Sage had just arrived at Balmoral, September 1977.
Shown to a room, with a metal bedstead above the old garages, now dining hall for staff it was small but compact and had everything you needed, sink, bed, light, wardrobe even a desk with writing paper... reminder to sent letter to parents to tell them I had arrived as phone's were as yet not commonplace :-)
Started work that evening, introduced to everyone in the kitchen, which was very compact and my duties explained.. I would be on duty until 9pm when everything shut down until morning... that first year we did split shift, 7.30-13.00 16.00-21.00, followed by day shift 7.30-16.00 on the days including weekends with holiday leave being accrued and given when back in London..
It sounds bad, but reality was that day shift would end at 2pm unless you hadn't finished your jobs or were required to stay on and the split shift would end no later than 8pm as well.. entertainments were on every evening, whether it was quiz night in the bar, a ceiledh, disco, film night or other and drinks were cheap... I remember paying 35p for a pint of lager and lime... well I didn't really know what to drink in those days although very soon my Dad instilled in me a love of whisky.
One afternoon, my first week, I was on a day shift and had finished by 2pm and wanted to go for a walk on the hills - I was a country bred girl and being inside just didn't always suit me - despite the soft rain, I pulled on my dufflecoat, hood up and headed up the trails surrounding the Castle. There was one path that staff were not allowed to take, only when taking the ponies back to their paddock (but that's another tale for another day), and this roadway led directly to the Castle.
My walk took me up above the Castle, and I just wish I had the photo's to display but as ever then a lack of funds meant my old camera just about functioned and it wasn't high on my list to take pictures of scenery so shallow was I when I was young. As I headed back down to the river, I was going to cross this roadway (which was permitted) and I noticed a woman walking along towards me from the Castle.. I had my hands in my pockets to save them from being cold and wet, and I remember thinking, 'She'll be in trouble for using that road' when our paths inevitably were going to cross.
As we met, she lifted her umbrella and said Good Afternoon, me, I mumbled something completed incoherrant as I realised that the woman was actually HM the Queen and now would think that her newest member of staff was no more than an babbling idiot... however, I didn't have a second chance to say Good Afternoon before she swept on her way with a smile on her face... slowly I turned down the track towards the river thinking that my new employment would probably end shortly ....
I got back to my room, changed into dry things and cringed at how tongue-tied I was when facing strangers... something I haven't lost even after all these years... but I have learned to pretend.
It wasn't my only meeting with the Queen, but the others were either more formal or at staff events...
Part 3 will come soon... the Ghillie's Ball
Showing posts with label Scotland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Scotland. Show all posts
26 March 2012
25 January 2009
Burns Night
Tonight is the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns, and celebrated with a Burns night Supper (or Dinner)
Generally this means serving Haggis; a sheep's stomach stuffed with a mixture of spices, oatmeal and offal might sound unappetising, but it's surprisingly good to eat, with the traditional bashed neeps (also known as swedes) and chappit tatties (mashed potatoes).
If you are not making your own Haggis, then choose one in a natural casing rather than any other sort for the flavour and allow 200g per person as an average serving based on the fact that the day would have been spent energetically walking the hills or you just like the meat content, but otherwise between 100-150g should be ample if you are including a soup as part of the meal (but please make it cock-a-leekie)
Finish the Scottish feast with creamy cranachan (a mixture of oatmeal, cream and scottish raspberries) , more whisky to "toast the lassies" and a resounding chorus of Auld Lang Syne. Robbie Burns will be proud.
Generally this means serving Haggis; a sheep's stomach stuffed with a mixture of spices, oatmeal and offal might sound unappetising, but it's surprisingly good to eat, with the traditional bashed neeps (also known as swedes) and chappit tatties (mashed potatoes).
If you are not making your own Haggis, then choose one in a natural casing rather than any other sort for the flavour and allow 200g per person as an average serving based on the fact that the day would have been spent energetically walking the hills or you just like the meat content, but otherwise between 100-150g should be ample if you are including a soup as part of the meal (but please make it cock-a-leekie)
Finish the Scottish feast with creamy cranachan (a mixture of oatmeal, cream and scottish raspberries) , more whisky to "toast the lassies" and a resounding chorus of Auld Lang Syne. Robbie Burns will be proud.
