Reading new posts from BRAPA, LifeAfterFootball and PubHermit this morning* reminded me there’s more to life than ticking pubs. There’s pinking in Navigator maps, brass bands and Matthew Le Tissier, too.
And ice cream.
I’m not a great pudding person, unusually for a boy from the Fens, where every other pub had a revolving dessert cabinet once.
But I can’t resist a queue for a sweet shop,even if it is composed of small children smearing fudge sauce on my man bag.
Cheap and cheerful, rather than artisan, just as I like it. While I’m in complimentary mood, the unfussy service and hot coffee in Graze was superb.
Anyway, Dunbar, I liked you a lot.
For a start, there’s pubs that Mrs RM wouldn’t go in, even though she’s big and brave.
Loads of scary dark closes leading to nowhere, just like in Tewkesbury (and Selkirk to be fair).
The street art is either very inventive or very sloppy.
But best of all, there’s rocks.
All individually named on my OS map.
I headed for The Gripes. Probably.
The coast from the English Berwick to the Scottish one is full of great rocks.
I braved a half in the Rocks, fittingly. It has some great signage.
The Rocks is the sort of small seaside hotel that London middle-class holiday makers would enjoy, convincing them they were in Burnham Thorpe or Brancaster.
The public bar is stunning.
And empty. I had to get the hotel receptionist to track down someone in the kitchen who can pour me a half of Belhaven, cleverly hidden behind the tulips so as not to scare hotel guests.
What a beautifully simple pump clip. Equal to the view.
But in 25 degrees, I joined the Peroni drinkers on the deck chairs. And stared at rocks for 20 minutes.
In good condition(NBSS 3), one of the best of the Lothians trip.
All it needs is a Chinese takeaway recommendation and Draught Bass and I can put Dunbar in my Top 20 towns.
*Sadly you need to be retired to keep up with all the great pub posts these days.
retiredmartin 
I love Belhaven. The Tynemouth Lodge sold 80/- for years and we often had trips to the brewery, but when GK took over consistency deteriorated to the point where Hugh had no choice but to take it out. I can’t drink a lot of 80/- as it’s too rich and sweet but it’s still a cracking ‘proper’ Scottish beer.
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I miss the 80/ beers I had in Edinburgh and Glasgow 15-20 or so years ago, whether Belhaven/Caley/etc. I thought turnover post smoking ban was a bigger factor than GK if I’m honest, who knows.
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The Tynemouth Lodge has only benefited from the smoking ban. It’s far busier now than it was when the ban was implemented. Even the smokers prefer it as it used to be ridiculously smoky even with the high volume air filters that were on the ceiling.
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Can’t argue with that. Of course, the Lodge is open-plan so couldn’t implement separate rooms for folk who want to (legally) hasten their death. But I’m all for choice where separate rooms exist.
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I’ve had more dodgy pints of Belhaven than I care to remember over the years, hence I would not touch it with yours. I’m not a big fan of traditional Scottish beers neither, mind say, some of the newer breweries are stunning. I’m not sure if my fave Pilot counts though? The lads a Manc who follows Salford RL.
Having seen he reference to the Castle & Battery on the OS map, henceforth you should now refer to Bass as ‘Bass (rems of)’.
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“henceforth you should now refer to Bass as ‘Bass (rems of)’.”
🙂
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“All it needs is a Chinese takeaway recommendation and Draught Bass and I can put Dunbar in my Top 20 towns”.
Stafford has several Chinese takeaways and the Railway, a favourite of Peter, and Kings Arms selling Draught Bass so it’s not only “one of the greatest pub cities of all time” but also no doubt one of your Top 20 Towns.
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I trust “Lady Sinks the Booze” on that.
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Do they do chocolate teapots as well as chocolate shoes?
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And chocolate fireguards, and chocolate stouts and porters ?
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No don’t be silly. You can’t wear teapots on your feet.
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“I’m not a great pudding person,”
Same here. 🙂
“of small children smearing fudge sauce on my man bag.”
Did a double take there for a second, but then realised you were talking about an accessory and not anything on your body. 😉
“How could you not want to go down there ?”
It looks like something out of a Stephen King novel.
“Rocks”
Had to look up Scart (rock).
“Wood”
All of those bottles in the background remind me of Pub Hermit’s latest post about the Ballygrant Inn.
“And stared at rocks for 20 minutes.”
We do that here a lot:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/tuDZpCyi7DxhUMor1
(looking at Quadra Island from Campbell River)
“*Sadly you need to be retired to keep up with all the great pub posts these days.”
Semi-retired is usually doable. 🙂
Cheers
PS – “Would like nice in my man cave”
You’re off into that brogue again (look methinks).
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Seaside towns in general contain at least one top notch boozer 😉 yes keeping abreast of all things pub can be tough if you have a job!!
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“Reading new posts from BRAPA, LifeAfterFootball and PubHermit this morning*…”
I enjoyed reading some of those last night. I don’t know why, but I had always assumed that you were the only person writing all this bollocks. And then I find that Mr BRAPA, he can certainly give you a run for your money !
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When I grow up I want to be BRAPA.
There’s also that Coldwell chap, and Alan’s Never Ending Pub Crawl, among others. It’s possible I’m the only one who makes it all up, mind.
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Praise indeed…
…and writing bollocks is theraputic – which is a good thing…
…and BRAPA Simon is the bard of beer bloggers – not unlike a John Cooper-Clark of his genre…(but younger of course…)
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JCC an excellent comparator.
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Do they still have “Jackanory” on the BBC ?
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“There’s pinking in Navigator maps, brass bands and Matthew Le Tissier, too.
And ice cream.”
Spot on Martin – That’s got to be the most definitive list ever…! ( I don’t do pinking very often though – but if I find the definitive ‘Not in the Good Beer Guide’ book (or the ‘Dining Pubs of Hampshire Guide’) I may have to invest in a pink marker…
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*Sadly you need to be retired to keep up with all the great pub posts these days.”
So true – he says still desperately trying to catch up with RM posts…
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Hire interns to read them and find errors.
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