A nice bit of neoclassicism for you and Mrs RM, who works just over that bridge in Newton St Boswells. The pub there has just introduced real ale, and one day Mrs RM will be brave enough to go in there and try the lone hand pump for you.
Meanwhile, I tried the lone hand pump at the Plough in Leitholm, a Scottish pub that was open, despite being in the middle of nowhere.
It’s a one street village with some pleasing stone buildings, but even Wikipedia can’t get very excited about it.
On Paul Bailey’s post about discounts, Pub Curmudgeon notes how he was “outed” as a CAMRA member in a pubs, even though he doesn’t meet your CAMRA stereotype.
That happens to me a fair bit, even though I possess neither beard or Oliver Reed T-shirt, and was wearing Doc Martens.
But as I looked beyond the sea of keg* at the bar,
and spied the lone hand pump hiding behind the bar flies,
I was asked those immortal words;
“You a CAMRA member ? Discount for CAMRA members”
You see, in some pubs simply looking at a hand pump will out you as CAMRA, just as a permanent sense of despair will out you as a Man United fan
The Landlord asked for my card to secure the (I think) 15p saving.
“Ooh, I’ve not sure about that. Never seen that one before”
An emergency meeting of the Leitholm CAMRA Sub branch was called, I produced a copy of What’s Brewing for every year of my membership, agreement was reached.
The pub has been rescued from closure and was pleasingly full with diners. There were no available tables, so I sat at the bar enjoying an excellent discounted drop of whatever that beer is** (NBSS 3.5). A worthy Beer Guide entry.
The chatty landlord apologised for the paucity of his ale range and promised the forthcoming beer festival would have “loads of beers”.
You can guess how impressed I was with that.
*For the avoidance of doubt, there is nothing wrong with a sea of keg. Particularly in Scotland.
**Apparently it’s Canopy from South London, a real rarity.
retiredmartin 
The key to identifying CAMRA members isn’t their appearance, it’s their constant fretting over fine, some would say minute, detail and a tendency towards obsessive compulsive type behaviour. BTW have you put some polish on those Docs yet? You need to.
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It’s only Bulgarians that RM hires to take care of his footwear cleaning duties.
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Classic pub makeover signs all in place.
That samey green/blue/grey satinwood paint job,light pine bar top,recessed downlights everywhere means you need sunglasses indoors, and yes,lots of keg.
All it’s missing are ” inspirational ” life quotes on the walls and being renamed a bar/cafe.
I’d rather take jam jars and Doom bar than a place like that.
Harrumph.
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I’d say “middle-aged, middle-class bloke with jumper and glasses goes in pub on his own and peers at handpumps” is just as much a stereotype of a CAMRA member as “beard, beer gut, sandals and stained T-shirt”, if not more.
That wrought iron, silhouette sign is another indication of a trendy makeover.
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You forgot the pink marker pen sticking out of top pocket
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Actually the place was shut and the village therefore had no pub before the current owners brought it back into life. So not a ‘trendy makeover’ then.
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Obviously the current owners gained their inspiration from watching old editions of Grand Designs running on More4 with a fresh-faced Kevin Mcloud getting enthused about people building homes that look like airport departure lounges.
Good luck to them but it’s just not the type of place I’d want to drink in.
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I’ve no problem with that sort if design that appeals to casual diners, not my sort of boozer but does a good job of staying open !
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No easy task running a sustainable pub there so good luck to them. Never seen that beer before – appears to be from a brewery in south London. Must be on an agency list at the moment.
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Very enterprising Landlord, even if he’d never seen a gold card ! Odd beer choice if from London, a change from Born in the Borders.
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Also seen further North, through GK/Belhaven so not exactly weird to see it in the Borders.
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As Pat Hanson said, the village nearly didn’t have a pub at all! The place is now so much better than it was and the owners are trying hard to create a viable pub with B&B and the village shop part of the business. There is no way a wet sales only pub could survive in that location.
Whenever I have been in there has been two real ales on, both interesting, so think you were unlucky that day. Sea of keg? One beer, one larger, one cider + I think it has another keg font as well, probably the ever present (in a Scottish pub) Tenants Lager? The battle for real ale in Scotland has not been won – most people drink Tenants or Belhaven Best. If you don’t sell those your stuffed!
Hidden handpumps – I don’t think so – see your pictures – by all means have a bit of fun about being “outed” but please don’t put inaccurate negative stuff. Oh, and the CAMRA discount is 10% by the way, so you would have got 30 something pence off, not 5p.
Anyway, you had good real ale – that’s the main thing.
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Hi Jon
Thanks for info. As I said, one good beer (which I said it was) better than two, or six duff ones. As I also mentioned, pub was full of dining trade which is good to see, so I really didn’t mean to imply any negativity.
The comment about discount was flippant, but I’m generally against discounts as they give an advantage to casual over regular pubgoers.
And as you say, local CAMRA has picked a pub for the Guide with good real ale, which is what the Campaign is all about.
Cheers
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I’ve updated the post to highlight the efforts made to keep a pub open in a small rural village. I’ve no problem with styling !
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Thanks Martin – the styling comment were aimed at Professor Pie-Tin.
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Lovely piece 👍 where do you find these towns!
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On a map.
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I’ll tee them up….boom boom 😉
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“who works just over that bridge”
And here’s me, after reading that, expecting to see her suspended above the bridge. 🙂
“just as a permanent sense of despair will out you as a Man United fan”
(guffaw!)
I find the above amusing as my brother in law is a big fan (and an even bigger arse). 😉
“**Apparently it’s Canopy from South London, a real rarity.”
Odd it doesn’t show up on their website (apparently it’s Craft Academy SXSW Pale Ale).
Cheers
PS – “Nowhere”
Call that nowhere? Hah! It’s less than 50 miles from Edinburgh.
Now Dease Lake, BC is what I call in the middle of nowhere (we used to own property there). An 8 hour drive in any direction to get to a town bigger than 1,000 people. 🙂
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Fair point 😉
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