SOH and I will not be doing anything of the sort, even though he has scottish blood in him so we are settling for the whisky.. and blasphemously will be drinking Irish Whiskey at that...
Happy Burns Day Dinners to those that will be.
ps and as the clocks move forward faster in Australia their National founding day, Australia Day will start at lunchtime today but something I will write about more tomorrow.
19 January 2009
Holyrood Castle
One of my highlights of working for the Royal Household was the treat of a week in Edinburgh in July when the Edinburgh Tattoo was on and various other things happened like the Holyrood Garden Parties.
My accommodation was just outside the gates in a stone building, for some reason all the other girls were inside the Castle, but because I was in the kitchen's I got to be with the chef's all outside. So at 7am when I was due to start work, I would get up get washed and dressed and head over to the kitchens.
I had been there for a couple of days, getting used to the kitchens (very different from Balmoral, London and Windsor as they were smaller and more compact) when one morning I pushed open the tall metal gates only to have it fall off the hinges. Luckily one of the coppers on duty managed to grab it in time for me to make a hasty run for safety (otherwise this may well not have been written) and him and his mate propped it up against the wall while they called for the maintenance man to mend the gates.
Afterwards, my fame (or is it infamy) spread as the girl who broke the gates.. being a naive you thing I wondered if my career was to be blighted by these events but luckily not as I stayed for a further couple of years.
It was at Holyrood, I was instroduced to the morning bap spread with honey.. makes a great breakfast and one I still enjoy when in Scotland.
My accommodation was just outside the gates in a stone building, for some reason all the other girls were inside the Castle, but because I was in the kitchen's I got to be with the chef's all outside. So at 7am when I was due to start work, I would get up get washed and dressed and head over to the kitchens.
I had been there for a couple of days, getting used to the kitchens (very different from Balmoral, London and Windsor as they were smaller and more compact) when one morning I pushed open the tall metal gates only to have it fall off the hinges. Luckily one of the coppers on duty managed to grab it in time for me to make a hasty run for safety (otherwise this may well not have been written) and him and his mate propped it up against the wall while they called for the maintenance man to mend the gates.
Afterwards, my fame (or is it infamy) spread as the girl who broke the gates.. being a naive you thing I wondered if my career was to be blighted by these events but luckily not as I stayed for a further couple of years.
It was at Holyrood, I was instroduced to the morning bap spread with honey.. makes a great breakfast and one I still enjoy when in Scotland.
14 January 2009
First Impressions
You know that first impressions are important? Sometimes not always...
My arrival at Balmoral was in the middle of the morning, just enough time to get shown to my room above the old stable block behind the main castle, get changed and head down to the kitchens to be shown my duties which were many and varied.
We had kitchen porters to do the heavy stuff, and peel potatoes but with a small portion of the staff at Balmoral, we all had to pitch in and help. My main duty was to ensure that all the chefs had what they needed and keep supplying cups of coffee/tea as well as prepare the breakfast for them...good job that I had been a dab hand at cooking bacon and sausages... I let someone else to the eggs..
The chefs always ate separately to the rest of the kitchen staff, we ate with the mere mortals, they would not lower themselves to our level and always made sure they had the best stuff for themselves; perks of the job I suppose.
We worked split shifts, after lunch was served and the kitchens cleaned, we were free until 5pm when we would start the evening service so usually had a couple of hours off to either sleep, chat, watch tv or just relax.
Because I was used to walking the dogs, I used to take myself off on the hills, after first being told which roads I was allowed to walk on; there was one specific road that came from the castle down to the river which was reserved for the royal family and the hangers on. One particular afternoon, when the hills were gently bathed in light drizzle I was out on the hills getting progressively wetter so up went the hood of my dufflecoat, and my hands in the pockets and I headed back down to the Castle.
