Tag Archives: Scotland Bill

island, Ordinary

Atlantic Islands Centre – Again

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This repost from the Atlantic Islands Centre is from way back in 2015. We spent almost a week on this tiny island (6×1.5miles) which now makes us wonder what we did for all that time? Can’t remember but we do remember having a great time. For example, one evening we set off walking round the coast to the town of Port Mary in the NW of the island. We searched and searched but, apart from lots of slate workings there was no trace of the town we thought we had seen on the map. Apparently, it’s just the name of a bay! Took a whole evening to find that out though so you get the idea of how we can easily fritter away a week.

The Isle of Luing (pronounced Ling) is not one we have ever been on before. We were not only excited to be visiting but also to find that in the capital, Cullipool, there was the Atlantic Islands Centre .. with a café. When we got there it had only been open a couple of weeks but was already proving to be a major hit with both A scone at the Atlantic islands Centre, Isle of Luingislanders and visitors. Having been many years in the planning and construction it now provides a community based cultural centre for the island with loads of local history and genealogy information. Most importantly, of course, it has the only café/ restaurant on the island. Prior to this, going out for a coffee would have involved a ferry trip so it is not difficult to understand why it is popular.

Out of the way

There are two main population centres on the island, Cullipool and Toberonochy. Together they account for 90% of the population of about 200. There are no street names the houses are just numbered e.g. 17 Cullipool, and so on. As always in these ‘out of the way’ places the staff were extremely helpful and friendly. On our first visit we were served by a lovely girl on a two week holiday from Poland visiting relatives.

Downtown Toberonochy
The village green, Toberonochy
Hardy beasts

We were impressed that she could come over to somewhere like Luing and end up with a job. Especially when everyone on the island seems to have at least three or four jobs. Okay, like most of the jobs in the restaurant, it was on a voluntary basis, but admirable nevertheless. Unfortunately, our scones were not so admirable .. seemed like they had been deep-frozen or something. Despite this, it is a great place.  We have no doubt that it will develop into a fantastic resource for the island. Portrait of a Luing cow

The island is probably best known for its now-defunct slate mining industry. However, it is also the place where Luing cattle were first developed by the Cadzow family in 1947. A cross between Beef Shorthorn and Highland cattle. These hardy beasts and are now found all over the world in areas where the climate, like Scotland’s, can be less than balmy.

EVEL

The climate in Parliament today may be less than balmy as MPs discuss EVEL (English Votes for English Laws). Earlier this week the Scotland Bill was agreed by 58 of Scotland’s 59 MPs but failed. It was voted down by English MPs .. almost enough to make you choke on your scone.

Evening view from Cullipool
Evening view from Cullipool

PA34 4TX        tel: 01852 314096     www.atlanticislandscentre.com

As Boris congratulates his government over its handling of the coronavirus crisis it is perhaps worth remembering that the two wealthy western countries with the worst problems of social inequality and deprivation – the US and the UK, have accounted for more than half the global COVID-19 deaths to date. Just saying!

Mask or not?

The debate around the wearing of face masks rages on. It’s a bit of nostalgia for us because it takes us back to the days when we used to rob banks. How else did you think we could afford all those scones? No more, of course, we’re not even allowed out of the house for goodness sake!

COVID-19 masks
Stick ’em up!

We thought we might be able to recycle our old rather dashing black bank robbing masks but of course, they were more in the style of the Lone Ranger. They went around the eyes rather than the mouth. Useless! No worries though, we are indebted to our Côte d’Azur correspondents for sending us these beautiful homemade gender-sensitive masks. Bring it on, COVID-19!

ISLE OF LUING SHED

A shed on the Isle of Luing at Cullipool
A boat shed in Cullipool looking towards the Fladda lighthouse in the far distance



Ordinary

Acoustic Café

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“Sounds like great coffee” … that’s the strap line for this latest addition to the Falkirk café scene, the Acoustic Café. Not sure what great coffee sounds like? Maybe it’s the deafening sound of their own coffee machine, it really is the loudest. However, we feel it probably indicates a bit of confused thinking around the concept of selling coffee and guitars together in the one place. Acoustic 07

So, is the Acoustic Cafe a coffee shop that sells guitars or a guitar shop that sells coffee, we’re not sure. It does not seem to do either particularly well … kind of falls between two stools, so to speak. As a guitar shop it has a good range of very nice guitars. All well and good you might think. We suspect, however, that more attention has been paid to this aspect of the business than the cafe side … and if anything it should be the other way round.

New startup

Some fundamentals are just not there; the coffee may sound great but what about the taste? It is not up to the standard of it’s near competitors. The staff are not trained to the same standard as it’s near competitors. The sole member of staff on two of our visits was unsure of just about everything. Worst of all, of course, the scones are decidedly average.Acoustic 06 Not home baked, a bit dry and powdery … nowhere near a topscone. On the up-side it has a nice funky interior which differentiates it from the rest and offers loads of potential. Also, it has only been in existence for a couple of months so maybe we should cut it some slack. If it can concentrate more on the cafe side of things we hope it goes on to make sweet music and  much better coffee and scones for many years to come.

