Tag Archives: Roman Camp Hotel

Potting Shed Revisited

2 February 2022 billpaterson1@me.com 3 Comments

The last time we were here in the Potting Shed was back in August 2020. Not that long ago really but somehow it seems longer. At that time we were the beneficiaries of the government’s ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ scheme designed to get people going back to restaurants after they thought the worst of the pandemic was over. You only had to pay 50% of your food bill and the government paid the other half. Very generous we thought until we realised where the other 50% came from …. us!

External view of the Roman Camp Hotel — Roman Camp Hotel from the Potting Shed

Anyway, here we are again and we still have the pandemic Who would have thought? The only difference now is that there are no discounts … boo!. Still, COVID doesn’t seem as bad now as back then so we should be thankful for that.

Back in 2020 this was a brand new venture set up by the Roman Camp Hotel. As you might expect, it’s situated in what used to be the old potting shed for the hotel’s walled garden. It has its own staff and kitchen though so is run pretty much independently. It’s a very pleasant place to grab a bite to eat and have a stroll round the beautiful grounds on the banks of the river Teith.

We knew from previous experience that when you order a scone here you get two … one fruit and one plain. They’re relatively small though so after a light lunch we ordered a scone so that we could have one each. They came complete with little glass jars of butter and jam and a large dollop of cream. They had just been baked so were delightfully fresh and at £3 great value for money and an easy topscone … yeah!

Fighting talk

The Roman Camp Hotel has always been painted pink. Not some girlie whim by the original owners but a sign to any Jacobite fleeing government forces that this was a safe house. Behind the wood panelling in the Library there’s a tiny hidden chapel where Catholics could worship away from prying eyes. And elsewhere, in a cupboard, lies the entrance to a secret tunnel from which those under attack could make good their escape. Bet Boris wishes he had one of these in Downing Street … or maybe he has?

Whatever, he certainly made it to Kiev yesterday. The scary thing about that is the fact that, right now, nobody would like a war more than Boris. He seems unable to dig himself out of the mire surrounding the Sue Gray Report so a war with Russia would be the perfect distraction. Prime Ministers are not usually deposed during wartime so a long war would be even better. Oh dear, is that too cynical?

FK17 8BG tel: 01877 330003 The Potting Shed

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Scones, Top

The Potting Shed

28 August 2020 billpaterson1@me.com 1 Comment

“On the Road Again” – Canned Heat 1968, you might remember it if you are of a certain age. We’re on the road again and the incentive this time is to take advantage of the government’s Eat Out to Help Out Scheme. For the month of August, you get a 50% discount when you eat in a registered restaurant at the beginning of the week. We had heard that the Roman Camp Hotel in Callander had opened a new venture in their garden called the Potting Shed and they were participating. The hotel is great but a wee bit on the posh side. The Potting Shed, as you might expect, promised to be slightly less formal. In fact, when we last stayed at the Roman Camp we had explored the grounds and the potting shed before breakfast one morning. At that time it was just an empty shed crying out for something to be done with it. We were keen to see how it was now.

Old boards

The Potting Shed itself is relatively small and painted in the same pink as the main hotel. A covered seating area at the front has been added to expand capacity and to better cope with COVID restrictions. We opted to sit inside. The decor is fairly basic, kind of shabby chic. Old painted recycled wooden boards covering the walls together with an eclectic range of old furniture. It all hangs together quite nicely. Our table was below a wonderful window that looked out onto the vegetable garden.

No self-respecting potting shed should be without this sort of adornment

Thankyou Boris

The young chap who was looking after us was extremely busy. Between inside and outside he’s bound to cover a good few miles in his working day. Nevertheless, he took care of all our needs and remained courteous and friendly throughout. For lunch, we had a starter and a main course each and then decided on a scone instead of pudding. They came as a brace, one plain, one fruit and accompanied by butter, jam and clotted cream. We were slightly disappointed with the plain one which was a little undercooked in the middle but the fruit one was perfect. Nice and warm, crunchy exterior and soft interior. Since Boris Johnson was paying for one of them we decided it was the plain one and therefore decided to concentrate on the one we were paying for and award it a topscone.

Illusions

So Boris’s legacy is assured. He will be remembered not only as being useless but perhaps primarily for half price scones. Of course, we don’t actually believe in fairy stories. We realise that the whole Eat Out to Help Out Scheme is really just an illusion. Boris isn’t going to pay for anything that isn’t tax-deductible and that we, as ordinary taxpayers, are indirectly paying for it all. Nevertheless, we had a fab lunch with at least one fab scone and our total bill came to a grand total of £21. Maybe fairies do exist? Will we be able to squeeze in another half price lunch before the scheme finishes on the 31st? And who knows, our newfound spirit of adventure may even take us round the corner to our local pub to celebrate Friday night. We haven’t done that since March.