I could see the solitary figure of the woman as she walked down the road from the castle, with her clear plastic umbrella protecting her from the worst of the rain, and realised my path and hers were going to cross at the point the road and the path met at the river.. It didn't occur to me who it was at the time, only that they shouldn't be on that path as it was strictly verboten.
As I slid gracelessly from the muddy path onto the road, about 3 ft away, she lifted her umbrella and said "Good Afternoon, quite muddy isn't it?" and I realised that I was in fact being addressed by HM the Queen... I mumbled something, I think, it may even have been a word of English - I am not really certain and we both passed on our respective ways. HM on her walk and me down by the river back to the castle.
I often wondered after that incident as to what she thought of her latest employee as to be greeted by a moron must have made her wonder what was going on back at the servants Quarters..
- No news yet on S&P... will update after 1pm as that is the earliest we can hear... but we do have a fall back plan.
My arrival at Balmoral was in the middle of the morning, just enough time to get shown to my room above the old stable block behind the main castle, get changed and head down to the kitchens to be shown my duties which were many and varied.
We had kitchen porters to do the heavy stuff, and peel potatoes but with a small portion of the staff at Balmoral, we all had to pitch in and help. My main duty was to ensure that all the chefs had what they needed and keep supplying cups of coffee/tea as well as prepare the breakfast for them...good job that I had been a dab hand at cooking bacon and sausages... I let someone else to the eggs..
The chefs always ate separately to the rest of the kitchen staff, we ate with the mere mortals, they would not lower themselves to our level and always made sure they had the best stuff for themselves; perks of the job I suppose.
We worked split shifts, after lunch was served and the kitchens cleaned, we were free until 5pm when we would start the evening service so usually had a couple of hours off to either sleep, chat, watch tv or just relax.
Because I was used to walking the dogs, I used to take myself off on the hills, after first being told which roads I was allowed to walk on; there was one specific road that came from the castle down to the river which was reserved for the royal family and the hangers on. One particular afternoon, when the hills were gently bathed in light drizzle I was out on the hills getting progressively wetter so up went the hood of my dufflecoat, and my hands in the pockets and I headed back down to the Castle.
I could see the solitary figure of the woman as she walked down the road from the castle, with her clear plastic umbrella protecting her from the worst of the rain, and realised my path and hers were going to cross at the point the road and the path met at the river.. It didn't occur to me who it was at the time, only that they shouldn't be on that path as it was strictly verboten.
As I slid gracelessly from the muddy path onto the road, about 3 ft away, she lifted her umbrella and said "Good Afternoon, quite muddy isn't it?" and I realised that I was in fact being addressed by HM the Queen... I mumbled something, I think, it may even have been a word of English - I am not really certain and we both passed on our respective ways. HM on her walk and me down by the river back to the castle.
I often wondered after that incident as to what she thought of her latest employee as to be greeted by a moron must have made her wonder what was going on back at the servants Quarters..
- No news yet on S&P... will update after 1pm as that is the earliest we can hear... but we do have a fall back plan.
13 January 2009
How it began....
In 1977 I joined the Royal Household staff as a Kitchen Assistant... Dogsbody to you and me, but to a 19 year old girl, temporarily working on a pig farm until something better came along, this was intriquing enough to apply for. I will admit when I saw the advert in The Sun (not the most up market paper Britain has ever had) I thought it was a joke and wrote a letter applying for the position, not certain whether I had wasted a postage stamp.
I headed off for a long weekend to Paris with the family, not expecting to hear anything else about the job and wondering what to do careerwise, and enjoyed the sights and sounds of the French capital. Nb I actually enjoyed it better when I revisited it in 2000, which shows that sometimes first impressions are not always correct.
When we got home on the Monday afternoon, there on the mat was a thick envelope, with the royal crest on it, inviting me for an interview on Friday. Can I admit to making my Mum phone the 'office' to accept on my behalf.. ::hangs head in shame::
Bless her, Mum even came to London with me, as the interview was at Buckingham Palace, now I don't know whether this was to ensure I went or because she wanted to go, but I was interviewed for over 2 hours and during this time she enjoyed a cup of tea and some generous hospitality from the guys in the Royal Art Gallery adjoining the entrance to the kitchens.
