Tag Archives: scones

John Lewis

15 September 2024 billpaterson1@me.com 3 Comments

As department stores go John Lewis is just a little bit different. It began back in 1864 with a small drapery shop in London’s Oxford Street and has prospered ever since. Okay, but what makes it different? Its full name is the John Lewis Partnership because all of its 74,000 staff are partners in the company and share in its success. Part of their mission statement states “Driven by our ambition to make the world a happier place by leading with kindness and delivering integrity“. The cynic might say “Well they would say that, wouldn’t they“

Well we were a bit cynical as well but then we experienced it first hand. We’ve given up looking for hydrangeas and now we are on the hunt for an armchair. John Lewis has a huge furniture department hence we’re here at their Glasgow store.

A slip of paper

However, In spite of an amazing range we couldn’t quite find what we were looking for. One of the staff tried very hard to help us but eventually he apologised and gave up. Asking if there was anything else he could help us with, we asked “the war in Ukraine?” He just smiled and took himself off. A bit later on, however, he caught up with us again and handed us a slip of paper. He felt bad that we hadn’t found a chair so this little piece of paper entitled us to free coffee and cakes in their cafe. How kind was that? For us, the world was indeed a happier place.

Baristas?

Suffice to say, this little piece of paper forced us to find their cafe and eat scones and drink coffee. Otherwise it would never have crossed our minds … honest! Previously we have reported on The Cafe by Benugo which is an independently run restaurant on the third floor. This time we were in their own self service cafe ‘The Place To Eat‘ on the first floor. Like the store the cafe is huge. There was a bit of a log jam around all three coffee serveries (it takes a long time to make a coffee these days) but eventually we had what we wanted and were able to find a table by a window.

View down Sauchiehall Street from our table — View from our table up Sauchiehall Street on a rainy day

They have a large sign saying “Please leave everything on your table, we will clear it up“. And they did! There must have been about sixty or seventy tables but as soon as anyone left, the table was cleared and cleaned. It was diffucult to choose between looking out the window at everything going on outside or just watch all the comings and goings in the cafe. Dilemas, dilemas! It was all really good. Nice little pots of clotted cream and jam and the scone iteself was wonderfully textured with just the right amount of crunch. A topscone had it not been for the self-service nature of the place.

A happy place?

We were impressed, this place does do it’s best to make the world a happier place. Of course, there’s only so much they can do. Our young chap didn’t have any answers for Ukraine but then, no-one else does either. It’s impossible to see how either side can win. And now, with long range missiles in the mix, it seems to be in danger of escalating in to goodness knows what. In the Middle East, with the might of the US behind them, Israel cannot help but win the war … but they will never know peace. No winners, only unhappy losers. With their expertise in kindness and making things ‘happy’ perhaps a John Lewis management team could provide a few pointers?

G1 2GF tel: 0141 353 6677 John Lewis Partnership

///upper.clips.tides

Ordinary, Scones

The Glen Café

8 September 2024 billpaterson1@me.com 3 Comments

In our previous post from Simply Sarah’s in Doune we mentioned that the village was famous for making pistols. The sort of weapon used by gentlemen who felt their reputation had been besmirched. Besmirching was usually done by gentlemen to one another and dueling was seen as an honourable way of resolving such situations. Common people couldn’t duel; a) they couldn’t afford a decent pistol and b) it would be unseemly for a gentleman to be shot dead by someone of lower social standing … perish the thought!

Quick draw

Today we are at the Glen Café in the little hamlet of Clachan of Campsie. Just a few yards from the cafe stand two ancient Spanish chestnuts, “the duelling trees”. They mark the site of a duel between a Tory and a Liberal politician in the 1600s. The Liberal chap, Malcolm Kincaid, lost the duel … and his life. The victor may have retired here (it used to be an Inn) for refreshment and to enjoy the congratulations of his admirers. When you think of the endless inconsequential arguments between politicians these days, dueling seems to take on some merit. Can you imagine the quick draw contests between our current world leaders? The problem is that self evidently all that duelling in the past didn’t actually solve anything. They’re all still arguing.

Do we need a dog?

