Eagle-eyed readers of this blog, of whom there won’t be many, will have noticed that the Bridge of Allan is virtually next door to Dunblane. Hurrah !
Now I’ve always wanted to visit Dunblane to pay homage to Sir Andy. As someone who once managed to hit a ball, underarm, over the tennis fence I’m well equipped to recognise the magnitude of Murray’s recent comeback win.
A gaggle of schoolchildren on Dunblane High Street giggled as I took the photo. I thought of asking them where the statue was, but they’d scarpered.
Another town in the magic 6k-9k range, meaning I needed about 10 minutes to walk the bounds.
It’s charming, making good use of the River Andy and being packed with little closes leading to micropubs nowhere.
Leafy and colourful, it reminded me of those quiet Franconian towns we all love.
Someone will explain why Dunblane isn’t a city when it has a cathedral; I don’t care.
What I am interested in is what a Comfort Partner does, and is it only legal in Scotland.
It’s a town dominated by a single pub.
One of Scotland’s seemingly endless supply of ornate turn-of-century boozers, I caught this at the magic hour of five o’clock.
“Are you a CAMRA ?” asked the lovely Landlady as I ordered half a Jarl, my gold card securing that crucial 8p discount that CAMRAs demand.
A polite, civilised pub that Humphrey would approve of and probably buy up if he ever had designs on Scotland.
Almost entirely blokes, so we got a soundtrack of “Ring of fire” and “Black Velvet” and more pullovers than there are pashminas in Maidstone.
If only all Scottish pubs were this good, I thought.
retiredmartin 
“Another town in the magic 6k-9k range” – and that’s how England was when I were a lad, everyone knowing everyone else so there was no crime ( well there was serving beer outside of permitted hours but no proper crime ). We’ll never see the likes of those times again.
And I’ve just got back from large pubs in two villages not many miles distant and I could count the other customers on the fingers of one hand. I know Monday is early in t’week but it weren’t like that when I started using pubs. No surprise then that so many pubs are closing – but it doesn’t help that in one them Mrs TSM’s bottle of pop was £2.55.
,
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Er, check the spelling in the title 😳
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2 s in teniss?
Note to self – Don’t compose posts after 4 pints in Carlisle or they turn into pists.
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Most ladies in Maidstone are not sophisticated enough to wear pashminas -I am the exception ! On a serious note,I cannot hear the name Dunblane without thinking about the school shooting -my lad had just started school at that time -all our children got special hugs when we collected them that day.Same applies to Hungerford which is a nice town but I still feel an air of sadness
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I didn’t mention that in the post to avoid unnecessary insensitivity in a jokey post but it was a terribly sad day.
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Interesting you liked the Hen so much, another pub that was a cracker as a freehouse and has noticably declined under Belhaven/GK ownership.
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Comfort Partnership –
https://www.highland.gov.uk/info/283/community_life_and_leisure/814/public_toilets_in_highland
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Thanks for that.
I’ve seen similar arrangements in England where pubs and cafes make facilities available, but “comfort partner” is a polite figure of speech!
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Having always called a brick s***house a brick s*** house I don’t understand the need for “a polite figure of speech”!
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That is a lovely pub indeed– worthy of many more customer I would think, but maybe you caught them on a bad day.
When she asked “Are you a CAMRA?” I couldn’t help imagining you singing your reply, “I am a CAMRA” (to the tune of the Buggles single, ‘I Am a Camera’). 🙂
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There were a dozen in by the time I left, Mark, despite my photography suggesting it was empty (it’s hard to take photos of folk when they’re staring at you 😉)
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I think I’ve used that Buggles joke before, or certainly meant to 🤔
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You’ve got to stop with these Scottish pubs selling good beer angle…it will ruin a large chunk of my material!
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