More broken promises

Music to the ears! That’s what we call the Scottish Government’s stance in the negotiations with the U.K. government over settlement of the new fiscal framework for Scotland. Instead of giving the ‘sweeping new powers’ promised after the referendum, new powers will now have to be paid for through reduced funding. Not even vaguely in the spirit of the Smith Commission. Thank goodness for the SNP. If it had been up to a Labour led administration they would have undoubtedly rolled over to their London masters long ago. Scotland would be much worse off as a result.

Luthiers

To end on a high note, the Acoustic Café did manage to introduce a new word to our lexicon .. luthier; someone who makes or repairs stringed instruments, a service available through the cafe.Acoustic 04

FK2 7AS            tel: 01324 638297      Acoustic Cafe FB

self-service

Caffé Nero

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Now you might be a bit surprised by this post because we are reviewing a multinational coffee house. Caffé Nero to be exact. One of these dastardly companies that pays no tax. Prepare yourself for a bit of a rant. Of course we never thought we would have to review such places because we didn’t think any of them did scones .. but we were mistaken, Caffé Nero does, maybe because it is British, so we felt duty bound to give them a try.

Tax

The whole tax thingy is a bit of a mess. Starbucks takes the brunt of the criticism because they are the biggest and the most famous. Nero 03Caffé Nero has not paid any UK tax since 2008 because it exploits the same loopholes that Starbucks and all the others use. Boots has avoided £1.2b by simply not being registered in the UK. There is nothing illegal about this practice so our sympathies lie with the companies which, like all companies, are duty bound to maximise profits for their share holders. Otherwise they are deemed to be negligent. The problem lies with the loopholes themselves and that’s a governmental issue.

Loopholes

The UK government gets a lot of stick for not closing them but, if you are expecting them to take decisive action any time soon, don’t hold your breath. Most of the government exploits the exact same loopholes for their own personal benefit. Luckily, the European Commission is not so queasy about tackling the problem. They recently decreed that Starbuck’s tax exemption in the Netherlands amounted to a state subsidy and was therefore illegal. As a consequence they were ordered them to repay £22m to the Dutch government. They did the same for Fiat which is registered in Luxembourg and presumably this principle will apply to all multinationals in due course. If it does we should all benefit .. hurrah!

Going offshore

As far as the UK is concerned there may also be light at the end of the tunnel. Not because of government action, heaven forbid, but because, Crickhowell, a small town in Powys, has elected to move ‘offshore’.  It has registered all it’s businesses in the Isle of Man … the same as Caffé Nero. Now they will no longer have to pay tax either .. brilliant! No skullduggery .. all done in discussion with HMRC.  If all towns were to follow suit, and we cannot see why they wouldn’t, perhaps then the UK government might eventually waken up to the concerns of ordinary people who have to pay every last penny in tax .. or go to jail. Enough of all that frippery we hear you cry .. the scones!

Black magic

Penegra is frequently a type of Simple generic levitra, that is detailed including sildenafil citrate, the best medication that really works effectively in treating feebleness challenges. Vitamin A, C and E especially are needed for curing this levitra sample problem. You can maintain higher levitra price http://appalachianmagazine.com/2017/06/20/berkeley-house-staunton-virginias-secret-gem/ levels of testosterone naturally by combining exercises along with intake of balanced diet. It can be taken when generic sildenafil from india you intent to make love. Reviewing this particular Caffé Nero is a little unusual because it means that the result applies across all of it’s 600 outlets. They are all the same. It is their main selling point. When you go into a Caffé Nero, or a Starbucks for that matter, you know exactly what environment and quality to expect .. fantastico! Not sure how they do it, presumably there is some sort of black magic involved, but the scone we have here in Falkirk will be exactly the same as the one we would have in Canterbury or Belfast or wherever. Is that just clever, or is it slightly spooky? Nero 02

Our scone came complete with butter and jam and, if we had wanted, a sealed tub of clotted cream. All in all it was quite good. Doesn’t fit the criterion, so it never had a hope of getting a topscone award. However, we can see how folk coming into Caffé Nero could ask for this and enjoy it, so hats off to them for being able to produce this level of standardised product across its empire.

Scotland Bill

The bad news today is that 10 Tory MPs sat through the debate on the Scotland Bill then 400 came in to vote down all the Scottish amendments. It will now fester for months in the unelected Lords. The good news is that a wee firm in Crieff is to start exporting oil to the Middle East. Okay it’s rapeseed oil … but still. Maybe they would like scones as well?