This morning the weatherman said “go west if you want sunshine” so we did. Falkirk was decidedly cloudy when we left but by the time we got here we were bathed in glorious sunshine. Well done that weatherman! The café is quite big and virtually joined on to the historic St Machan’s graveyard. It’s a favourite place for people to access the paths onto the Campsie Fells and perhaps unsurprisingly is very dog friendly. In fact there were so many, at first we thought it might be a prerequisite to have a dog but luckily, it wasn’t.

It was still early so we decided on a light breakfast followed by a scone to share. Our coffees arrived first and we were delighted to find that they used our favourite coffee … Henry’s, fantastic! This is the way to start the day! Helpfully the staff had said that they would hold our scone until we had finished our breakfast. Then, when we were ready, they asked if we would like the scone warmed. Why not? No cream but they came with plenty butter and jam. Unfortunately none of it was locally produced, not even from Scotland. A bit of a black mark there. On the plus side the scone itself were really nice.

Who was St Machan?

We really enjoyed this place with its friendly service and beautiful location. We decided to visit St Machan’s graveyard next door and asked one the ladies behind the counter who he was. “Who?” was the puzzled answer. We would have to find out for ourselves.

Turns out not much is known about him. Firstly he was a Scottish 6th century bishop, educated in Ireland, ordained in Rome and spent the rest of his life as a missionary here in Campsie Glen. Secondly, how did he do all that back then without Easyjet or Ryanair? The chapel in the graveyard was built over his grave.

Luxury mausoleums

The Lennox mausoleum was built in 1715 by the powerful family who lived at nearby Lennox Castle.

In 1819 Miss Lennox had it restored and added another storey with a fireplace. She used it as a “sitting room” to receive guests between services. She, in turn, was buried here in 1832 and in 1884 it was sealed up permanently using ancient Kincaid tombstones from the graveyard. And we thought one of them might have belonged to our old duelling loser, Malcolm, but apparently not. It is fascinating to read the inscriptions on some of these graves. They shed light on what life was like centuries ago. However, some were unashamedly looking for an easy passage into heaven. Quite blatantly bragging about how saintly they had been during their time in Campsie Glen.

Other mysteries

Sadly, besmirching seems be a thing of the past. Perhaps there aren’t enough honourable gentlemen around these days? Vulgar insults and “see you in court” seems to have replaced it.

This was a beautiful day. We returned home via the Carron Valley, which supplies all the water to Falkirk. Seldom do we think, when turning on the tap or taking a bath, that this is where it all comes from. How does that work? It’s almost as mysterious as St Machan’s travels all those centuries ago.

G66 7AB tel: 01360 238258 The Glen Café FB

///year.earmarked.piglet

Ordinary, Scones

Simply Sarah’s

2 September 2024 billpaterson1@me.com 7 Comments

Today we are in Doune at Simply Sarah’s tiny café. Usually when we are here we go to the Buttercup Café on the other side of the road. However, we didn’t come to Doune intent on visiting Simply Sarah’s, no no no, we came in search of a hydrangea. We need one to match another we already have in the garden. Pat suggested that we look for one here because there’s a teeny wee place that sells plants behind the Buttercup café. Coincidentally there just happens to be two of her favourite clothes shops here as well. The fact that we had to drive past several mega garden centres to get here didn’t make me in the least suspicious!?

Trevor Davis

Although you might not think so this little village is famous for making guns, pistols to be exact. The demise of highway robbery and gentlemen throwing down the gauntlet, of course, led to a drastic drop in demand. Now the village is just a nice place to live … and it has a couple of nice clothes shops. Doune Castle is a big attraction but in spite of the fact that many famous people have stayed there you would never know. They don’t do blue plaques here. That’s not to say that they don’t do any plaques. This one just outside Sarah’s is to Trevor Davis. A local hero and fount of all knowledge by the sounds of it!

Anyway, surprise surprise, there weren’t any hydrangeas for sale at the little plant stall. Did I mention that two of Pat’s favourite clothes shops are here? There was nothing else for it but to visit one of them, Doune Chic. They didn’t have any hydrangeas either but the did have lots of clothes. Suffice to say they don’t have as many as they had before we arrived. It was when we were on our way to second clothes shop (to see if they had any hydrangeas) that we visited Simply Sarah’s.

