Tag Archives: South Korea

Pitlochry Festival Theatre

5 December 2024 billpaterson1@me.com 5 Comments

We are back home now after our short but very enjoyable break in Pitlochry. After our posts from Fonab Castle and Victoria’s we can now bring you one from Pitlochry Festival Theatre which we visited on our final day.

Advert for the Sound OF Music — The hills are alive

Currently they are putting on the Sound Of Music. Sadly though, there are no performances on two days every week and we were there on one of them. The cafe was open, however, so all was not lost. A scone coming up but first a fairy tale!

Fairy Tale

Readers could easily be forgiven for asking how a small town like Pitlochry in rural Perthshire with a population of less than 3000 has a theatre at all. The theatre could comfortable seat a fifth of the population. The story of the theatre is a bit of a fairy tale in itself and testament to one man’s vision and single minded determination.

In the early days of WWII, John Stewart, head of Skerries College in Glasgow, hid a slip of paper in a wooden post down by the River Tummel. It read ‘When peace is declared I shall return to this spot to give thanks to God and to establish my Festival’. On VE Day he did just that.

View of Port na Craig ferry site — Port-na-Craig was the site of the original ferry that crossed the River Tummel, connecting it to Pitlochry. The theatre roof can be seen behind Port-na-Craig

Whisky Galore

Because of the post war shortage of building materials he could not get permission from the government to build the theatre.

Bridge over the River Tummel — The ferry operated until 1913, when a suspension footbridge was built

As a result the theatre began life as a large tent in the garden of his Knockendarroch House. In 1952 a storm destroyed the tent almost spelling the end of the theatre. Stewart, however, formed a Society to which he gave over his house, garden and workshops. The Society was able to build a more substantial theatre at Knockendarroch and gave him permission to continue living in his own house. Success followed success and 1959 saw the world premier of Whisky Galore – The Musical in the current building at Port-na-Craig. Incredible! And we have to arrive on a day when there’s nothing on! However, the future for the “theatre in the hills” looks bright. The new Artistic Director is none other than local boy and fierce campaigner for Scottish Independence, Alan Cumming.

The theatre itself is impressive and the cafe is a fairly typical self service facility in the foyer area. It’s a large light airy space and surprisingly busy considering the time of year and the fact that there were no live performances. There was a choice of plain and fruit scones so as usual, we chose fruit. They looked as if they had loads of fruit and they did, maybe too much. Not a topscone but very enjoyable nevertheless.

Tickety boo?

Pitlochry seems like another world where everything is just fine. When you are here in the Festival Theatre it feels even more like another world.

In the real world, however, things aren’t quite so tickety boo. That Far Eastern beacon of democracy, South Korea, has suddenly and inexplicably declared martial law. Luckily North Korea has sent half its army to fight with Russia in Ukraine. Russia has also resumed fighting in that almost forgotten war in Syria. In Europe, France seems determined to make itself ungovernable. Across the pond, at the risk of giving banana republics a bad name America continues with its system of Presidential pardons. Why? The hills are alive with the sound of people scratching their heads!

PH16 5DR tel: 01796 484626 Pitlochry Theatre

///charge.choppers.talents

Ordinary, Scones

AJ’s Café

10 February 2020 billpaterson1@me.com 1 Comment

Remember, in a recent post, we said we could do this entire blog without ever leaving Falkirk. Well, here we are again. This time it is AJ’s Café on the High Street. We’ve been here before in 2015 but back then it was called Roasted and Toasted and, for all sorts of reasons, we gave them a bit of a hard time. Would it have improved in the intervening years, that was the question?

So what was wrong the last time? Essentially we were annoyed that they were working very hard but ignoring the basics. That’s a dangerous game when all the big international coffee houses are on your doorstep. Particular grumbles were:

Coffee tasted like it had been watered down
The decor was ‘extreme bland’.
Lighting unimaginative and lots of bulbs out.
Nauseous lifestyle messages like “when it rains look for rainbows“
Scones bought in from outside.
Tables not cleared.
Not taken the previous occupant’s name off the outside canopy.

