I know you know I love a bit of early U2 (I saw them in ’81, preachy even then), and there’s no better place to go for the soundtrack as I move inexorably from 12 to 11 GBG pubs to do. By 1981, the Applecross Inn has a coastal route for intrepid pub tickers too… Continue reading 11 (O’CLOCK) TICK (TOCK) – A SLOW DESCENT TO THE APPLECROSS
Month: August 2022
A DOZEN (GBG) ROSES & A SIX-PACK (OF IPA) – THE TICKING OF STRATHCARRON
With the ticking of the Strathcarron Hotel my GBG requirements fell to twelve. I thought there’d be LOADS of songs with twelve in them, but Cole Swindell was the obvious choice. Dave “US Dave” Southworth tells me Cole is “the new Dylan“*, but I reckon his musical collaborator Shy Carter is the a superior capturer… Continue reading A DOZEN (GBG) ROSES & A SIX-PACK (OF IPA) – THE TICKING OF STRATHCARRON
No. 13 Baby – A Local Hero in Plockton
You’re getting these short reports from The Final Countdown before it’s rudely interrupted by our annual visit to Cranborne Chase (aka Sixpenny brewery land) for the End of the Road festival. I’m there for the usual motley array of teenage angst and Americana and Bao buns, with little interest in the headliners who I saw… Continue reading No. 13 Baby – A Local Hero in Plockton
14 YEARS, 14 TICKS LEFT. BYE BYE SKYE, HELLO PLOCKTON
I want to thank Simon Urry, a legend of the Highlands, for his advice and help in visiting pubs these last few days. He really is a #PubMan, and I can’t say better than that. I also want to thank the folk who have suggested songs with fourteen (14) in the title, and “Seven And… Continue reading 14 YEARS, 14 TICKS LEFT. BYE BYE SKYE, HELLO PLOCKTON
FIFTEEN MINUTES, FIFTEEN (15) TICKS LEFT. CARBOST OR BUST.
Today’s Reader of the Day is the mysterious sidspid, who recommends Kirsty MacColl as the soundtrack as I take you down to fifteen remaining ticks. Blimey, Kirsty was a great songwriter (sometimes let down by tinny production), look at these lines; There’s Suzy-Ann with her tits and curlsWhere mediocrity excelsFor those vicious boys and their… Continue reading FIFTEEN MINUTES, FIFTEEN (15) TICKS LEFT. CARBOST OR BUST.
SWEET LITTLE SIXTEEN (Too young to get married) (as you might ruin my Sligachan GBG tick)
Am I allowed to reference Chuck Berry in 2022 ? Anyhow, sticking rigidly to the Scottish Tickathon, here’s the sixth tick of the final twenty-two, which by my maths makes that a Sweet Sixteen to go*. Big thank you to Cal Mac (Calvin MacDonald, who built the first oracle to take tickers across the sea… Continue reading SWEET LITTLE SIXTEEN (Too young to get married) (as you might ruin my Sligachan GBG tick)
THE EDGE OF SEVENTEEN (17) – GBG TICKING IN STORNOWAY
More almost up-to-date blogging from the Scottish Highlands as the Countdown to GBG Completion wobbles on. This post comes from the front seat of a campervan parked in the car park of the Applecross, waiting for noon opening while Mrs RM fixed Spanish IT issues. From the Uists we caught a ferry to Harris, which… Continue reading THE EDGE OF SEVENTEEN (17) – GBG TICKING IN STORNOWAY
18 (GBG PUBS LEFT) WITH A BULLET ! CLADDACH KIRKIBOST HAS FALLEN
Another update from The Road to GBG Completion, this one from the Hebrides Hotel in Tarbert where we’re getting our money’s worth (£16 a fish finger sandwich) by hogging a table and the WiFi. We awoke early on Saturday morning in Mallaig, hoping the ferry to the Uists had turned up. It hadn’t; just a… Continue reading 18 (GBG PUBS LEFT) WITH A BULLET ! CLADDACH KIRKIBOST HAS FALLEN
Nnnnnnn…19 GBG ticks to go. Mallaig around midnight.
A short post from Stornoway, where the Americano in Eleven has revived me sufficiently to tell you about the 3rd tick on our Quest to Tick the West (of Scotland). You’ll recall how I started Friday needing 22, knocking off a couple at the end of an 8 hour slog to Mallaig, whose Steam Inn… Continue reading Nnnnnnn…19 GBG ticks to go. Mallaig around midnight.
MRS RM PHONES THE LOCHABER PUBS TO ASK THEM TO STAY OPEN A BIT LONGER
I’ll give you a pub by pub account of our progress towards GBG completion, and leave the 200 pubs in July and August till later. Sorry if you were waiting on that Scilly report. Yesterday (was it Friday ?) was stressful. The campervan needed new tyres and a leaky shaft (whatever that is) fixed. So… Continue reading MRS RM PHONES THE LOCHABER PUBS TO ASK THEM TO STAY OPEN A BIT LONGER
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