No, that photo isn’t the new BRAPA outfit for the GBG20 season.
I’m in Largs, birthplace of the ice cream wars and home to Nardini’s, whose famous fudge flavour ices were used extensively as props in This Life, apparently.
Largs is an odd shaped hour on the train out from Glasgow Central.
If it was in England it’d be Maldon rather than Margate. I’m not sure what the Glaswegian Margate is, probably Carluke.
It’s a genteel place, appealing to the newly retired like me and Pubmeister.
The No.1 activity in Largs, according to Trip Advisor, is arguing which branch of Nardini’s to queue at.
As it was I chose the smaller branch near the ferry to Cumbrae, a perfect spot to watch as I somehow missed two launches in succession.
Those misses meant I had time to nip and get an Italian sausage panini from Deli IL Cardo (NPSS 3.5) and realise that Life Was Good.
You see, I’d brought the sun with me to Scotland. It seems to follow me around. When Duncan met me later, he told me this was the first day of sunshine all month. No coincidence, surely.
Fifteen minutes to the next ferry, just time to admire the town landmarks,
and nip in J G Sharps for a half.
Most of the Guide pubs up the Ayrshire coast are just the owners name, and most look like this.
My sort of pub, though what Pub Curmudgeon would call societal change as well as 2007 legislation has decimated trade.
My Sea Fury was the first poured, and not as cool as we Southerners like, but was a frothy, tasty NBSS 3.
It was worth £1.80 just to hear Billy sing Roxy Music’s “Dance Away” though. His voice is better than Ferry’s these days.
retiredmartin 
It’s not uncommon (though maybe less common than it used to be) for pubs to be named after their proprietor in Scotland. I hadn’t really thought about that before. Don’t think there is a Margate equivalent (shame).
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It’s probably that fun Park near Motherwell so perhaps Carluke not a million miles off 😉
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Ah, I’m just reminded that when in Scotland, if you want fish and chips, then you have to ask for a “fish supper” even if it’s lunchtime. If you ask for fish and chips, then you may be asked “single”? which does not mean “just the one meal either”, but rather “separate” as in a portion of fish separately from one of chips…
And so on…
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But I can’t remember if it’s balm cake, bap, cob, roll or something else north of the border.
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And I don’t think I’ve ever seen broccoli up there.
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All UK broccoli production is reserved for the GBBF, Paul.
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It’s a roll up here, as in “morning rolls” which are brilliant with bacon. Or sausage. Or anything else fried.
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All Scottish broccoli is deep fried, normally inside a Mars bar.
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It’s almost like it’s a different country or something.
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It might not be the new BRAPA outfit, but are you sure it isn’t this season’s Hull City Away Kit (it’s all you want for Christmas).
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A fish supper on Cumbrae and a nugget wafer ice cream in Largs. That’s living well.
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Would you see the words “try our famous fish tea” in England? (Certainly not in the States, as folk would imagine some sort of haddock-flavored version of Darjeeling.)
I got to see Roxy Music in concert here in Michigan circa 2002. Quite a good show, though I was the oddball who’d come there mainly to see the opening act, Rufus Wainwright.
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Oh yes, def. Rufus.
I think “fish tea” might work on Yorkshire. They’re odd there too.
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But not at lunchtime.
They’re closed then anyway. And at teatime. 11.00 – 12.45, 15.30 – 17. 45, and 20.30 – 23. 00 are typical.
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Yes, they don’t get out t’mill at lunchtime.
And it’s usually just bread and dripping at teatime.
It’s grim up north.
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And it’s Grime down south.
Cultural reference for you there.
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Peter Grimes on the east coast of southern England ?
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Very close.
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So maybe Grime as a genre of electronic dance music that emerged in London in the early 2000s ?
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When we went to Largs, we left JG Sharp’s once because it was so rammed standing was the only option, and the time we did go in, it was rammed. This was May, though, and the town was rammed too.
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Interesting.
Only been in late August/ September, when schools were back but town still pleasantly busy. Spoons has undoubtedly hit the lunchtime trade in the trad pubs.
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