I could just leave it there, really, couldn’t I ? There’s a suspicion that all you need to get in the Beer Guide in Scotland is put real ale on. Certainly if I look at my beer scores over the years, there’s a fair number of “X” s against pubs for low beer quality. On… Continue reading WARM DOOM BAR IN A BREWER’S FAYRE IN GLENROTHES
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DUMBFOUNDED BY DUNFERMLINE
It’s unforgivable, I know, but I still get Dumbarton and Dunfermline mixed up. The former is the west coast mecca of real ale that Tandleman writes about, the latter the only thing between you and the east coast joys of Glenrothes, of which more too soon. Anyway, I started at Edinburgh Waverley, where I failed… Continue reading DUMBFOUNDED BY DUNFERMLINE
A ROAR HEARD FROM BUDAPEST TO HAWICK
Scotland doesn’t do average. For every dull dining pub or vinegar tasting experience, there seems to be a classic boozer that would hold its head high in Sedgley or Stockport or Woolwich. Onwards to Hawick. It’s a pretty place, very atmospheric at dusk last Tuesday. And a proper Scottish town, with a Spoons so… Continue reading A ROAR HEARD FROM BUDAPEST TO HAWICK
MAN’S SEARCH FOR REALITY, RETIREDMARTIN’S SEARCH FOR THE PUB DOOR
“I hope I can make it across the Borders” said Morgan Freeman after becoming a free man in “Shawshank Redemption“, the second best film ever made. My own quest to make it across the Scottish Borders brought me to West Linton, a posh little village where people can escape the odd smells that necessitate perfumed… Continue reading MAN’S SEARCH FOR REALITY, RETIREDMARTIN’S SEARCH FOR THE PUB DOOR
TOP 100 PUBS – BRIDGE INN (TRUST), PEEBLES
Someone jumped to the view that I don’t like Scottish pubs after a recent post, which couldn’t be further from the truth. And Peebles may have a less than stellar Spoons but it has a classic pub in the Bridge (aka Trust) I popped there after a macaroni pie in the High Street, a calorific… Continue reading TOP 100 PUBS – BRIDGE INN (TRUST), PEEBLES
THE PEEBLES SPOONS TASTE TEST
Two pubs in Peebles. One a classic. One, less so. Actually, it now seems I’d missed the most famous bar in town. By five years. The Keg bites the dust in Peebles https://t.co/KeksFBPq1W pic.twitter.com/a5D3yj9JIP — Pub Curmudgeon 🍻 (@oldmudgie) April 3, 2018 Actually, Peebles is probably the capital of cask in the Borders, with… Continue reading THE PEEBLES SPOONS TASTE TEST
SELKIRK – LEAVE RIGHT NOW
If anyone gets that reference before the last paragraph they can award themselves 5 points*. My ambition in Scotland last week was to clear the Borders (not literally) and make some inroads into Fife. I also wanted to explore a few tiddly towns I’d missed on my travels, even if they had nothing for the… Continue reading SELKIRK – LEAVE RIGHT NOW
LAST CALL FOR DINERS BY THE DERWENT
It’s a little known fact that men become grumpy when they’re hungry, but women stay calm and phone ahead to find pubs still serving food at 8.30 pm on Monday in the middle of Dark Durham. “Our cook goes home at 9“. Our ETA was 8.47. Hoorah for the Punch Bowl in Edmundbyers, the… Continue reading LAST CALL FOR DINERS BY THE DERWENT
THE A68 – CRISPS, CASK AND CHOMSKY
“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans“, as Yoko Ono once said. So I spend my time planning trips to the Isle of Wight, wherever that is, and dreaming of making inroads into East Devon, but end up driving up and down the A68 past the mining towns of Durham.… Continue reading THE A68 – CRISPS, CASK AND CHOMSKY
MY GRANDFATHER’S CLOCK IN KOREAN.
A few exciting reports from my mega-ticking excursion to Scotland last week, starting with Piercebridge, which you may remember from last year, or from Roger Protz’s excellent book on the A1 pubs. Piercebridge popped back in my mind as we drove up the (newly re-opened) B6275 towards the Scottish borders on Monday night. Largely because… Continue reading MY GRANDFATHER’S CLOCK IN KOREAN.
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