May be those were the days ... rail travel in style

 Menu card for The Flying Scotsman 8th November 1957

 The Talisman 

It is always fascinating to come across old menus and, in particular, old wine lists. Here are a couple of examples from a time when rail travel could be glamorous. Here are two examples from November 1957 from two of the named express trains running from London Kings Cross station to Edinburgh.

The Flying Scotsman still runs but now only one way leaving Edinburgh at 5.40 am and arriving in London four hours later. The Talisman, however, has long gone.

Back in 1957 you could settle down to a proper meal, although relatively expensive, with an intriguing selection of wines:

Four course lunch for 9/6 (240 pennies to the £ or 20 shillings to £)

Menu (below)

 The wine list

Once again an old wine list demonstrates how prices 50 years ago were much closer together now than they were. This is most starkly demonstrated by the decidedly tempting 1949 Château Pichon-Longueville-Lalande for 17/6 (82.5p in today's money) – the same price as an anonymous Beaune and 2/6 more than an anonymous Sauternes – 15/-.

Interesting to see that Champagne is markedly more expensive than any other wine type – a 1945 Louis Roederer for 47/6 (£2.35 in current decimal money) and even the NV Champagne – St Marceaux for 37/6. Curiously there are no German wines listed, although there is an Alsatian Sylvaner at 16/-.

Also interesting to see the two Spanish wines: Graves Type and Burgundy Type. Once the UK joined the EU we had to respect appellation contrôlée rules etc. Equally South African Pearl Amber Hock and Australian Emu Burgundy would now be a no-no!

All aboard!

Edinburgh Fringe: Peter Pik – musician

Peter Pik on Rose Street, Edinburgh

We came across Peter Pik in Rose Street buying copies of of his two CDs that he had on sale. He is a talented guitarist from Sydney in Australia. Peter has been coming to Edinburgh during the fringe for the past five years. CRM met him last year. Pik is on Facebook.

Unfortunately this may be the last year that he comes. "There is so much red tape and bureaucracy this year." Pik is particularly exercised by the blanket ban on the use of an amplifier in a public street in Edinburgh. I play an electric guitar which needs amplification. I have already been warned twice. Next time it will be a £40 fine."

One can understand Edinburgh Council wanting to clamp down on buskers during the year who may play at very high levels. However, surely during the four weeks of the Fringe this rule could be relaxed with only musicians using excessive noise being penalised.      

A68: the switchback road from Northumberland to Edinburgh

We drove up to Scotland last Sunday and had one of our best trips up ever taking the M1 and then A1 to Newcastle, where we cut westwards across to Corbridge to pick up the A68, which is often spectacular with its switchback dips and rises. The A68 starts in Darlington and end in Edinburgh passing through Jedburgh on the way. Although it is an attractive road passing through some lovely Border country, it is also dangerous with a number of fatal accidents. 

This is a series of photos featuring the road taken on Sunday.      

West Woodburn

The Scotland-England border@Carter Bar

Views eastwards@The Border (above and below)

Jedburgh Abbey (above and below)

Excellent meal@Sweet Melindas, Edinburgh

Sherries from Gutiérrez Colosía on the opening page of the wine list at Sweet Melindas

Almost the moment we received an email telling us that we would be eating at Sweet Melindas, a restaurant specialising in fish, during our short stop-over in Edinburgh, we got a text from friends who were enjoying a meal at the restaurant and recommending it to us. 

So when we sat down at our table on Saturday night we had high expectations. Any concerns I might I have had were immediately still when I opened the wine list to find that the first page was devoted to three Sherries from Bodegas Gutiérrez Colosía (http://www.gutierrez-colosia.com/). Gutiérrez Colosía, which was established in 1838, is not a bodega I have come across before, so I was delighted to be able to try the wines and even more to see a restaurant that has the cojones to lead with wines from Jerez, even if they are more fashionable than they were. 

Three Sherries were listed: a fino, an amontillado and a Pedro Ximenez. They are offered either by the glass (125ml) or by the carafe (250 ml). The carafe is a really good idea not only is it proportionally slightly cheaper (Fino: £4.20 a glass/ carafe £8.20/ Amontillado: £5.80 a glass/ carafe £11.30). As there were four of us we choose a carafe of fino and one of amontillado. The amontillado was particularly good and complex. 

2011 Grüner Veltliner Terrassen Federspiel, Domaine Wachau

The food lived up to this bright start, especially my perfectly cooked scallops, crab pasta dish. After the two Sherries we drank quite a floral but crisp 2011 Grüner Veltliner from Domaine Wachau that matched our fish dishes very well. 

When, at the end of the meal, I said how good it was to see a restaurant promoting Sherry, we were told that they were looking to add an Oloroso but they didn't think the one from Gutiérrez Colosía was good enough, so they were looking elsewhere. Clearly at Sweet Melindas they do take great care with our wine list.     

Edinburgh: no ogs and probably no oiks either!

Notice spotted at entrance to private garden off Claremont Crescent, Edinburgh

Scotland: a trio or so of spirited photos + other views on the A9

Dalwhinnie Distillery, one of Diego's classic malts and one of Scotland's highest

Dalwhinnie Distillery behind bars

After a foul arrival in Edinburgh yesterday – 13.5˚C, miserable and wet, we drove up to Inverness today. Dull in Edinburgh this morning, the weather improved dramatically after Perth. It has been a lovely afternoon in Inverness.  

Bulk Chivas Regal: between Dalwhinnie and Newtonmore



 
Just north of Perth – typical Perthshire countryside: verdant green, rolling forested hills 

As you start climbing up towards the Pass of Drumochter, which is the highest point on the A9, the verdant Perthside countryside gradullay gives way to a more stark, wilder landscape with few trees and even fewer signs of habitation, espcially close to the top of the Pass.   

Looking across to Loch Garry near the top of Drumochter

Empty landscape and tracks at the top of Drumochter

Between Drumochter and Dalwhinnie with Cairngorms in distance