correspondent entitled “scones and phone boxes” we were delighted. Always keen to learn more about life down under we were full of anticipation. Perhaps another New South Wale’s scone? Perhaps a kangaroo outside a K6 phone box somewhere in the outback? So imagine our surprise when we discovered that nothing could be further from the truth. The scone news came from the Balgove Larder in St Andrews, about an hour’s drive from where we live and the telephone boxes were all local too i.e. in the UK. Who would have thought we would be getting our local sconological news from the antipodeas?
Strange things happen
Of course, there’s an explanation. Our correspondent has family near St Andrews and the pictures were from his last visit, about two years ago. Is getting local news like this weird or wonderful? We think it’s wonderful but it may also be a bit weird. Our correspondent laments the fact that he has no idea if and when he will again be allowed to visit St Andrews where his daughter and grandchildren live. Weirdly, even though it is very close to us, we are not allowed to visit either. Such are the joys of global coronavirus restrictions!
If memory serves our correspondent well, Balgove Larder was a lovely venue and the scone was also excellent. It certainly looks good and nicely presented with plenty jam and cream. Oviously Pat and I will do our utmost to confer a grading here as soon as we are allowed to travel again. Oooo, “conferring” topscone awards … sounds a bit pretentious doesn’t it. Note to self: must stay grounded!
Lunar outbursts
While the UK adjusts to renewed lockdown apparently President Trump has reported a huge dump of his votes on the moon. He has a friend who is an astronaut, a terrific astronaut, he has a telescope and he has seen them. Now, dear reader, if you wondered, even for a nanosecond, if that was true it pretty much sums up the state of American politics at the moment. Sad, sad! If Trump loses we may even miss these extraordinary outbursts. We can adjust, however.
ps: Not content with simply sending us Scottish scone news from Australia our correspondent also sent some phone box pics.
Julie demonstrating how a remote Welsh K6 door works near Tregaron and a St Andrews Lion K6 on the right in Hepburn Gardens with our correspondents grandchildren Molly and Annie
Lo-and-behold, no sooner had our Bathurst correspont sent in his report than another one popped up … wow! This one described an autumn walk our Devon correspondents took the other day. No scones but they did spot this phone box in the village of Filleigh. Readers all know by now that we regard Devon folks as being fairly uncivilised. Goodness, cream first, what do they expect?
A Devon K6 and some beautiful autumn colours
If further proof was needed here is the picture they sent of a Devon ‘red’ telephone box. It’s used as the village library.
We are, as always, indebted to each and every one of our correspondents. They enrich our lives (and hopefully yours) wonderfully.
Honestly, the things we do for our readers! Here we were in Callander attempting to expand your sconological knowledge and encountering great difficulties. Some of the cafés were closed, some were open but did’t do scones and others we had alraedy reviewed on previous occassions … argh! The weather was also being very Scottish. And you though this sconing malarkey was easy! Suffice to say, as we gambled merrily along Main Street, we came across the Main Street Bakery. No idea how it got that name!
Who is that?
Café??
In the window they had a display of scones that looked quite good and a sign saying “fresh coffee”. Seemed worthy of investigation. Turned out it was tiny and because of COVID they were only allowed a maximum of two people in at a time. Gadzooks, there was already an elderly gentleman sitting there. He said he was leaving soon so we told him to hurry up so that we could get in. Okay, it wasn’t quite like that but he did kindly vacate the premises and we were in, yeagh!
A cheese scone for Pat and fruit one for me. It soon became very obvious that this is a bakery with a coffee machine and not a café as such. COVID means they can’t put all the usual stuff out on the table. So while the seating area was being sanitised my scone was being buttered and jammed behind the bakery counter. Thank you COVID!!
Rules and regulations
Tea for Pat and coffee for me. Tea was no problem but the lady said I would have to get my coffee from the machine?? I said I would have tea instead but then she offered to make me a cup of instant. Instant it was. So there you have it! A pre-loaded scone, a polystyrene cup of instant coffee and some plastic cutlery. Bet you wish you had been there! To be fair the ladies keeping this place going were doing their best and we quite enjoyed being able to sit for a while and watch the world go by outside.
