retiredmartin

There’s great pub life in Scotland, but it might sometimes seem the Beer Guide alternates Wetherspoons and Brewery Taps, so The Ashton, like the Speedwell or the Phoenix, is a rare joy of a cask boozer.

The Tand likes this place, and he’s always right. You can trust a place with a proper entrance, too.

3 beers marks this down as a serious beer place, and you’ll have heard of two of them.

The first pub so far where I’m asked to sign in, surprisingly, but also the most pubby with blokes at the bar and a level of swearing (mostly relating to a daft argument around when the sun comes up) that explains why Sam Smiths never got a foothold here.

I took the last seat at the bar, something I only do on sufferance, and sort of fell in love with the Ashton.

Not particularly because of the Jarl, a good NBSS 3 pint that lacks that last degree of crispness,

but because I felt at home and the charity boxes were the best since the Isle of Man.

Helensburgh looked really lovely when I emerged into the night,

but I had to run, before Dumbarton closed.