The mid-June posts continue as we head towards Bass Rock, the fount of eternal youth, possibly. This trip was targeting the Lothians, the posh Tory-voting stretch between Berwick North and the English border. The farming villages (see : East Linton) round here are gorgeous and underrated, and Gifford in the parish of Yester is stunning,… Continue reading NO GOBLIN IN GIFFORD
Tag: Scotland
KELSO INCREASES THE PRICE OF THE SCRATCHINGS BY 10%
So much for a week off The Tick and 25 posts a day to catch up. This report from mid June comes courtesy of the WiFi in the smart Tesco cafe in Fforest-fach. The Welsh love their surplus f’s. Unbelievably, that’s the Shakshuka eggs in Tesco, whose rebranding of their cafés is a thing of… Continue reading KELSO INCREASES THE PRICE OF THE SCRATCHINGS BY 10%
BINGO NIGHT IN HAWICK SPOONS
The blog reaches Scotland for the first of two long trips into the hospitable north of the GBG. Look how green Scotland looks (or it did, before the last two days). A long slog to Hawick, (pronounced Hoik !, apparently) where I curse not doing the Bourtree when I was here in 2018. You should… Continue reading BINGO NIGHT IN HAWICK SPOONS
CWMBRAN CONQUERED
I finished Lincolnshire’s Guide entries again today (no applause, it was only 5 newbies this year) and realised just how much fun BRAPA will have getting to places like Pinchbeck and Donington unless he can find a sucker disciple to ferry him round the northern Fens in a post-Beeching world. In contrast, most of my… Continue reading CWMBRAN CONQUERED
HELENSBURGH CHARITY BOX PORN
There’s great pub life in Scotland, but it might sometimes seem the Beer Guide alternates Wetherspoons and Brewery Taps, so The Ashton, like the Speedwell or the Phoenix, is a rare joy of a cask boozer. The Tand likes this place, and he’s always right. You can trust a place with a proper entrance, too.… Continue reading HELENSBURGH CHARITY BOX PORN
FIRST FOOTING IN HELENSBURGH SPOONS
I’m now desperate to catch up on the blog, but clearly not desperate enough to actually stop visiting pubs to stop the backlog increasing. TWO (2) pubs on 25 December, the best of times, the worst of times. Back to My Birthday Eve, and a real Bucket List moment as I finally tick the trio… Continue reading FIRST FOOTING IN HELENSBURGH SPOONS
MIXING CASK AND KEG IN MILNGAVIE
The Scottish Tickathon heads west now, towards Glasgow and one of those places that Scots pronounce wrongly to humiliate visiting English pub men. Milngavie is clearly pronounced “Miln-gar-vey” like the Elbow frontman, but oh no, it’s “Mul-guy” apparently, like the the Elbow frontman. There’s two identical Premier Inns a few yards apart a mile south… Continue reading MIXING CASK AND KEG IN MILNGAVIE
AN EMOTIONAL RETURN TO CROMARTY
30 years ago, in the weekend that it looked I might be conscripted to fight the first Gulf war (we really did think that), I flew up to Edinburgh to meet a girl called Siobahn (i.e. Shivawn) I’d met on the Christian dating site. We drove up to Cromarty the next day, the furthest I’d… Continue reading AN EMOTIONAL RETURN TO CROMARTY
A NIGHT ON THE BLACK ISLE
And on and on the Scottish trip goes; 677 miles now as we reach Fortrose on the Black Isle. Today’s football quiz, especially for our American readers; Name the Scottish Premiership team in the OS extract below “Ah, but do you mean the Cromarty Under-11s Premiership ?” asks reader D. Mackay. We’d booked a night… Continue reading A NIGHT ON THE BLACK ISLE
WHAT’S THE STORY IN TOBERMORY
I was a Balamory dad. When I went part time in the early 2000s to take James and Matthew to pubs, it was Balamory and those Thomas the Tank Engine videos voiced by Ringo Starr (the best post-Beatles output IMHO) that we watched together. And I could leave the boys in front of the telly… Continue reading WHAT’S THE STORY IN TOBERMORY
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