The coffee and the scone weren’t actually that bad but Claridges, it most certainly was not! No topscone here. While these ladies were looking after us they were also dealing with a constant stream of customers buying from the bakery. It gave us a pretty good insight into how the hospitality industry and everyone in it is having to adapt to weird circumstances.
Santa?
Andy Burnham has not been pushed out yet but his campaign to get increased support for Greater Manchester has had some effect. Now that London has become ‘high risk’ as well, support has been increased for this level … typical! Here in Scotland the lockdown restrictions have been increased and won’t be relaxed unti November at the earliest. We are starting to worry about Santa! How will he cope with all these restrictions? What happens if he catches coronavirus. Has Boris got a contingency plan for this looming crisis?
The US Presidential election is also looming. As humble sconeys we are completely impartial and have no opinion one way or the other but please please don’t let it be Trump!
ps our Bathurst correspondent has been in touch to show us the excellent results of some homebaking and the effect of a sconefest on their friends. Looks like these were topscones!
Following a recent article in the Sydney Morning Herald he has also announced that he and fellow correspondent, the New South Welshman, are inspired by scones to take on a new 400km bike trail.
They won’t be doing it until next year but we are already anticipating some interesting Aussie scone reports. Good luck to both.
Here’s a question, how would we obtain a scone report from the Blue Wren Bush Cafe in Coonabarabran? The answer lies in the fact that we now have a new correspondent, a New South Welshman no less. He wrote to give us a little insight into how things are down under at the moment. Because of COVID restrictions, no one is allowed to travel across state borders and that’s going down like the proverbial lead balloon. He now thinks of himself, not as Australian but as a New South Welshman. He even says our politicians here in the UK might be worse than those in Australia. The only controversial thing about that statement is the word ‘might’!
We have never met but he’s a friend of our poetic Bathurst correspondent so that’s plenty good enough for us. All we can say is welcome to allaboutthescones. Without our antipodean correspondents we would all be completely ignorant of down under scones. And then, where would we be?
Anyway, for a break he took off in his “go anywhere” camper … anywhere in New South Wales, that is! He headed out west “in search of birds and scones” and ended up in the 5,000 km2Pilliga Forest (not so much a “forest” as us Brits would know it but more a vast area of scrubland) and that’s how he ended up here at the Blue Wren Bush Cafe. Described as being “in the middle of nowhere”, it’s also home to the Pilliga Pottery.
Splendid
It’s part of Barkala Farm which has been run by the same family for several generations. In the report, he mentions that he found pink cockatoos but no mention of blue wrens? Hardly surprising if they don’t actually exist! We had certainly never heard of a Blue Wren and assumed it was just a pretty name for a cafe. Not a bit of it. The Blue Wren does exist and it’s a rather gorgeous wee thing. It’s sometimes known as the Splendid Fairywren and we can easily see why. You live and learn!
Top notch
The cafe makes everything from ingredients sourced on the farm, or at least locally, and by all accounts, their scones are top notch. They certainly look that way from here but it’s a bit too far to make any kind of conclusive judgement. Maybe our newfound spirit of adventure will take us to these blue wren scones and maybe even to an actual blue wren. That would be great!
From The Blue Wren our correspondent went even deeper into the forest in search of more scones. Dedication or what?
ROSE ISLAND STATION
He ended up here at Rose Isle Station on the Darling River which he described as “very, very outback“. It’s a sheep station owned by Garry and Samantha Mooring who can turn their hand to just about anything. It could be making pizza ovens from old steam engines or baking fabulous scones. Apparently, “morning tea, baked by Samantha, in a rustic hut on the edge of the Darling is to die for“. It certainly sounds fabulous and New South Welshman even got instructions on how to make Samantha’s scones. See, it’s all in the detail!
Samantha’s traditional on the left and ‘Italian’ on the right
“Traditional scones; 3 cups SR flour, 1 1/2 cups milk,1cup cream, 1 tbsp icing sugar. Mix lightly with an old bone-handled knife, do not play with it. Cook in a hot oven. Add homemade nectarine jam, whipped cream (No dairy cows for 500kms, so not home sourced) Italian scones — add chopped olives, anchovies, grated tasty cheddar, sea salt, some tomato relish. Hot oven, add butter.
