The effort I put into these blog titles, and do you care ? Do you ? I’ve got a day to myself in Helston Premier Inn after last night on the Blue Anchor Special, a Lost Weekend if you like. You’ll have to wait for that one, and the newish Spoons in Wellington (t’other one),… Continue reading (BEATING) SIMON (TO THE) COWAL (PENINSULA)
Month: October 2022
AMERICANS v GEORDIES IN ARROCHAR
The Yanks are over here (Europe), drinking our beer, now that it’s about a dollar a pint. Boak and Bailey noted the loud Americans in old Nuremberg, and in Loch Lomondshire (not a real county, just one made up by CAMRA for tourists) Arrochar’s Village Inn was packed with them back in August as I… Continue reading AMERICANS v GEORDIES IN ARROCHAR
KILLIN IN THE NAME OF…
Not for the first time, Duncan Mackay got there first. But where his marvellous post on Killin riffs on the Fugees Roberta, I looked to a slightly edgier classic. As Duncan writes, Killin is beautifully situated for ticks across Lomond & the Trossachs and a couple of outliers on Tayside, though as regular readers will… Continue reading KILLIN IN THE NAME OF…
Taking duff beer back is NOT MY JOB !
The beer in Loch Lomond and the Trossachs (no such county) was no better or worse than in any other GBG chapter, and the Scottish trend to a lone handpump post-Covid largely paid dividends. But it wall went to (plant) pot in Strathyre, though the White Stag was rescued by some gorgeous views from the… Continue reading Taking duff beer back is NOT MY JOB !
THE GARTMORE HERITAGE SOCIETY
The first week of August, and the race to complete the delightfully named but completely fictitious “Loch Lomond, Stirling & the Trossachs” chapter of the GBG was in full flow. Here, in its entirety (all of it) is what Wiki has to tell us about Gartmore; Gartmore is a village in the Stirling council area, Scotland. It is… Continue reading THE GARTMORE HERITAGE SOCIETY
WOMEN MANSPLAINING “CHEEBATTA” IN ABERFOYLE
I always thought Aberfoyle (pop. 790) was in Wales, so the August trip to Tick the Lomond/Trossachs chapter was educational as well as triumphant, though I still have no idea who Mr(s) Trossach is/was. These “gateway” villages to the hills are pretty much one long street with a garage, Co-op, two hotels (one with cask)… Continue reading WOMEN MANSPLAINING “CHEEBATTA” IN ABERFOYLE
AWAKE, KIPPEN, A WAKE
Another small west Stirlingshire village, another tick in the tricky (and artificial) Loch Lomond chapter of the Guide, another weathered information board, this one welcoming me to Kippen (pop. 1,140). If you can make head or tail of that you win the battered haggis I’ve keeping in a sock in the campervan since early August.… Continue reading AWAKE, KIPPEN, A WAKE
The Gargunnock’s “Soup of the Day” is Curried Parnsip.
Am I having a midlife crisis ? I can’t even get excited about the imminent arrival of the new Good Beer Guide (where “imminent” = “no idea when”). Novelty books are a good idea on pub shelves as they make excellent props when there’s nothing else to comment on apart from the Curried Parsnip soup,… Continue reading The Gargunnock’s “Soup of the Day” is Curried Parnsip.
A STIRLING EFFORT (SLIGHT RETURN)
If I did a blog post on GBG oddities, it would obviously focus on daft opening hours, pubs only selling Doom Bar, and bars that (permanently) don’t serve real ale. But I’d also tell you about sizeable places that haven’t had a new entry in what feels like 20 years. Like Walsall. And Tring. And… Continue reading A STIRLING EFFORT (SLIGHT RETURN)
IN FOR A PENNY, INN FOR A DOLLAR
My bed for the night on the first leg of the August Assault on Alba (?) was in a carpark in the hills high above Dollar. About £105 a night cheaper than anything in town. Of course Dollar was originally named Sterling, but when officials realised this risked confusion with the similarly named city to… Continue reading IN FOR A PENNY, INN FOR A DOLLAR
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