We heard the following Monday that I had got the position (I am not certain who was more delighted, me, my Nan or my Mum... Dad was just glad I had a job at the end of the day), and I was to start the following Monday, reporting for duty by 2pm.
It was my first time working away from home, and I will admit to being a bunch of nerves, but they were very kind to me on arrival, sorting out uniform, dealing with all the paperwork, showing me to my room which overlooked the Mall (well ok if I leaned out far enough I could just about see it) and I was informed I was going to be travelling to Balmoral overnight on the sleeper the following day.
That first night was strange, not being used to the bed, the noise, the fire engines or police racing through the streets at all hours, and not having any official duties on the Tuesday except to unpack and meet the staff.
Below stairs (lowest rung of the ladder) there were some 200 staff, footmen, butlers, maids, chefs, porters, etc... all different levels, but all eating in the main staff dining room. The middle staff (secretaries, clerical staff etc) ate separately to the main staff, and then the upper staff (heads of department etc) ate separately to the middle staff.. who said classes were long dead hadn't met these people.
I was travelling up to Balmoral with four other people, so we were transported to the train station after dinner that evening, our luggage was taken separately and would be waiting at the other end.
The journey up in the sleeper was weird, another new experience, and after than I paid extra to have my own cabin if I wasn't sharing with anothe member of staff as the woman I shared with was intimidating and made me feel like I was invading her space just by being there; I was glad when it came to an end at Aberdeen.
While we waited for transport to Balmoral, we enjoyed a full Scottish Breakfast from a cafe just by the station, another first and it was lovely, just what we needed after a night's travel and I don't recall feeling hungry until much later that day.
Tomorrow.. First Impressions, and news about our Adoption of Salt n Pepper...
I headed off for a long weekend to Paris with the family, not expecting to hear anything else about the job and wondering what to do careerwise, and enjoyed the sights and sounds of the French capital. Nb I actually enjoyed it better when I revisited it in 2000, which shows that sometimes first impressions are not always correct.
When we got home on the Monday afternoon, there on the mat was a thick envelope, with the royal crest on it, inviting me for an interview on Friday. Can I admit to making my Mum phone the 'office' to accept on my behalf.. ::hangs head in shame::
Bless her, Mum even came to London with me, as the interview was at Buckingham Palace, now I don't know whether this was to ensure I went or because she wanted to go, but I was interviewed for over 2 hours and during this time she enjoyed a cup of tea and some generous hospitality from the guys in the Royal Art Gallery adjoining the entrance to the kitchens.
We heard the following Monday that I had got the position (I am not certain who was more delighted, me, my Nan or my Mum... Dad was just glad I had a job at the end of the day), and I was to start the following Monday, reporting for duty by 2pm.
It was my first time working away from home, and I will admit to being a bunch of nerves, but they were very kind to me on arrival, sorting out uniform, dealing with all the paperwork, showing me to my room which overlooked the Mall (well ok if I leaned out far enough I could just about see it) and I was informed I was going to be travelling to Balmoral overnight on the sleeper the following day.
That first night was strange, not being used to the bed, the noise, the fire engines or police racing through the streets at all hours, and not having any official duties on the Tuesday except to unpack and meet the staff.
Below stairs (lowest rung of the ladder) there were some 200 staff, footmen, butlers, maids, chefs, porters, etc... all different levels, but all eating in the main staff dining room. The middle staff (secretaries, clerical staff etc) ate separately to the main staff, and then the upper staff (heads of department etc) ate separately to the middle staff.. who said classes were long dead hadn't met these people.
I was travelling up to Balmoral with four other people, so we were transported to the train station after dinner that evening, our luggage was taken separately and would be waiting at the other end.
The journey up in the sleeper was weird, another new experience, and after than I paid extra to have my own cabin if I wasn't sharing with anothe member of staff as the woman I shared with was intimidating and made me feel like I was invading her space just by being there; I was glad when it came to an end at Aberdeen.
While we waited for transport to Balmoral, we enjoyed a full Scottish Breakfast from a cafe just by the station, another first and it was lovely, just what we needed after a night's travel and I don't recall feeling hungry until much later that day.
