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.
Tag: Scotland
A SPECIAL END TO TICKING IN SCOTLAND
Dave Halliwell, our Manx correspondent, summed up the appeal of travel guided by the GBG here; I started the blog to write about travel and will press on till I can’t after completing the Guide. I understand there may be some great pubs outside the GBG. It’s taken me 57 years to reach Orkney, and… Continue reading A SPECIAL END TO TICKING IN SCOTLAND
EIGHT MILLION STORIES, EIGHT PUBS TO TICK, LET’S LICK WICK
So many songs with eight (8) in the title, and I choose A Tribe Called Quest. Yes, it’s started. Yesterday saw a nine hour journey from the Chung Hwa to a four poster bed in Kingussie accessed by a secret code, a journey beset with disasters such as a detour through Grantham, flooded motorway in… Continue reading EIGHT MILLION STORIES, EIGHT PUBS TO TICK, LET’S LICK WICK
9 CRIMES, PROBABLY NINE (9) RULE VIOLATIONS AT BEN LAWERS
Where was I ? Oh, telling you about the Great Scottish Ticking Trip, which came to a halt last Monday in Ben Lawers last Monday, leaving me stranded on nine (9) pubs to go to complete the lot. Will BRAPA get there before me at this rate ? 40 minutes off the glorious A9 from… Continue reading 9 CRIMES, PROBABLY NINE (9) RULE VIOLATIONS AT BEN LAWERS
TEN YEARS AFTER, TEN TICKS TO GO. A PAUSE IN PITLOCHRY
A little pause on the blog of late due to “life events” and “irregular WiFi”, neither of which are Kangaroo Air Force Ventilator covers. Due to those “life events” I’m NOT in Orkney tomorrow, but a week ago I was in northern Scotland reducing my GBG pubs required down to a round ten. I think… Continue reading TEN YEARS AFTER, TEN TICKS TO GO. A PAUSE IN PITLOCHRY
11 (O’CLOCK) TICK (TOCK) – A SLOW DESCENT TO THE APPLECROSS
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
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
ANY POT PLANT IN A STORM
As you’ll know by now, my final twenty-two GBG ticks are in northern Scotland, a country I didn’t actually believe existed a year ago, but have spent more nights in than Sheffield this summer. My late June trip to Perth, Tayside and the Grampians was a triumph, though I must have sat on my phone… Continue reading ANY POT PLANT IN A STORM
THROWING THE BALL BACK IN FREUCHIE
More modest posts about modest little Scots boozers, and more proof that Fife is a corking chapter of the GBG as long as you care little about whether your beer is GBG 3+ or GBG 3- (3.25, Mike). Actually, it’s the Kingdom of Fife, of course, just as it’s the Mess of Merseyside and the… Continue reading THROWING THE BALL BACK IN FREUCHIE
GLENROTHES REVISITED, WITH SURPRISING RESULTS
Until last month, Glenrothes was, perhaps, best known for the Retired Martin blog post from a GBG Brewer’s Fayre serving only an undrinkable Doom Bar. “But ALL Doom Bar is undrinkable, surely ?” writes a luddite on Discourse. Oh, and its proximity to the historic town of Raith, home to Kirkcaldy Rovers. But time, and… Continue reading GLENROTHES REVISITED, WITH SURPRISING RESULTS
retiredmartin 