Donald Trump certainly knows how to put on a show. However, perhaps the most memorable thing about the flag-waving performance at the Republican National Convention was that they were able to spell out his name in the sky with fireworks. How do they do that? Of course, he tried to paint Joe Biden as the bogey man of the world. At the risk of appearing ageist, the real scary thing is that America could only produce 78-year-old Joe to run against him!

FK17 8BG tel: 01877 332692 Potting Shed FB

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Scones, Top

Applejacks

12 September 2018 billpaterson1@me.com 4 Comments

Last time we were in the Perthshire town of Callander we were indulging ourselves at the Roman Camp Hotel. It is situated, would you believe it, on the site of a 1st century roman camp on the banks of the river Teith. It’s great, but definitely at the luxury end of the market. This time we were just here visiting an elderly relative. The town is oft’ referred to as ‘The Gateway To The Highlands‘ and certainly, when we were traveling north to Glen Coe every weekend in our youth, we never felt ‘away’ until we hit Callander.

In summer it is extremely busy so it is well endowed with cafés and restaurants to cater for throngs of tourists. We were attracted to Applejacks by the placard outside advertising our favourite coffee, the Cat’s Pyjamas from Henry’s Coffee Company. The café is a long narrow affair and we ended up going to the furthest point from the door where it seemed, for a moment, like we had gone too far. Nobody was speaking English. Indeed everyone was speaking very loudly in some indiscernible language. Not to worry our waitress was local and soon had us fixed up with a couple of scones. Pat chose plain and I went for apple and cinnamon. The café has a kind of trendy upbeat vibe and as well as great coffee they do a good range of savoury wraps and sandwiches.

Misdemeanours

Our scones were accompanied by pots of jam and clotted cream … all English, arrgghh! We have nothing against that, per se. However, tourists from England do not come all this way north to be served the same stuff they get at home. Since they say on their menu that they pride themselves on accessing local ingredients we pointed out this misdemeanour to the management. They took note! It had been a long time since an apple and cinnamon scone had graced my plate. This one served to reminded me of just how delicious they can be. Not made on the premises but, we were assured, made locally. Pat’s scone was good as well and provided a sweet counterpoint to the strong cup of Cat’s Pyjamas coffee. A winning combination … a topscone. Well done Applejacks!

Too and fro

In the 17th and 18th centuries Callander, like much of Scotland, was a hotbed of unrest. Almost all Scots vehemently opposed the Union in 1707 . To make matters even worse, deep rooted Jacobite sympathies abounded and Callander was no exception. The town’s location, however, made it an obvious choice for a military road. It would provide better access for the government’s armed forces in its aim to subdue the unruly Highlands.

Completed in 1743, ironically, the first army to use the new road was that of invaders. Bonnie Prince Charlie, moving south through Callander from Glenfinnan to Derby in the 1745 uprising. It must have been quite a sight as they passed by Ancaster Square where Applejacks is situated. A few months later of course, after the Battle of Falkirk in 1746, the flow was the other way as they headed back north where the disaster that was Culloden would eventually unfold.

Criticising the government

Over the following decade, with over 400 garrisons north of the border, Scotland would be comprehensively crushed. It became the colony it remains to this day. Also ironically, a few years later the town’s namesake, James Thomson Callendar published a book with the rather snappy title of “The Political Progress of Britain or an Impartial History of Abuses in the Government of the British Empire in Europe, Asia and America since the Revolution in 1688 to the present time, the whole tending to prove the ruinous consequences of the popular system of Taxation, War and Conquest.” For his criticisms of the then system of government, Callendar, accused of sedition, had been obliged to remove himself from Scotland and flee to America.

Foundations

Sounds like his book could well be pertinent even today. As our more fervent Brexiteers, the Goves and Rees Moggs, fantasise with their rose tinted glasses over the glory days of Empire it is perhaps worth remembering that the barbaric practices perfected in the ten years after Culloden formed the foundations of the Empire.

Customer distribution map of the world at Applejacks, Callander — a wall map showing the Applejacks empire of diverse customers

However this picturesque little town hides its more turbulent past rather well. And Applejacks is a great addition to its High Street.

FK17 8ED tel: 01877 330370 Applejacks FB

ps For some reason Pat laughed out loud at this notice in Applejacks.and some kind soul has knitted covers to keep the street bollards warm … magic, the world has not gone completely mad after all

Scones, history and a dollop of politics