Tomorrow.. First Impressions, and news about our Adoption of Salt n Pepper...
10 July 2008
Getting The Abbey Habit
Our BMW Motorbike Club National rally was held at Kelso, Scotland in 2005 the Reivers Rally. We had blazing hot sunshine over the August Bank Holiday weekend, though the journey up from Back of Beyond (some 350 miles) was made in torrential downpours and thunderstorms.
When you travel by bike, there is a limit to how much you can carry, and we were camping as well so as well as clothes, I had a tent, sleeping bag etc all on the bike; thank heavens for hard luggage.
We stopped at a travelodge just outside of Durham on the first day, after having travelled up on the east coast, stopping for a break and a cup of well earned hot chocolate at Scarborough. To my regret though we saw Whitby in the distance, we didn't go closer to it and I would like to go back and visit one day.
It was a great rally and we had time to go out and about, so we visited Kelso, Jedburgh, Dryburgh and Melrose Abbeys while we stayed at Kelso, we stopped at Scott's view and although it was a hazy, misty sort of day you get the picture as it is very beautiful.
Another day we walked up to Floors Castle and did the tourist thing. I remember having a great piece of cake there :-). On the day that the rally broke up, the August Bank Holiday (England) we travelled across country to Newton Stewart where we were going to stay bed and breakfasting at a small place just on the edge of town.
We stopped for a picture of the bikes at the Megget reservoir, the road was very quiet and we didn't meet very much traffic on the way to Newton Stewart.
The owner knew we were on motorbikes so it was no surprise when he showed us to our rooms and suggested where we might like to visit and take the bikes along roads we might not have found otherwise.
Certainly we had plans to take the coast road all the way round to the Mull of Galloway on one day, but we had planned to visit some more abbeys in Scotland before we had to leave.
Dundrennan, Glenluce and Sweetheart abbey joined our ever growing list of places we visited and it is strange how peaceful they are even though many of them are in ruins. Along with the abbeys we managed to get visits in to Culzean and Caerlaverlock castles, the book shops in Wigtown, take the Queen's road across the Galloway Forest and stop at the Grey Mare falls for this stunning picture.
The day we went to the Mull of Galloway was the day before we were leaving and we had the most stunning sunshine of all the week, it was positively baking and dressed in all our bike gear it was unpleasant when we stopped.
We rode through a herd of cattle, some with calves at foot, and though they looked at us they left us alone as we rode up to the lighthouse.
As you can see, there was hardly a cloud in the sky, and from the top you could see the Isle of Man, the Cumbrian coast and I thought we could see the tip of Ireland but it was hazier out to sea.
We stopped at Port Patrick for an evening meal, as it was unlikely that we would get back to Newton Stewart before dark, and in any case had heard good things about the food there. This is a memorial of the disaster of 1953 when the crew and passengers of the Princess Victoria were lost at sea.
I took an amazing photo of the sunset which I had written about earlier, but I also took this one earlier in the evening of a rainbow above the harbour.
When you travel by bike, there is a limit to how much you can carry, and we were camping as well so as well as clothes, I had a tent, sleeping bag etc all on the bike; thank heavens for hard luggage.
We stopped at a travelodge just outside of Durham on the first day, after having travelled up on the east coast, stopping for a break and a cup of well earned hot chocolate at Scarborough. To my regret though we saw Whitby in the distance, we didn't go closer to it and I would like to go back and visit one day.
It was a great rally and we had time to go out and about, so we visited Kelso, Jedburgh, Dryburgh and Melrose Abbeys while we stayed at Kelso, we stopped at Scott's view and although it was a hazy, misty sort of day you get the picture as it is very beautiful.
Another day we walked up to Floors Castle and did the tourist thing. I remember having a great piece of cake there :-). On the day that the rally broke up, the August Bank Holiday (England) we travelled across country to Newton Stewart where we were going to stay bed and breakfasting at a small place just on the edge of town.We stopped for a picture of the bikes at the Megget reservoir, the road was very quiet and we didn't meet very much traffic on the way to Newton Stewart.