It’s very small, only two tables. Everything is home made by Sarah so we were keen to try their scones. No cream but we were asked if we would like butter and jam with the scone. However, we hadn’t expected them to preload them … argh! As you know, we like to do that ourselves. There was certainly no skimping on the jam. It would have to be a fork and knife job to avoid very sticky fingers. The scone was delicious and in other circumstances could have been a topscone.

This is a great wee place and very busy. Lots of chat so, in the absence of Trevor Davis, probably the place to find out what’s happening in the village. We left to go to the clothes shop next door, Woodlane of Doune. No hydrangeas but lots of other stuff.

It’s interesting to speculate on what pearls of wisdom Trevor would be dispensing these days while helping folks cross the road. We suspect that he would be so disgusted with the state of the world that he might mutter nothing more than “look left, look right”. Trevor would have known where to get a hydrangea. We miss you Trevor!

FK16 6BY tel: 01786 842304 Simply Sarah’s

///desktop.ironic.shadows

Scones, Top

Kirkhouse Inn

26 August 2024 billpaterson1@me.com 7 Comments

After our previous post from Coffista in Leven we’ve gone west to Strathblane in the foothills of the Campsie Fells. However, if we had wanted to be here when the Kirkhouse Inn first opened its doors to guests we’d have been over four hundred years too late. Yes, this place opened in 1601 as a “tavern with stables” and has been welcoming people like us ever since. Back then, Elizabeth I was on the English throne and James VI was King of Scotland. As far as we know neither ever stayed here, however, this Inn was the scene of secret correspondence between the two monarchs which eventually led to the Union of the Crowns in 1603. So it’s all their fault.

View from the Campsie Fells — From high on the Campsie Fells, Strahblane’s Kirkhouse Inn is down there somewhere.

Just north of Glasgow, as a “tavern with stables” the Kirkhouse Inn was presumably a place for travellers to stop overnight and rest their horses. We were doing the same though for us it would be more of a “tavern with car park”. Nowadays it’s a hub for walkers doing the West Highland Way and the John Muir Way. They both pass nearby. The Campsie Fells form an impressive background to the hotel and on a gorgeous day, we had a beautiful drive through them to get here. An overnight stay and an afternoon tea was what we were looking for!

It was good to see that the service seemed to be provided by mostly young local lads. In our experience, usually due to poor training, this can sometimes be problematic. But not here, it was excellent. First they brought a plate of delicious savoury sandwiches. When they were finished three tiers of sweet things appeared and everything explained in detail. Lemon possets and macaroons on top. Meringues and chocolate dipped strawberries in the middle with scones and French fancies on the bottom. Unusually there was only one scone each. A good thing in our opinion. Normally you get two but inevitably, because you’ve just had a feast of sandwiches, you end up leaving one of them. The scones came with perfect little dishes of jam and cream and were just the way we like them. The right size, crunchy exterior with a soft fluffy centre … topscone.

Monarch of the glen at the Kirkhouse Inn — Another monarch, this one of the Glen

In 1601 the British East India Company was just starting its plunder of India leading to almost a century of disastrous British rule. Regrettable perhaps but where would we be without curry? It doesn’t bear thinking about! Ironically perhaps, the young Sagar Massey, raised in Delhi, has launched his fine dining restaurant “Sanja” at the Kirkhouse Inn.

Picture in our room at the Kirkhouse Inn — The Chief Returning From Deer Stalking … another picture at the Kirkhouse Inn

It would be nice to think that we have progressed a wee bit since 1601, however, we have our doubts. As usual, land seems be the problem. Ukraine’s incursion into Russia is welcome but guaranteed to get right up mad Vlad’s nose. Israel’s murder of 40,000 people because a couple of thousand years ago some guy in the sky said the land belonged to them is beyond reason. In 1601 the area around the Kirkhouse Inn had to deal with MacGregor bandits running off with their cattle under cover of darkness, In comparison with today’s problems it sounds positively romantic!