FK1 1NR             tel: 01324 623906             Nero

island, Ordinary

Atlantic Islands Centre

1 Comment

The Isle of Luing (pronounced Ling) is not one we have ever been on before. We were not only excited to be visiting but also to find that in the capital, Cullipool, there was the Atlantic Islands Centre .. with a café. When we got there it had only been open a couple of weeks but was already proving to be a major hit with both islanders and visitors. Having been many years in the planning and construction it now provides a community based cultural centre for the island with loads of local history and genealogy information. A scone at the Atlantic islands Centre, Isle of LuingMost importantly, of course, it has the only café/ restaurant on the island. Prior to this, going out for a coffee would have involved a ferry trip so it is not difficult to understand why it is popular.

There are two main population centres on the island, Cullipool and Toberonochy which together amount to 90% of the population of about 200. There are no street names the houses are just numbered e.g. 17 Cullipool, and so on. As always in these ‘out of the way’ places the staff were extremely helpful and friendly. On our first visit we were served by a lovely girl on a two week holiday from Poland visiting relatives.

Downtown Toberonochy
Downtown Toberonochy

 

Hardy beasts

We were impressed that she could come over to somewhere like Luing and end up with a job. Especially when everyone on the island seems to have at least three or four jobs. Okay, like most of the jobs in the restaurant, it was on a voluntary basis, but admirable nevertheless. Unfortunately our scones were not so admirable .. seemed like they had been deep frozen or something. Despite this it is a great place.  We have no doubt that it will develop into a fantastic resource for the island. Portrait of a Luing cow

The island is probably best known for its now defunct slate mining industry. However, it is also the place where Luing cattle were first developed by the Cadzow family in 1947. A cross between Beef Shorthorn and Highland cattle. These hardy beasts and are now found all over the world in areas where the climate, like Scotland’s, can be less than balmy.

EVEL

The climate in Parliament today may be less than balmy as MPs discuss EVEL (English Votes for English Laws). Earlier this week the Scotland Bill was agreed by 58 of Scotland’s 59 MPs but failed. It was voted down by English MPs .. almost enough to make you choke on your scone.

Evening view from Cullipool
Evening view from Cullipool

 

PA34 4TX         tel: 01852 314096        www.atlanticislandscentre.com

Ordinary, Scones

The Tyndrum Inn

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Tyndrum is probably most famous for gold mining and the Green Welly Stop. At a fork in the road, it is always busy with traffic either heading west to Oban or north to Fort William. The West Highland Way provides a steady stream of walkers all year round. The Tyndrum Inn sits along side the Green Welly and provides accommodation as well as all the usual things you would expect from a small hotel.

We found it a little odd from many points of view. It did not look like a self-service kind of place .. but it was. You ordered your scone at the bar and then took your seat wherever that happened to be. As things, like your scone, appeared on the bar you had to go and collect it. The same for your tea or coffee. The order did not appear in one go so several trips were involved just to get a scone and some coffee .. odd. We are sure it would have been just as quick to bring it to the table as dump it on the end of the bar. IMG_8254

That said our home-baked scone was actually quite good. However the Inn in general looked as if was in need of some serious investment. Until that happens we will not be rushing back.

Serious investment is also needed in the Scotland Bill which gets its second reading today at Westminster. The Smith Commission proposals are way too little. If they try to force it through they might as well give up on the Union. Scotland voted for something else completely. Would they be that stupid? Think they might be. Fluffy Mundell has just announced a £170m cut in the previously agreed Scottish budget. Tories in Scotland seem to be on some sort of suicide mission.

FK20 8RY       tel:01838 400219        Tyndrum Inn

Ordinary, Scones, self-service

IKEA Edinburgh

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No it wasn’t flat packed and no we did not even need an allan key. The scones at IKEA Edinburgh come in much the same way as any other.A scone at IKEA Edinburgh We had arrived here with an IKEA virgin. Honestly we thought that everyone in the world had been here at some point in their lives .. if not every weekend. It was great to see it through fresh eyes so to speak. You have got to hand it to them, they think of just about everything.

After  the IKEA journey (follow the arrows) it is perhaps just as well that they have a watering hole at the end of the trail because. By that time, it is very welcome if not absolutely necessary. Internal view of IKEA EdinburghIn true IKEA style there are no frills. Self service, follow the arrows, pour your own coffee/tea (as much as you like). Because of all that .. very reasonable prices. Our scone had surprisingly light texture and, all things considered, was rather good.

Solitary Tory

A) the Queen’s speech managed, better than any other single event, to demonstrate how out of touch and incongruous the Westminster establishment has become. As someone said “a woman in a £1m hat delivers speech on austerity“. B) the draft Scotland Bill has seen the light of day and surprise surprise it outlines some totally inadequate powers for Scotland. They can only be used if the Scottish Government seeks permission from the single Tory MP in Scotland. C) the LibDems sought to defend the dishonesty of their single Scottish Rt Honourable member by saying that all MP’s lie. You could not make it up. Something has got to change!

EH20 9PW          tel: 020 3645 0000           IKEA Edinburgh