Sheds
Our correspondent says that it’s “Civilization in the Wild West” and states that once travel restrictions are lifted, it is definitely worth a trip from the Northern Hemisphere.
Garry’s homemade pizza oven made from an old steam engine made in the UK. Remember when we actually made things?
He might be right! As well as scones there seems to be a lot of potential for a book of Aussie sheds. Though I suspect some may take exception to their restaurants being called sheds. I’ve already been in trouble for mistaking a church on Fraser Island for a shed!
The news is full of dread about English schools going back next Tuesday and the infection problems it could cause. Scottish schools have been back for a couple of weeks and we’ve survived. Boris (Dominic Cummings) has taken advantage of the bruhaha to quietly announced that he is launching a review of judicial reviews. Ever since the Scottish courts declared his decision to prorogue Parliament as unlawful he has had it in for them. Peculiar that a government that trumpets transparency so much actually hates being scrutinised to the extent that it would seek to interfere with the independent legal system of a country. Or, knowing Boris as we do, is that actually surprising at all?
Filleting
On a slightly different tack, Pat asked me to fillet a trout the other day. It had been caught and donated by our favourite coffee correspondent. She was so impressed with the job I made of it she opted to make it into a fish pie. And delicious it was too … it’s all in the filleting. This morning I have been filleting plums for plum jam and believe I have made a slightly better job of them. At least, no raised eyebrows yet!
As parents all over this coronavirus world scream at their kids to stop going outside and get back on their iPads we bring you our fifth island scone repost. This time it’s from the Old Workshop Café on yet another wonderful island, Colonsay. As you will see our visit was in September 2015 at the height of the refugee crisis in Europe.
Considering that many of the smaller islands have very little or no choice, for a population of around 100, Colonsay is pretty well endowed with tearooms and eating places. There is the Pantry, the Colonsay Hotel and this place, the Old Workshop at Colonsay House in the middle of the island. It was built in 1935 to do boat repairs. Many of the original tools and other paraphernalia are still evident. The baking is done every morning by Katie and Sarah (after they have made the school dinners) and most of their cakes are done as large slabs to which you just help yourself. Just cut off as much as you like! Tempting to overindulge but I guess it works in their favour because most folk go for fairly modest portions. Especially if others are watching .. and they are! The chocolate fudge (bottom right in the pic) was yummy.
Tropical beaches
Anyway, enough of cakes, the scones were great as well … soft and light but with a slightly crunchy outer crust. The fabulous blackcurrant jam was made from berries picked in the gardens. The climate on Colonsay is very mild. The gardens are full of sub-tropical plants. Being able to sit outside on the little terraced area just finished off the whole experience. Later we ended up on the beach at Kiloran just a mile or so from the café. Pristine and beautiful but a sad reminder that there are bodies of children washing up on other beaches in the Mediterranean. If the EU, with all its money, cannot sort this horrendous mess out what is the point of it all?
Remember we said we had bought a ‘virtual’ Devonshire Tea from the Country Women’s Association of New South Walesbut were afraid we would not receive it because we had to enter our address as being in Australia. We got it! We know because our bank account has been debited $10! All we can say is that ‘virtual’ scones are really great for the waistline but totally lacking in substance. However, we promised we would share the CWA’s ‘famous’ scone recipe, so here it is:
We haven’t tried the recipe yet but if any readers want to beat us to it then feel free. Photos required, of course. You can still support the CWA here. Thanks again to our Mirrambeena correspondents for providing us with this opportunity.
COLONSAY SHED
In the suburbs of the capital of Colonsay, Scalasaig
The Artisan Café lies halfway between Crianlarich and Tyndrum in what used to be the Old Church. It could easily be described as being in the middle of nowhere and as a consequence, you could easily think that nothing much has ever happened here. However, you would be wrong!
The glen is Strathfillan, so-called because Fillan brought Christianity to the area in the 8th century from Iona. He had come from Ireland and had run a monastery in Fife before retiring to this area.
Dunking mad folk?