G63 9AA tel: 01360 771711 Kirkhouse Inn

///snail.uttering.kiosk

Ordinary, Scones

Coffista

17 August 2024 billpaterson1@me.com 5 Comments

Today is a day of firsts. Certainly the first time we have been in this place, Coffista in the Fife seaside town of Leven. We got here by travelling on the brand spam=nking new, Levenmouth railway. Closed in 1969 but reopened just two months ago. It was a miserable wet day so what else would we do but take a train trip? And if we made it to Leven by train that would be another first.

Good advice

Actually the day started with yet another first. It happened when the two of us went to our local station and asked for return tickets to Leven. The girl said a Falkirk/Leven return ticket would be a few pence short of £40. However, she said she could give us Falkirk/Edinburgh tickets then separate Edinburgh/Leven tickets for a total of £33. We don’t understand either but it was the first time we had been offered this sort of advice … great! You end up with a bundle of tickets but a saving of £7 could pay for our scones.

And here’s another first. Although the Forth Rail Bridge has been there all our lives, we had never actually been over it. Sailed under it, flown over it but never over it on a train. The Edinburgh/Leven part of our journey would sort that.

Regal Princess at the Forth Bridge — As we rumbled over the Forth Rail Bridge the Regal Princess cruise liner was on its way from Orkney to Le Havre. The other two Forth road bridges are reflected in the window

It has to be said that this new Levenmouth railway only adds a further two stations after Kirkaldy – Cameron Bridge and Leven itself. Not much you might think but it’s almost unheard of for any new stations to be added to the network so we regard it as fairly momentous. Also momentous for this part of Fife which was regarded as a deprived area. People can now live in Leven and easily commute in and out of Edinburgh. Even after just two months of its existence, there are new housing developments being built as a result of the railway.

Spirits

We should mention the village of Cameron Bridge, home to the biggest disillery in Europe. It makes Archers, Pimms,, Gordon’s and Tanquery gin as well as Smirnoff vodka. It also helps make Johnnie Walker, J&B, Bell’s, Black & White, VAT69 and White Horse whiskies. It’s on an industrial scale. and looks more like an oil refinery than a traditional distillery.

Leven, a town once famous for weaving, is in the Parish of Scoonie, Might this be an omen for our scone at Coffista? Considering “scoonie” means in Pictish, “place of the lump-like hill” perhaps not. The cafe has only been going for a few months and is run by a very enthusiastic lady who bakes everything in-house. She even makes all the jams! It had been raining but as soon as we entered the heavens opened. It was biblical! We were extremely lucky to have just stepped inside. A warm welcome and then promptly being asked if we would like cream and jam with our scones looked like the good Parish of Scoonie might actually deliver. By the time we took our seats however, we were informed that there wasn’t any cream. Would we like butter instead?

Entertaining

it was entertaining just being here … there was lots of chat. One old chap, obviously a regular, insisted on telling jokes to anyone prepared to listen. Slightly obscure jokes seemed to be a speciality but thankfully, at least he found them funny. Another elderly group were debating the life of batteries and how they don’t last as long as they used to. Maybe batteries become more important as you get older?

The owner was very proud of her steam oven and insisted on telling us all about it. Fairly technical stuff so we didn’t understand much of what she said. However, the scones did taste a little bit like they had been baked in such a device. Perfectly acceptable but maybe just a little bit “damp”? The £7 we saved on our rail tickets didn’t quite cover everything but it wasn’t far off. An enjoyable visit for all sorts of reasons but eventually it was time to brave the elements again.

Shelter

Because of the weather we decided against going to the beach. We would just take the next train back home, however, we arrivaed at the station just in time to see it leave without us … aargh! . An hour to wait for the next one so, considering the weather we made a dash for the nearest pub. Turned out to be one of these trendy steakhouse cocktail bars that specialises in BBQs. In spite of being just a few miles from the biggest distillery in Europe they only had only one British whisky and no British beers. Presumably it mustn’t be’ trendy’ to drink British? It was Expresso Martini for Pat and ‘the’ whisky for me. What is the world coming to?

