A penultimate tick in Dumfries & Galloway, and a second visit to the Laurie Arms in a year. “Stewarty Pub of the Year 2022” says What Pub, adding to my geographical confusion. Almost nothing to say about Haugh apart from there’s a pub but no shops, so here’s some apples. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t… Continue reading RESILIENCE PAYS OFF IN HAUGH OF URR
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YOUR FULL SCOTTISH BREAKFAST GUIDE REACHES THE GATEHOUSE OF FLEET
“Have you got up to date with your *******(*) blog yet ?” says Mrs RM, whose swearing is almost at 2022 Taylor Swift levels. Well, not quite, but as I approach the last couple of reports from Dumfries & Galloway I can at least see an end to the backlog. Joan and Dave have been… Continue reading YOUR FULL SCOTTISH BREAKFAST GUIDE REACHES THE GATEHOUSE OF FLEET
SLOW SERVICE FROM DOLLY THE PUB CAT IN SANDHEAD
Ayrshire in the bag, I then headed down the coast, somehow avoiding the charms (honest) of Girvan, to pitch up down the road from Stranraer. Posts on minor Scottish football teams are always popular, so it was a shame Stranraer chose not to have a game that Friday morning when I arrived, and Sandhead’s appeal… Continue reading SLOW SERVICE FROM DOLLY THE PUB CAT IN SANDHEAD
RESERVED FOR THE SMIRNOFFS IN TROON
One last tick in Ayrshire, a delayed tick in Troon, which had failed to honour its promised if unlikely opening hours of 10:30 to 02:30 the next morning on my last birthday (22 December, make a note). I knew I’d be back, just like Boris. Perhaps my return to No. 47 was more welcome than… Continue reading RESERVED FOR THE SMIRNOFFS IN TROON
ARRAN IN A DAY. OR LESS.
Two more ferries after that meagre Spoons breakfast in Largs; I nearly succumbed to the Vegan Black Pudding Bene at Moka on my first ever perusal of Ardrossan (underpubbed, I reckon), and probably should have bought a plant pot for my travels. Back in 2000 we took a year-old James across the Clyde to Arran… Continue reading ARRAN IN A DAY. OR LESS.
SUN COMES UP, IT’S THURSDAY MORNING (SPOONS BREAKFAST IN LARGS REMIX)
Dunno why I was thinking of this classic that morning in Innellan, perhaps Margo’s line about the “extra few feet in my bed” of the campervan you can see parked by the coast in that top photo. I sleep well in my van with its bijou toilet facilities and comfy pillows, as long as I’m… Continue reading SUN COMES UP, IT’S THURSDAY MORNING (SPOONS BREAKFAST IN LARGS REMIX)
WILL I TICK THE NEW GOOD BEER GUIDE ?
The new Good Beer Guide (2023) has arrived ! Well, in York, anyway, where BRAPA has his Privilege copy while the rest of the “ticker community” (all six of us) remain on tenterhooks. Or is it tender hooks ? Simon has been dutifully sending us pages of the GBG via WhatsApp, probably breaking CAMRA law,… Continue reading WILL I TICK THE NEW GOOD BEER GUIDE ?
(BEATING) SIMON (TO THE) COWAL (PENINSULA)
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)
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…
retiredmartin 