Apparently he was quite a guy. His left arm glowed which meant that he could write scriptures in the dark. He’s also the patron saint of the mentally ill. Such people would be dipped in St Fillan’s Pool in the Fillan river just behind the church and left tied up naked overnight. A cure had been achieved if the bonds were loosened by the morning. If not the process was repeated. He also persuaded the wolf that killed his ox to pull his plough instead of the ox. Where is St Fillan now, in our time of need? He would have made short work of a puny virus. And no, even after a prolonged period of self-isolation, we are not here to be dunked and tied up naked. Just a scone. We are not here at all, of course, all this was before the lockdown.
Having said that we could also be here to pan for gold. Considering the stock market has gone through the floor and the price of gold has rocketed, that’s not such a daft idea. The nearby Cononish gold mine is Scotland’s only commercial gold mine. In 1306, Robert the Bruce was given sanctuary here after he had murdered his rival for the crown, John Comyn, in a Dumfries church . He was tracked down, however, and had to flee when encountering vastly superior forces at nearby Dalrigh, the King’s Field. So, over time, quite a lot has happened in this tranquil little Highland glen but the most recent development has been this Artisan Café. It first opened about two years ago.
A view showing the original church organ to the right
Fresh food
The interior is as you would expect of a disused church. Lofty ceilings and plenty of space. There could easily be a mezzanine floor if they ever wanted to expand. It’s called the Artisan Café because it has lots of craft type things for sale, mostly by local artists. There’s stuff all over the place which tends to give it a slightly cluttered appearance. We were given a warm welcome though and shown to a seat beside the log burning stove. Everything is freshly made here on the premises so we were looking forward to sampling some of the food.
Pat’s carrot and coriander soup with cheese scone and my fruit scone
Pat opted for ‘soup and a scone’ which turned out to be absolutely delicious. I had decided on caulifower and brocolli soup with a sandwich followed by a fruit scone and coffee. It was also delicious. We have to hand it to folks who start up a business like this in these remote parts. Their business will have been closed for several weeks now because of the coronavirus which must be heartbreaking. They got a topscone though so hopefully we will be able to look in again at some future date and get another one.
Confidence in government?
As the date for the return to normality recedes ever further into the distance we have little choice but to knuckle down and get on with it. It doesn’t help though when this lamentable government resorts to outright misinformation. Yesterday, the even more lamentable Michael Gove tried to blame the lack of COVID-19 testing on a shortage of the necessary reagents. Something which the industry point bland denies. No shortage Michael, just a government asleep on the job.
Habit
Talking of sleep, strange things happen when you are in lockdown. Every night before bed I take the change from my pocket and place it on the bedside table. Every morning I lift it and put it back in my pocket. It’s a habit! I just noticed, however, that the total amount is £10.36 … two £5 notes, one 20p, one 10p, one 5p and one 1p. It’s been that for almost three weeks. Self-isolation is cheap if nothing else! So why do I still do it? Answers on a postcard.
ps: We are indebted to some of our Aussie correspondents (these ones are from Perth) who have sent this movie of a live scone review caught on camera. This is footage which we think David Attenborough would be proud of. Filmed by the intrepid Mairi in the Café Red at Ricardoes tomato & strawberry farm near Port Macquarie in New South Wales. Strange in that we were, very recently, at Lachlan Macquarie’s grave on the Isle of Mull.
Perth scone review
Elaine’s date and ginger scone definitely got the thumbs up. However, although an acknowledged expert on lamb chops and banana splits, John’s lack of experience with scones showed when his initially 10 out of 10 rating for his pumpkin scone was later downgraded to ‘rubbish’. Let that be a lesson. You can’t rush a scone tasting!
by Bill and Pat Paterson and is about finding good scones throughout the world, with a little bit of politics
When we started this blog all these years ago we never dreamt that we would be reporting on scones from a defunct silver mine called the Day Dream Mine. Obviously we’re not dreaming. Yes, of course, our itinerant Toowoomba correspondents are on the road again just wandering from scone to scone across the Australian outback. Here the scones can be quite far apart so are all the more welcome when they appear.
The colours of the area are very muted, red soil and grey foliage. 
The bonus after all that was when you reached the top – waiting was a mug of tea and freshly baked scone and “real” cream. Not sure that we would hurry back for that experience again, but you always meet interesting people in these places. On to Silverton from there – the frontier setting for such movies as Mad Max, Priscilla – Queen of the Desert, Razorback and the list goes on!”