We would love to report that it has been completely transformed but sadly no. We didn’t have any coffee but can only presume that it’s better than it was. The decor and lighting, unfortunately, was still dismal. The exact same lifestyle messages are still there and the same canopy is still there emblazoned with ‘Kaseys’ … that’s from before it was even Roasted and Toasted!??

Falkirk speak

On the upside, the tables were cleared and we got a lovely warm welcome … and, the scones were homebaked by Linda, the kitchen lady. We ordered some lunch but when we asked for a scone our waitress asked: “wid ye want it het up … or a cid toast it?” That’s broad Falkirk speak for ” Would you care for your scone to be gently warmed … or alternatively, lightly toasted?”. When we asked for a recommendation, without a moment’s hesitation, she said “Toasted“. The deal was done.

Value for money

After our lunch, our toasted scones were duly delivered. They didn’t have cream but there was English jam and Irish butter … argh! We wondered if Linda’s scones would be an improvement on our previous visit. Not only were they an improvement they were fantastic. In fact, had it not been for all the problems, this could have been an easy topscone. Shame. When we went to settle our bill it came to an unbelievable total of £7.20. No wonder they can’t afford to do the place up! At these prices, AJ’s Café may not be around much longer so if you fancy one of Linda’s great scones you had better get a move on!

In spite of many things being wrong In AJ’s Café we wish them all the best. Everyone was working very hard, what they lacked was a bit of business sense. Not a criticism, just an observation.

Goodie bags

At the Oscars, the judging panel obviously took the criticism of their lack of diversity to heart and decided to award the main gongs to Parasite. This is the first foreign language film ever to win anything in the ceremony’s 92 year history. We haven’t seen the South Korean film yet but it is, no doubt, thoroughly worthy of the recognition. Just like lots of other similar films that have been ignored in the past. Difficult though it is, perhaps Hollywood is, at last, trying to be less self congratulatory. If so, congratulations!. Maybe next time they could do away with the £175,000 goodie bags that all the nominees receive … or is that still a step too far in our unequal world? We think that AJ’s Café would gladly provide excellent goodie bags for the poor luvvies for under a tenner.

FK1 1EY tel: 01324 228652 AJ’s

///torn.necks.chose

Homemade, Ordinary, Scones, self-service

National Shooting Centre 2

2 April 2018 billpaterson1@me.com

We don’t often revisit places we’ve previously reviewed and, even when we do, we don’t usually write about them again, however, on this occasion we felt an exception was justified.

Back in July last year you may remember that, thanks to a friend who was competing in the European Clay Pigeon Shooting Championships, we decided to join him at the National Shooting Centre Scotland and try to reduce our almost total ignorance of the sport. Even if just by a tad. We were amazed by the sheer magnitude of the event. Hundreds of people from many countries all milling about … with shotguns! They were also serving scones hence it appeared in the blog.

A few months later and much to our surprise, we got a lovely email from the NSC saying they had come across our post by chance when revamping their own website and inviting us for a free lesson. How could we refuse? Our schedule however, meant that it wasn’t until now that we were able to take them up on the offer and, even at that, Pat couldn’t make it so it was just me. Could I do a scone on my own??

A makeover

What a difference a few months make ….wow! The old somewhat drab and dreary interior of the clubhouse had been totally transformed. Clean white walls, comfy armchairs and a huge wood burning stove giving an overall warm and welcoming feel to the place.

Stewart and Amy also gave me a very warm welcome. Stewart insisted however, that there would be no scones until I had proved myself able to kill at least one clay pigeon. After a brief safety chat and gun selection we were out on a stance and ready to go. It has always been a little disturbing for a non-shooter like me to enter a room which is completely lined with guns. Maybe it’s got something to do with the recent anti-gun protests in the US? Who knows, but such potential for destruction can be a little unnerving to the untutored eye.

I know you are all desperate to know how I did. Suffice to say I hit more clays than I missed. I was a trifle pleased with myself. I, of course, put it down to my own innate talent, however, I guess Stewart would have put it down to his expert tuition. And he would have been right.

