retiredmartin

A third and hopefully final ticking trip to “saucy St. Andrews“.

No, the TIC doesn’t actually call it that put “frightfully upmarket” wouldn’t work well as a slogan.

We arrived just before the 150th Golf Open, thereby annoying those annoying Americans who shout “In the hole !” before every shot (instead getting a Yank who shouts “In the pub !” but that’s a later post).

My penultimate Fife pub is just outside the town walls,

a solid looking Belhaven Greene King pub.

The Whey Pat is the birthplace of Fife CAMRA, who in 1974 could only have dreamed of such cask riches as those on display in 2022.

Two (2) Champion Beers of Britain there (OK, best Bitter 2004); what more do Tennent’s drinkers want ?

There must be more breweries than haggises (haggi) in Scotland; where do people see their beers apart from beer festivals ?

It’s a typical GK diner with staff in Tim Taylor sweatshirts; over-decorated, a bit burger obsessed, but a decent range of seating and a soundtrack clearly enjoyed by the half dozen middle-aged blokes (hey ! that’s me !).

“Eye of the Tiger“, “With or Without You“, “Tiny Dancer“, even more Bono. To be fair, as an NBSS 2.5 IPA actually improved a bit it suddenly made sense, as pub visits sometime do.

Pubs where nothing happens have their place, as Albert Camus well understood.

I had time to explore the St Andrews coastline and the Wardlaw Museum, stopping just short of the Old Course.

The repair job on the Cathedral has clearly slowed down since we left the EU,

but the Wardlaw has a scale model of what it will look like when complete,

and the only existing copy of the first Scottish Beer Guide. With maps !

Even Duncan hasn’t got a copy of that one.