Seashell decorated wall in Leven — A seashell decorated wall in Leven

In our recent post from the Orient Express we travelled on the Edinburgh tram system for the first time. We’re getting good at these travel firsts. Just build a railway or a tram system and, if there’s a scone at the end of it, we’ll be there!

painting of a Highland cow — A picture in the pub

Bollards

What with Gaza, Ukraine, India, UK, Sudan, and the US world politics is just too depressing so here’s something a little different. Recently we had a visitor who announced he was going to Edinburgh to find “the bollard”. We had no idea what was talking about but he said he only knew about it through allaboutthe scones.com. Turned out it was the Edinburgh Press Club post to which he was referring. The bollard in question marks the centre of the city from which everything is measured. As bollards go it might even be termed a topbollard? Extraordinary, some people are interested in things other than scones!

KY8 4FG tel: 07415 759832 Coffista

///stencil.drawn.coaching

Scones, Uncategorized

Laggan a’ Bhainne

10 August 2024 billpaterson1@me.com 17 Comments

After our previous post from the Orient Express you might not be unduly surprised to hear that this post comes from Laggan a Bhainne (pronounced ‘Lagan a vanya’) in the wilds of the Scottish Highlands. It’s an indulgence on our part because it’s really about our family and its origins. The justification is that many of our readers across the world know our family to a greater or lesser degree and maybe curious to learn more. For those who don’t know the family there is a scone but one that is just a bit different. For those a bit short on the Gaelic language “laggan” means a little hollow in the hills and “bhainne”, means milk. “little dell of milk” in English.

Uncle Johnny with his fog bosun — Uncle Johnny, known locally as Johnny Kyltra spend his entire working life as a deer stalker on Culachy Estate on the side of Loch Ness. He maintained that he saw the Monster. He was also fond of a dram or two … or three.

Drovers

We (the entire family) were tracing the origins of our “Uncle Johnny” McDonald on my mother’s side. He was the last “man” born on the high Corrieyairack Pass. It rises to over 2,500 feet and Laggan a Bhainne is about half way up. Donald McDonald, lived here with his wife Catherine and their family of which Johnny was one. Donald was a shepherd and part of his duties involved ensuring that the drovers taking their cattle over the pass to the sales in Falkirk, didn’t linger too long and eat all the grass. Not an easy job.

After the Jacobite uprising in 1745, General Wade built a military road over it. It linked garrisons in an effort to quell further unrest. Around 1890 the Estate changed from sheep to the more profitable deer stalking. The family whose services were no longer required had to move down to the village of Fort Augustus.

VIPs

He lived for most of his working life at Kyltra on the outskirts of the village with Mary his housekeeper. The house had no water or electricity and it still doesn’t even today. Pat and I had the pleasure of visiting and were treated to boiled eggs … a meal reserved for VIP visitors.

Kids in a truck — A 4×4 full of excited French, English and Scottish cousins

Getting our family up to Laggan a Bhainne was no mean feat but thanks to my brother’s remarkable ability to herd cats. it worked.

Convoy of 4x4s on way to Laggan a bhainne — Convoy of 4x4s with Loch Ness in the distance

It involved a 46 seater bus from Falkirk plus a fleet of all terrain vehicles to take us six miles up the Corrieyarrick. It was exciting to be travelling a route that our ancestors must have travelled on foot on many occasions. Because Laggan a Bhainne was very fertile it was used in the summer by the villagers of Fort Augustus who would bring their cattle up here in the summer. They would live in temporary houses made of turf. Our ancestors had a stone house because they lived here all year. It would have been a happy place though in the winter it must have been tough.

Piper and family at Laggan a bhainne — Some of the family standing where the house used to be and listening to the emotive tunes of Spud the Piper

When they eventually moved out the Estate flattened the house to stop it being used by poachers. There are only a few stones left lying in the grass to mark the spot .

The sky

Johnny was a well know character and piper. A journalist once asked him how he felt about having to move down to the valley. Johnny turned towards the hills and said “as long as I can still see the sky over Laggan a Bhainne“.