The owner knew we were on motorbikes so it was no surprise when he showed us to our rooms and suggested where we might like to visit and take the bikes along roads we might not have found otherwise.Certainly we had plans to take the coast road all the way round to the Mull of Galloway on one day, but we had planned to visit some more abbeys in Scotland before we had to leave.
Dundrennan, Glenluce and Sweetheart abbey joined our ever growing list of places we visited and it is strange how peaceful they are even though many of them are in ruins. Along with the abbeys we managed to get visits in to Culzean and Caerlaverlock castles, the book shops in Wigtown, take the Queen's road across the Galloway Forest and stop at the Grey Mare falls for this stunning picture.
The day we went to the Mull of Galloway was the day before we were leaving and we had the most stunning sunshine of all the week, it was positively baking and dressed in all our bike gear it was unpleasant when we stopped.We rode through a herd of cattle, some with calves at foot, and though they looked at us they left us alone as we rode up to the lighthouse.
As you can see, there was hardly a cloud in the sky, and from the top you could see the Isle of Man, the Cumbrian coast and I thought we could see the tip of Ireland but it was hazier out to sea.
We stopped at Port Patrick for an evening meal, as it was unlikely that we would get back to Newton Stewart before dark, and in any case had heard good things about the food there. This is a memorial of the disaster of 1953 when the crew and passengers of the Princess Victoria were lost at sea.I took an amazing photo of the sunset which I had written about earlier, but I also took this one earlier in the evening of a rainbow above the harbour.
My main reason for posting this is at the end of August we have another National Rally to go to in the Cotswolds but though there will be plenty of things to do and see I don't think anything will match the sheer beauty of this particular holiday.
09 July 2008
Memories of Scotland
I was lucky enough to join the staff who helped look after HM (and the rest of the family) at Buckingham Palace from 1977 to 1980 when I left to go and work in IT. I joined not long after the major celebrations of her Silver Jubilee, just before the trip to Balmoral. In fact I joined on a Monday morning and the following evening found myself on a sleeper up to Aberdeen along with four other staff who were being transferred up there for the shooting season.
This was my first experience of working away from home, and though I had a fair amount of independence it was still a culture shock to be hundreds of miles from home. My job was to work alongside the chefs in the kitchen, helping to prepare food and clean up afterwards, the porters did the bulk of the heavy work but it was still a long day when you sometimes didn't finish until nearly 11pm even if you had a few hours off in the afternoon it wasn't always enough to switch off.
Balmoral was a good introduction to working in service, yes it still happens even today, though I think many of the perks we had are much more restricted now. We were only charged a nominal rate for breakfast, lunch and dinner with free tea and coffee and a subsidised bar which I believe they got rid of after I left and no I don't think there is a connection to that fact either.
Every week there was a staff event, which was either a scottish country dance down at the stables hall, attended by the London and the local staff as well as the police/soldiers in attendance (the first year was the Black Watch and I still like their tartan) and usually very well natured even though there was plenty of alcohol consumed. The alternative was a filmshow or a team quiz, and the cliques of staff became apparent when the different branches wouldn't allow people on their teams but it wasn't a big problem.
We each got a day to go on the staff outing, two of those was to the Bells whisky distillery (and as a whisky drinker I enjoyed seeing how it was made even though it isn't my favourite brand of whisky; in fact now I enjoy drinking Jamesons Irish Whiskey as it is very smooth (apologies for my heresy) though there is still room for Laphroaig in the drinks cupboard. Please note it didn't stop me accepting the free half-bottle they gave us at the end of the tour the first year, and regrettably wasn't repeated on our return visit.
Another year we went to the Baxters factory/farm (my memory of this is not strong after a gap of 30 years) and after the tour of the production line we were treated to tea with Edna Baxter and her sons before being given a sample of jams and other products to take away with us. While the Fochaber's shop is open to visitors I can't be certain this is where we went.
