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 pleasure steamer, but an hour later we were boarding the CalMac to perhaps the most treasured pub tick of the year.

I’ve mentioned the Westford Inn at North Uist’s Claddach Kirkibost several times as I count down to the end of a 30 year quest.

The Westford is SO remote that legendary completist Duncan actually invented the submarine in order to visit it in 1576. And people think it was Da Vinci.

Actually, it’s not THAT remote, just one 3.5 hour ferry to South Uist and then an hour’s drive to the North. But look at the OS extract;

Every minute of that hour’s drive I was worrying it would be closed; for winter (it’s nearly the end of August, after all), for attending a CAMRA awards ceremony, for C***d.

And then, 10 minutes short of the target, we were brought to an abrupt halt;

Baa Baa growled at them, they took the hint and walked round us.

I asked Mrs RM to take a photo of the famous sign;

noting how it’s spelt completely differently to the map and the GBG.

At the Westford, the car park was deserted,

“but the door’s open ! Run !“ said Mrs RM.

A fuller report to follow, probably in November, but for now I’ll just say the Westford is everything you could want from a pub. Wonderful welcome, great cask (mostly enjoyed by Mrs “most Scottish beer is rubbish” RM), real fire.

Four down, eighteen (18) to go.

And no, I’m not doing them all on this trip.

Published by retiredmartin

Retired NHS, doing long walks around UK and the world to record the great bits. Focused on Good Beer Guide pubs and live music.

14 thoughts on “18 (GBG PUBS LEFT) WITH A BULLET ! CLADDACH KIRKIBOST HAS FALLEN”

    1. No, it’s just me, Will. Possibly helped that Simon Urry (recent CAMRA Highlands chair) had told them I was coming and we had something to chat about for half an hour.

      Mrs RM said the beer was good and she knows beer (except sours).

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      1. Yes, being able to chat about your fanatstic journey nearing its conclusion would certainly have been an ice-breaker.

        Actually, on looking again at my review on Pubs Galore, my pint of Skye Red here in 2019 was in good condition, but it’s just a beer I’m not really into. That Skye Black in your photo, on the other hand, would have been just the thing.

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  3. Well done Baa Baa!

    When I was there in the 80’s there was discussion of bilingual road signs, but consensus seemed to be that adding English was unnecessary as the tourists all had maps.

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  4. 18! My heart’s beating faster just reading this. Glad that this one at least was a lovely pub. Can’t help thinking at this stage you were well past having expectations for any of these places and just were grateful to find them open and capable of pouring a pint.

    Have you been phoning ahead to every pub, double and triple checking that their doors will be open?

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