Family at ancestral home — Me, my sister who came over from France with her family and my brother, wearing Johnny’s kilt standing in our ancestral home

The Somme

Johnny with his pipes outside Kyltra cottage — Johnny playing outside his home at Kyltra

Johnny’s McDonald tartan kilt has a few holes. We like to think they were caused by German bullets whizzing through while he stood there defiantly playing the pipes at the Somme. Moths, however, is another possible explanation.

What about the scones? Well for this post they are imaginary. Had we been here 150 years ago, our great grandmother would have been feeding us scones with homemade cream and jam. We imagine them to be topscones.

The bath

Aged 90 he was admitted to Raigmore Hospital in Inverness. A friend visiting him asked him how he was. He replied “they’ve given me a bath, I think it’ll be the end of me“. And so it was, he developed pneumonia and died there in 1972. I attended his funeral.

Commemorative plaque at Laggan a bhainne — We left a plaque at the site to indicate to others that people used to live here.

When you are here at Laggan a Bhainne the fact that someone beat someone else by seven thousands of a second at the Paris Olympics seems supremely unimportant.

A fantastic day, thanks to all at Culachy Estate for facilitating our visit.

///reveal.glows.dreaming

ps; The river that runs through Laggan a Bhainne is the Allt a Bhainne … the river of milk. We have a rare bottle of Allt a Bhainne whisky. Only those who have actually been to Laggan a Bhainne qualify for a dram. Now there’s a challenge!

Scones, Top

Orient Express

3 August 2024 billpaterson1@me.com 12 Comments

After our previous post from Café Sunart in the wilds of Scotaland’s west coast Pat said that she was looking forward to our next trip. Little did she know it was to be on the Orient Express. Today we are travelling from Venice to Paris in the grandeur and splendour of this magnificent train. On the way we pass through Verona before crossing over the Brenner Pass to Austria. Then on to Zurich before reaching Paris for the Olympics. All the while drinking champagne and being entertained by a chap playing the music of bored piano players in restaurants the world over. If you would like to get a sense of the journey in the western part of Italy just click here Orient Express 15 480

Okay, okay, you’ve probably guessed by now that this is too silly even for us. We’re actually in a restaurant in Edinburgh that serves afternoon tea and tries to replicate the Orient Express experience. They make a very good job of it!

Contrasts

It was back in 1883 that the first train left Paris on a seven day trip to Constantinople with just forty passengers. It’s a journey I’ve done in reverse. In 1970 I had hitchhiked Falkirk to Istanbul over nine days. The return trip was by train. However, that experience was about as far away as it’s possible to get from this. There wasn’t even a buffet car, I had to rely on the generosity of my Turkish travelling companions who knew the ropes and had food and drink with them.

No such problems here. First we had to select our sandwiches from the sandwich menu and our champagne was served with a piece of strawberry delicately balanced on the rim of the glass. A three tier plate appeared with the sandwiches we had selected on the bottom, hot pastries in the middle and cakes on top. It was all delicious. As we watched the vineyards slip by on the approach to Verona we were asked how we would like our scones … plain, fruit or cherry. We both opted for fruit. There was a tea menu and coffee on offer. We were almost in Milan when they asked if they could begin preparing our scones. This is how it should be done!

Disembarkation

Our scone was accompanied with clotted cream, strawberry jam and bergamot curd. The bergamot curd was unusual … very tangy but delicious. Bergamot is supposed you help you relax … hardly necessary here. The scone wasn’t crunchy on the outside but was still fantastic. Eventually we had to disembark in Innsbruck because we had to get back for a BBQ in Falkirk courtesy of the Scotrail Express. The whole experience only cost us £25 each; great value and highly recommended!

Andy Murray has lost his doubles match at the Olympics and announced his retirement. We feel a sense of relief, pretty much the same as when Biden announced his. The modern Olympics is full of sports you only hear of at the Olympics … “race walking” and “quadruple skulls”, “BMX freestyle”, “surfing shortboard”, “golf”. Okay, we put that last one in just for badness but they all sound equally daft and a bit tiring! We’re fine where we are.

Queen Charlotte

This restaurant is in Queen Charlotte street. Queen Charlotte was born in Germany in 1744 and became queen of Great Britain and Ireland in 1761. She had fifteen children (two of them future monarchs) but that is not what she should be remembered for. No, she seems to have been responsible for the introduction of the Christmas tree. The first was at a children’s party at Windsor in 1800 … and we’ve all been mindlessly mimicking it ever since. What are we like?

