Friday 19 December 2014

Best National Trust Scones of 2014

I know it's not the end of 2014 yet. I know there's still a chance that someone will ring me up tomorrow and say "I'm just off to Chirk Castle, do you fancy it?" But I am never knowingly optimistic, so I am doing my year-defining round-up of the Best National Trust Scones of 2014 now.

I managed to fit 52 National Trust property visits into 2014! 52! How DID I manage it? Partly by having a very obliging other half that doesn't mind living in semi-squalor and driving me around the country, to be very honest.

Anyway, here are my top 10 scones of 2014 in order of amazingness:

10. Hinton Ampner
I am a huge fan of scones but I am not so keen on sheep. They have weird faces. Plus I can never decide if they have Yoda-like knowledge of all things, or if they have no brain cells at all. Anyway, Hinton Ampner in Hampshire has a lot of sheep but luckily it also has very fresh and delicious scones as well. Read about Hinton Ampner...


9. Uppark House & Garden
I am still fascinated by the fact that Uppark House in West Sussex burnt down in 1989 during opening hours, so National Trust visitors had to form a human chain and clear the contents before the ceilings collapsed. As I ate my delicious scones, I imagined myself covered in soot and sweat and possibly wearing a Bruce Willis-style vest, tirelessly directing people on the removal of family portraits and chaises longues. In reality I know I would have been the first one heading for the car park screaming "RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" Read about Uppark House...


8. Quarry Bank Mill
The Channel 4 TV series, The Mill, is filmed at Quarry Bank Mill in Cheshire. In it, the mill workers are served a porridgey breakfast that is slopped straight into their hands and eaten as they walk down the path to another day of literally risking life and limb. I was almost expecting my scone to be slopped into my hand but it wasn't - it came on a plate. It was massive and it was delicious (the scone, not the plate). Read about Quarry Bank Mill's scone...
"Well I'm the queen of the sconers/the tearoom VIP" - I sang this in my head as I wandered around Bateman's in East Sussex, not because I am very strange but because Rudyard Kipling used to live there and he wrote the Jungle Book, although to be fair someone else probably wrote the songs for the Disney version. I'm sure Rud would have approved of the scones though as they were 'just so' - HA HA! Read more about the Bateman's scones...



I always insist on having my scone as soon as I arrive at a property, because otherwise I know I will walk round the house thinking "vase, picture, vase, slightly disturbing figurine of a monkey playing a flute, vase, picture, vase", without actually taking any of it in, because I am just thinking about the scone and whether there will be any seats left in the tearoom by the time I get there. This was particularly important at Waddesdon near Aylesbury where there was A LOT to see. And the scone was FAB.U.LOUS. Read about the Waddesdon scone...


5. Charlecote Park
I have become a bit of a Sconelock Holmes during this National Trust Scone Odyssey of mine and I will let you into one of my secrets: if the scone has icing sugar on it, it is 87.4% more likely to score top marks. I may have made that stat up but the principle is true (see also: Stowe). Read more about the scones at Charlecote Park...


4. Nymans
Nymans is another property that burnt down, although Nymans went up in flames in 1947 before the National Trust was involved. (Now I come to think of it, Hinton Ampner also has a history of being destroyed by fire! Maybe this is a pattern.) Anyway, Nymans in West Sussex is a stunningly beautiful place with a fantastic tearoom and amazing scones. Read about Nymans scones...


2=. Scotney Castle 
My trip to Kent was one of the highlights of my year. Admittedly it rained the whole time and they didn't have any scones at Knole, but we did get to see the only listed dog kennel in Britain at Ightham Mote AND we met with scone perfection at Scotney Castle. The scones were fresh, and there was a banana and walnut scone of the month...a top sconeing experience. Read all about the Scotney scones...


2=. Treasurer's House 
Treasurer's House in York was a late entrant at the very end of November, but my word it was a showstopper: as well as a fresh plain scone that would have scored a 5 out of 5 on any other occasion, they also served up a CHRISTMAS PUDDING SCONE WITH BRANDY BUTTER. I cannot put into words how good it tasted, although I did try: Read all about the Treasurer's House Christmas pudding scone...


1. Dunwich Heath
The undisputed winner of the 2014 National Trust Scone of the Year is Dunwich Heath on the Suffolk coast. We visited their Sconeathon in March and our minds were BLOWN. They had TWENTY types of scone on offer - that's TWENTY different types of scone - from sticky toffee pudding scone to Malteser scone and loads more besides. I have occasionally wondered if I dreamt the whole thing but I didn't because later in the year they ran another Sconeathon with THIRTY types of scone. How did this not make the national news? Anyway, they've got another Sconeathon coming up in April so don't miss it. Read about the Dunwich Sconeathon...


And that's it for another year, scone fans. For more hints on where to find the best scones, you could also read about the top five National Trust scones of 2013.

Thank you for reading and sending your encouraging comments and messages during the year. The National Trust Scone Odyssey continues in 2015 - with 62 properties done, we have <mumbles something that sounds a bit like 490> to go!

2 comments:

  1. Can I recommend Antony in Cornwall and Montacute........

    ReplyDelete
  2. Loving the sconey count down, keep up the good work on behalf of all of us whose other halves would sooner eat their own leg than visit an NT property...

    ReplyDelete