This is becoming a habit. Eating scones in orangeries that is! It’s not that long ago since we were at an orangery at Ham House in London and here we are at it again. Life can be hard. Today we were actually trying to track down Shapes auction house which had notified us of a move to Port Edgar from Edinburgh, when we came on this place. It’s in an excellent garden centre which we have known for many years. It started life in the walled garden of nearby Hopetoun House but twenty years ago moved a mile or so to its present site. And became known as the ‘New’ Hopetoun Garden Centre. On the way in you are greeted with this sign which makes you wish you had been here on Sept 5 1792, it must have been quite a day. It was a Wednesday!

Not to be confused with Sept 5 forty years earlier in 1752. Not only did nothing happen, it didn’t even exist. That year, in order for Britain to catch up with the rest of the world which used the Gregorian calendar (we know, it is hard to imagine Britain being out of step .. but just try), it was decreed that the day following Sept 2 would be Sept 14. Just like that, eleven days just vanished! You thought time travel was just a figment of the imagination but the entire population of Britain was actually doing it centuries ago!

Good mood

We digress. The Orangery is everything you would expect from a garden centre tearoom … spacious, bright and with a good range of food and drink on offer. It is self service but, even though it was busy, we were quickly attended to by some very friendly staff. Pat decided on our traditional choice of a fruit scone but I opted for cherry … hey, why not? Both scones came with loads of jam, butter and cream. They had really crunchy exteriors with soft middles which made them delicious but a bit difficult to manage. They tended to crumble very easily. We thoroughly enjoyed them though … topscone. Because service is usually a factor we don’t normally give topscone awards to self service establishments but the self service here was great. The sun was shining and we were in a good mood … well done The Orangery!

Pilgrimage

A little bit further along the road we came to Port Edgar near South Queensferry. The ‘Edgar’ bit comes from Edgar Aetheling, the brother of Queen Margaret of Scotland who set up the ferry crossing in the 11th century to help pilgrims on their way to St Andrews. It operated until 1964 when the road bridge was built.

Originally a naval base it is now a leisure marina. Visitors to Port Edgar are now treated to an excellent view of the new Queensferry Crossing … opened only a few months ago.

Costs

It is a magnificent feat of engineering and now, with Boris Johnston talking of a bridge across the English Channel, it is perhaps worth explaining some facts about this one. It was built by the SNP government on time and under budget. Obviously Carillion was not involved. It was opposed by all other political parties who promptly fell over themselves to take credit when it was completed. There was no funding from Westminster. Something to remember if the Channel Bridge ever gets the go ahead. Scotland will undoubtedly be saddled with 10% of the costs of HS2 and Crossrail for little or no benefit. Anyway, we did find the new premises of the auction house which was massive but shut. Not opening until the end of the month apparently. Heyho, we had thoroughly enjoyed our day!

EH52 6QZ    tel: 01506 834433         New Hopetoun Gardens

p.s. our Trossachs correspondents sent this picture. We thought they had been quiet recently. Maybe they just can’t get out .. or are just too busy building snowmen!