EH6 7EX Tel: 0131 555 6660 Orient Express

///fishery.object.people

Ordinary, Scones

Café Sunart

31 July 2024 billpaterson1@me.com 2 Comments

Okay, somewhat belatedly, this is the final chapter of our little Ardnamurchan adventure. Reluctantly dragging ourselves away from Mingary Castle pampering, we are heading back to the Corran ferry that brought us to Ardnamurchan. Although It’s part of the mainland it feels very like an island. The ferries probably have something to do with it. But the general isolation of the place makes it feel quite islandish.

Education

Anyway, just in case readers think that the educational aspect of this blog is solely dedicated to scones, let us purge any such dastardly thoughts with this little snippet from Café Sunart in the village of Strontian, population approximately 300.

The chemical element No 38 on the periodic table (a new species of earth) was discovered in a mine here in 1790. It was named after the village where it was found. Among other uses, strontium atoms are used in the world’s most accurate atomic clock; “accurate to one second in 200 million years“. Who is going to be around to check? Anyway, who says this blog isn’t educational?

Dancing

However, rather than chemical elements, we prefer to think of the village hall. Many years ago it was the scene of one of the best ceilidhs we have ever had the pleasure of attending. Eightsome reels and Strip the Willows galore. We wouldn’t have anything like the required energy these days.

All very well, we hear you say, but what about the scones? Unfortunately, they were nothing to write home about. The service was friendly enough but the place had a slightly utilitarian ambience about it. Compared to the other scones on our trip this was the most forgettable. However, the village is very pretty and it was nice to be back again.

Shortly after leaving Strontian we were back at the Corran ferry and sadly leaving the Ardnamurchan peninsula on our way home. We have had an amazing time.

Water of life

In the Olympics in Paris, the triathlon may be demoted to a duathalon. The river Seine is too polluted for swimming. Surely a damming comment on the profligate way in which we live these days. At the Ardnamurchan distillery the water is so pure they can magic whisky out of it. Pat even bought me a bottle of the Ardnamurchan Midge as a reminder of our trip … yeah!

PH36 4HZ tel: 01967 402277 Café Sunart

///bucks.imagined.currently

Scones, Top

Mingary Castle

24 July 2024 billpaterson1@me.com 8 Comments

After having all cobwebs unceremoniously removed at Arnamurchan Lighthouse we retraced our route back to Kilchoan and Mingary Castle. Returning on the same road (the only road) we felt the sheep looked even more indignant.

External view of Mingary Castle — Built in the 13th century as a MacDonald stronghold, Mingarry Castle, with its nine foot thick walls looks difficult to get into. That was the whole idea. One ship from the Spanish Armada laid siege to it for several days before giving up.

First impressions of Mingary can be slightly off putting. There doesn’t seem to be any windows and you have to walk round to the western end to find a small door. Once through the door, however, you come in to an inner courtyard and everything changes.

Internal courtyard at Mingary Castle — The inner courtyard

How do they do it?

Sheltered from the wind it is warm and cosy in the summer sunshine. We were staying over in the MacDonald suite which ranged over two floors under the roof to the left of the above picture. This place is almost impossibly remote yet recently it has been showered with awards … AA Hotel of the Year, and chef/owner Colin Nicholson, Chef of the Year. Incredible!

We had to be careful. Dinner in the evening meant that we had to have our afternoon tea early enough not to spoil our appetite. These are the problems with which sconeys like us have to wrestle. The young girl looking after us (she had a university degree in Gaelic) was fantastic. Firstly she brought us a delicious variety of sandwiches and later presented us with three tiers of goodies. Savouries on top, sweet things in the middle and fruit and plain scones on the bottom layer. All the while keeping us continuously supplied with fresh hot tea. What about the scones? You can probably guess by now that they were absolutely perfect. Just the way we like them. Accordingly, an easy topscone and another serious competitor for Fonab Castle’s title of “best scone in the world”.