The third year I was there, we got off work from 4pm but had the evening off every other day so could get out and about, whereas before you just got time off between 2pm and 6pm and just had enough time to take the bus into Ballater. One memorable occasion, a member of the kitchen staff arranged a hill race; I am not athletic at the best of times as I can't remember to run and breathe (it's a sprint mentality or so my school gym teacher said) so my version of this was to jog/walk round the 4 miles. After a quick shower I caught the bus to Ballater only by the time I got their the poor abused muscles refused to let me off the bus so I sat on there by myself until it was time to go back to the castle and it took me ages to live the embarrasment down.
One of the perks of working there was that if the hill ponies weren't required, and you could prove you could ride then you could go out onto the hills for the afternoon. I enjoyed doing that but just spending the time with the ponies was a pleasure, the jawing around in the tack room cleaning the saddles and bridles and having some of the family drop in whilst doing so.
I will try and scan some photo's in of my time there as it was too many years ago for digital cameras.
This was my first experience of working away from home, and though I had a fair amount of independence it was still a culture shock to be hundreds of miles from home. My job was to work alongside the chefs in the kitchen, helping to prepare food and clean up afterwards, the porters did the bulk of the heavy work but it was still a long day when you sometimes didn't finish until nearly 11pm even if you had a few hours off in the afternoon it wasn't always enough to switch off.Balmoral was a good introduction to working in service, yes it still happens even today, though I think many of the perks we had are much more restricted now. We were only charged a nominal rate for breakfast, lunch and dinner with free tea and coffee and a subsidised bar which I believe they got rid of after I left and no I don't think there is a connection to that fact either.
Every week there was a staff event, which was either a scottish country dance down at the stables hall, attended by the London and the local staff as well as the police/soldiers in attendance (the first year was the Black Watch and I still like their tartan) and usually very well natured even though there was plenty of alcohol consumed. The alternative was a filmshow or a team quiz, and the cliques of staff became apparent when the different branches wouldn't allow people on their teams but it wasn't a big problem.
We each got a day to go on the staff outing, two of those was to the Bells whisky distillery (and as a whisky drinker I enjoyed seeing how it was made even though it isn't my favourite brand of whisky; in fact now I enjoy drinking Jamesons Irish Whiskey as it is very smooth (apologies for my heresy) though there is still room for Laphroaig in the drinks cupboard. Please note it didn't stop me accepting the free half-bottle they gave us at the end of the tour the first year, and regrettably wasn't repeated on our return visit.
Another year we went to the Baxters factory/farm (my memory of this is not strong after a gap of 30 years) and after the tour of the production line we were treated to tea with Edna Baxter and her sons before being given a sample of jams and other products to take away with us. While the Fochaber's shop is open to visitors I can't be certain this is where we went.
The third year I was there, we got off work from 4pm but had the evening off every other day so could get out and about, whereas before you just got time off between 2pm and 6pm and just had enough time to take the bus into Ballater. One memorable occasion, a member of the kitchen staff arranged a hill race; I am not athletic at the best of times as I can't remember to run and breathe (it's a sprint mentality or so my school gym teacher said) so my version of this was to jog/walk round the 4 miles. After a quick shower I caught the bus to Ballater only by the time I got their the poor abused muscles refused to let me off the bus so I sat on there by myself until it was time to go back to the castle and it took me ages to live the embarrasment down.
One of the perks of working there was that if the hill ponies weren't required, and you could prove you could ride then you could go out onto the hills for the afternoon. I enjoyed doing that but just spending the time with the ponies was a pleasure, the jawing around in the tack room cleaning the saddles and bridles and having some of the family drop in whilst doing so.
I will try and scan some photo's in of my time there as it was too many years ago for digital cameras.
13 May 2008
It was a beautiful evening...
After a long hot day in the office, I was in early (7.30am) as SOH dropped me off on the way to Cambridge for his induction into the new job, and even then the office felt dry and stuffy probably because of the hot weather over the weekend and the office being closed up.
