Back in 1695 when this placed opened its doors for the first time things were different.

For one thing, Scotland was still a proud independent nation. Though as we all know that all changed in 1707 when a handful of corrupt aristocrats ( a parcel of rogues) sold the country down the river. In 1715, James Edward Stuart (the Old Pretender) made his ill fated attempt to regain the Scottish and English thrones and reverse the Act of Union. Incredibly, the Moulin Inn had been going for fifty years before Bonnie Prince Charlie (the Young Pretender) tried again in 1745, marching his army past these doors on his way south. If only the walls could talk, what stories they could tell?

Shenanigans

Over the years the Moulin Inn has expanded and is now the Moulin Hotel … the bit to the right of the picture I still the original Inn. We are staying here for a few days. As many of you know retirement means you get no time off and weekends just blend in to the rest of the week, so wee breaks like this become terribly important. Anyway, you know Tina Turner’s song “Steamy Windows” that alludes to shenanigans on the back seat of a car? Well, the theme song for this place should be “Squeaky Floorboards”. Couldn’t find a single floorboard that didn’t squeak! Not much chance of creeping around here in the middle of the night undetected … but given its age perhaps that’s not entirely surprising.

Customer care

We asked our lovely landlady, Jill, if we could get a scone and some tea. Her face said it all, they didn’t do scones “We’re really just a pub with rooms … no call for scones” she said. Then, suddenly, she said “But if you come in tomorrow I can probably organise something”. The following day we did indeed go back and within a few minutes Jill had us settled down with some tea and scones. Unfortunately it then became apparent what she had done, she had gone out and bought some scones … probably from a supermarket! This was super impressive  customer care! The scones themselves, however, were not impressive … acceptable but nowhere near a topscone. Well done Jill, if it wasn’t for you we wouldn’t be able to write about this place! Don’t come here for a scone though … they don’t do them!

Moulin is a beautiful peaceful little village but it also has a lot going on. There’s a brewery run by the hotel (tried the Ale of Atholl several times) and a lovely little distillery at Edradour. It produces a special whisky for Westminster, however, given the newly introduced ban on ‘business meetings’, it may well see a sharp downturn in sales. 

 

Don’t tell Boris

On the outskirts of the village there’s an ancient and rather overgrown ruin. It’s all that remains of Caisteal Dubh (The Black Castle of Moulin). Built in 1326, it was set on fire in 1512  because they feared it was contaminated by plague. It’s been a ruin ever since. Imagine if Boris cottoned on to this as a new way of controlling COVID? “If you catch coronavirus you must isolate for ten days but not in your own house which you must burn to the ground!” It would certainly divert attention away from ‘partygate‘ so don’t be surprised if it actually comes to pass.

Thoroughly enjoyed our stay here, it is a fantastic part of the world. Hopefully it won’t be too long before we can do it all again. 

PH16 5EW       tel: 01796 472196       Moulin Hotel

///swelling.pylons.spans