Battlements at Mingary Castle — View from the battlements towards the Sound of Mull

The media

You do feel remote here and far away from the travails of the modern world. It’s an extraordinary place. Reluctantly we looked at the news and discovered that the wall to wall coverage of Kamala Harris had been replaced by news of Janet Jackson’s upcoming tour. How fickle is the media? Which is more exciting … Kamala or Janet?

Tomorrow we head back home via the Corran ferry that brought us here. That will complete a little circular tour of this fantastic part of Scotland.

PH36 4LH tel: 01972 614380 Mingary Castle

///isolating.reconnect.liberated

Ordinary, Scones, self-service

Ardnamurchan lighthouse

22 July 2024 billpaterson1@me.com 1 Comment

Someone said “Go west young man” so that’s what we are doing today. Ignoring the “young” bit, we are heading as far west as it’s possible to go on the UK mainland. It is, of course, Ardnamurchan and the most westerly point there is at Ardnamurchan lighthouse. This is as close to America as it’s possible to get on the British mainland. So we feel obliged to interrupt this post with the news that Joe Biden has bowed to the inevitable and pulled out of the Presidential race.

Plonker

We have listened to the endless speculation about what happens next but, for us, the most noteworthy thing about the whole situation is Trump’s comments about Biden. Only a complete plonker could be soooo ungracious. It’s beyond comprehension that a country like the US could only find Biden and Trump as Presidential candidates … unbelievable! It will be interesting to see what happens now, not that anyone cares much in Ardnamurchan.

Not as interesting, however, as this post. Today we are taking the ferry from Tobermory to Kilchoan. We joined the queue for the 9.30 and guess what, when it was our turn it was full. We couldn’t get on. The only consolation being that we were car no1 for the next one at 11 o’clock.

The ferry at Tobermory — First ferry was full of cars and the second one looked like it might fill up with foot passengers

After a walk around the town we returned only to find a horde of foot passengers. The boat was so full of passengers it looked as if there might not be enough room for cars. And you think America has problems! It all got sorted, of course, and we were on our way at last. Turned out that all the cheery passengers were going to the annual Highland Games at Kilchoan.

Oil painting of Ardnamurchan lighthouse — A dramatic painting by G Scott Grier of the lighthouse

We disembarked and headed off across more miles of single track roads … the sheep seemed no less indignant. You go until you can go no further; you are at the end of the road and at the lighthouse. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was very windy with gusts that stopped you in your tracks.

The fog horn at Ardnamurchan lighthouse — Pat at the fog horn, desperately clinging on to avoid being blown off to America.

Surprise

To our surprise there was a visitor centre which sold all sorts of memorabilia … and a cafe with scones!

Being in out of the wind was a huge relief although Pat seemed to actually enjoy the wind more than she should … she found it invigorating.

Manners

Nevertheless, cobweb free we ordered a scone from a chap who was cheerfully manning the centre single handedly. This used to be a stable block. Lovely stone walls and cobbled flooring. It also has an outside seating area however today our scone along with everything else would have disappeared immediately in the wind. Maybe our scone could have nlown over and hit Trump on the head and knocked some manners into him. Having said that our scone was lovely and light so that probably wouldn’t have worked.

Our visit here was really enjoyable. The climb to the top of the lighthouse involves 152 steps and two ladders. We thought about it for at least a nanosecond, the scone was quite enough for us.

PH36 4LN tel: 01972 510210 Ardnamurchan Lighthouse

///depths.perusing.gossip

ps: on our away to the lighthouse we came across one of these little honesty shops. Just leave the money for whatever you took. There was even a little bowl of money so that you could take your change … wonderful!

A slip of paper

Baristas?

A happy place?

Quick draw

Do we need a dog?

Who was St Machan?

Luxury mausoleums

Other mysteries

Trevor Davis

Good advice

Spirits

Entertaining

Shelter

Bollards

Drovers

VIPs

The sky

The Somme

The bath

Contrasts

Disembarkation

Queen Charlotte

Education

Dancing

Water of life

How do they do it?

The media

Plonker

Surprise

Manners

by Bill and Pat Paterson and is about finding good scones throughout the world, with a little bit of politics