Finger licking

There was a wonderful brief moment when any lingering thoughts I may have harboured about shooters being a blood thirsty lot were completely dispelled. Unbelievably, a kestrel came in and hovered, stock-still, right in line with all the guns. All shooting stopped until it had done what kestrels do and moved on about its business … magic! Back in the clubhouse it was time for a well earned scone. Amy, a shooter herself, did the needful and produced one of her own home-baked scones which was absolutely delicious.

It would have got a topscone award had it not been presented fully loaded with jam and cream. You all know our thoughts about that. Scones should come with jam and cream on the side so that individuals can load them according to taste. Although this is a founding principle of all sconology, we do recognise that shooters often have others to load their guns for them. Maybe it’s got something to do with that? Should we make exceptions … no! Just my opinion of course since I was flying solo on this one. Never mind, as the scone’s contents squished out the sides with every bite, it became yet another finger-licking good experience.

Red Velvet

Maybe not finger-licking but a good experience anyway seemed to be had by Kim Jong-un as he watched South Korea’s Red Velvet girl band at a pop concert in Pyongyang , something which, previously, he would have pronounced illegal. Maybe there’s hope for the world after all.

Many thanks to everyone at the National Shooting Centre for their kindness, patience and hospitality. It was a just great!

FK1 3AL tel: 01324 851672 National Shooting Centre Scotland

Scones, Uncategorized

Cupcake Café Bar

13 February 2017 billpaterson1@me.com 6 Comments

Readers will remember from our last post regarding an unintentional visit to Bathgate and the Coffee Club that we drove around Cairnpapple Hill to get there. While we were doing that, about a mile or so out of Linlithgow, we passed a sign for the Scottish Korean War Memorial. The what? We didn’t stop but it raised our curiosity. You could probably write what we knew about the Korean War quite comfortably on the back of a postage stamp … so it made us wonder. It made us wonder so much that, in an attempt to remedy the situation, we decided to go back and actually visit the place to find out what it was all about.

Gate to the Scottish Korean War Memorial — The gate to the Scottish Korean War Memorial

War on communism

Apologies to folks who know all this already but it turns out that Korea was occupied by Japan from 1910. At the end of WWII, however, when Japan was defeated, there were difficulties agreeing who was to rule thenceforth. Believe it or not, the US and the Soviet Union got involved in what the US saw as a war against communism. From 1950 to 1953 twenty one countries fought on the UN side, Britain being one of them. Five million soldiers and civilians lost their lives. Incredible, so soon after the end of a very bloody World War.

View of the Scottish Korean War Memorial — The Korean style shrine contains name boards listing all the 1,114 men who died.

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The Flag of South Korea — Flag of S Korea

Also a shrine surrounded by two mounds in the shape of the Ying and Yang on the Korean flag. It’s a quiet peaceful place. Judging by the fresh flowers placed beneath trees, it is still very much a place of remembrance. Feeling much better informed we decided to head for home. However, we had hardly got started when, on the other side of Torphichen, we came across signs for the Cupcake Café Bar. Not somewhere we had ever heard of in spite of it being only a few miles from home. Our ignorance knows no bounds! It had to be done. Once we had negotiated the bomb-crater sized potholes in the driveway we arrived at an old converted farmhouse set in a large nicely laid out garden. Inside, it was surprisingly modern.

Predictions

When we ordered our scones from a lady with a rather mischievous look in her eye, she told us in no uncertain terms “you will enjoy them”! We felt duty bound! She was right of course, we did enjoy them. Nicely presented with plenty butter (local), jam and clotted cream. They were soft and light with just the right amount of fruit. The coffee was good as well. Again, not quite a topscone but yet another admirable attempt.

Back in Korea, a cease fire was eventually brokered in 1953 by dividing the country into North and South with a ‘no man’s land’ in between. Both countries are still officially at war to this very day! The communist North is now led by the 34 year old Supreme Leader, Kim Jong Un. A man who is generally regarded by the western press as more than a little ‘unhinged’. Thank goodness we don’t have anything like that in the west … oh, hold on a minute?? Kim is the only one in the country allowed to bear the surname ‘Jong Un’. All others with the name were forced to change. We suspect that no force at all should be necessary for the Trumps of this world.

EH48 4NQ tel: 01506 654697 Cupcake Café Bar TA

Scones, history and a dollop of politics