When Robert Louis Stevenson wrote “Treasure Island” he may have been thinking of the place we are in today. He certainly was when he wrote “Memoirs of an Islet” and the poem “A Good Boy”. We know this because his ill health meant he spent much of his childhood years in this small spa town. Later when he was living in Hyères in the South of France he wrote “I shall never forget the days at Bridge of Allan; they were one golden dream”. Yes, we are in Bridge of Allan, not to take the waters but rather the scones at the Westerton Arms.

Footballers

How times have changed! Seems odd nowadays to think that, in Victorian times, whole towns grew up around a spring. There was nothing particularly special about the water apart from the fact that it was clean; something we now simply take for granted. Wealthy Victorians would flock to these  towns for their health benefits. You can see echoes of this past everywhere in Bridge of Allan. Lots of green spaces and grand mansion houses that, nowadays, are largely the preserve of obscenely overpaid footballers. By the way, if you look to the left of the title picture, you can see the Paterson Memorial clock … nothing to do with us! The Paterson in question was a local doctor who served the local community for many years.

The Westerton Arms began life in 1831, almost twenty years before Stevenson was born. He, like us, may well have come here for a scone? Although almost 170 years old it is surprisingly fresh and modern inside and would appear to be undergoing still more refurbishment. The staff were very welcoming and soon had us kitted out with some excellent lunch.

Reasons to go to Samoa?

They brought our coffee while we waited for our scones and lo-and-behold it was our favourite from Henry’s Coffee Company. It doesn’t get much better than this so things were looking very promising.  Unfortunately, it didn’t continue. The scones (£2.95 each) were decidedly average and served with American jam and French butter … quelle dommage! The scone itself was a fairly lifeless affair. When we expressed our disappointment we were told that all the other cakes were made in their own kitchen but they didn’t know where the scones came from?? Maybe this is why Robert Louis Stevenson left Scotland and ended up in Samoa?

Holding your breath

The Pope, on his recent visit to Greece, has scolded almost all western leaders over their treatment of immigrants. Likewise Tony Blair has been scolding the same leaders over their handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Neither Tony or Francis have the power to do anything about anything so it’s easy for them to go off on one! Will their words  effect any change? Don’t hold your breath!