A nice fresh blast of cool morning air was circulating around after I had opened up the windows to their widest, but as the morning went on the wind dropped and it got hotter and stuffier. So by 5pm I was cooked, slowly roasted in the heat of the day and was ready to get out and go home.. but then outside I found it was cooler, and pleasant so suggested an early evening walk before having our evening meal [Savoury rice and chicken breast]
SOH is new to the area, so walks are generally where I know the paths and I know a couple of nice walks about 2-5 miles in length straight from the house.. the only thing was that we didn't take a drink with us and none of these walks go anywhere near a pub :-( The walk we did was to a s wood, near where I live, the circuit was going to be about 3.5 miles long and though not flat it didn't call for walking boots, so trainers and in my case walking shoes was the order of the day. It was a nice relaxing walk, all you could hear at one point in time was the sound of birds singing as the traffic, both road and air, just seemed to disappear. Coming back, we spotted a young fox running down beside the wheat crop at a lope, presumably after some supper; we have a number of foxes around here, that may be due to the landfill site (now closed) having been an easy source of food for them. I like to see them, but I know the damage they can do - as they are wanton killers, killing for the pleasure. I was sorry not to see any hares or deer as we have plenty of those, having escaped from a stately home nearby, both roe and muntjac deer roam across the farmland around home. We arrived back home at about 7.45pm, it was nice and cool, so while we had the opportunity to, we watered the plants in the polytunnel and garden and then had our evening meal; I prefer to eat a bit sooner than we did, but the walk was good for us.
It was a great end to the day though it shortens the time we have to relax and wind down before bedtime... perhaps next time we will grab some sandwiches and have an impromtu picnic whilst waiting for the bats to come out after the evening moths and insects.
No, this isn't a picture of Reynold's wood, but another great evening at Port Stewart, Scotland. A couple of friends and I took the motor bikes up to Scotland to see a bit of the West Coast, and on this day we had ridden around the coast road from Newton Stewart, to the Mull of Galloway and ended at the end of the day at Port Stewart for an evening meal. As the sun came down, the sky lit up like fire and I took a fair amount of pictures, this one I think is the best and I have a copy framed on the wall at home.
A nice fresh blast of cool morning air was circulating around after I had opened up the windows to their widest, but as the morning went on the wind dropped and it got hotter and stuffier. So by 5pm I was cooked, slowly roasted in the heat of the day and was ready to get out and go home.. but then outside I found it was cooler, and pleasant so suggested an early evening walk before having our evening meal [Savoury rice and chicken breast]
SOH is new to the area, so walks are generally where I know the paths and I know a couple of nice walks about 2-5 miles in length straight from the house.. the only thing was that we didn't take a drink with us and none of these walks go anywhere near a pub :-( The walk we did was to a s wood, near where I live, the circuit was going to be about 3.5 miles long and though not flat it didn't call for walking boots, so trainers and in my case walking shoes was the order of the day. It was a nice relaxing walk, all you could hear at one point in time was the sound of birds singing as the traffic, both road and air, just seemed to disappear. Coming back, we spotted a young fox running down beside the wheat crop at a lope, presumably after some supper; we have a number of foxes around here, that may be due to the landfill site (now closed) having been an easy source of food for them. I like to see them, but I know the damage they can do - as they are wanton killers, killing for the pleasure. I was sorry not to see any hares or deer as we have plenty of those, having escaped from a stately home nearby, both roe and muntjac deer roam across the farmland around home. We arrived back home at about 7.45pm, it was nice and cool, so while we had the opportunity to, we watered the plants in the polytunnel and garden and then had our evening meal; I prefer to eat a bit sooner than we did, but the walk was good for us.
It was a great end to the day though it shortens the time we have to relax and wind down before bedtime... perhaps next time we will grab some sandwiches and have an impromtu picnic whilst waiting for the bats to come out after the evening moths and insects.
No, this isn't a picture of Reynold's wood, but another great evening at Port Stewart, Scotland. A couple of friends and I took the motor bikes up to Scotland to see a bit of the West Coast, and on this day we had ridden around the coast road from Newton Stewart, to the Mull of Galloway and ended at the end of the day at Port Stewart for an evening meal. As the sun came down, the sky lit up like fire and I took a fair amount of pictures, this one I think is the best and I have a copy framed on the wall at home.
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