103. Edinburgh, Sunday 22nd to Wednesday 25th October 2006

Avril and I decided that it would be enjoyable to get away for a few days and have a look at the delights of Edinburgh. On the way up a road traffic accident forced us to take a detour to the village of Colsterworth and the chance to sample the White Lion which was a pretty decent albeit slightly foody pub.

The following day we had a look around Edinburgh and wanted to go for a little bit of a crawl. Kicking off before noon, we had already managed to get to Deacon Brodie's about 100 yards away from the hotel, but the lure of ale meant that we had to reward ourselves. The Deuchars IPA was very good, and the pub itself is getting towards gem status with an ornate ceiling and some very comfortable bench seats around the periphery. A gentle walk towards the castle followed but we did not reach there as we saw a sign at the mouth of an alleyway pointing us to the Jolly Judge, which was a splendid little cellar bar of a pub with very few windows. They didn't have any cask beer here so I had to make do with some Tennents bitter. Although it was pissflow, they do know how to keep beer like this and it was surprisingly good. A true winter's pub with roaring fire and ceiling covered in notes of all currencies. (Apologies to anyone whose picture I've pinched; they provide an excellent snapshot of our trip.)
Deacon Brodies, Edinburgh
Outside the Jolly Judge, Edinburgh
Inside the Jolly Judge, Edinburgh

After luncheon we did a bit more exploring and had read that there were a couple of outstanding pubs nearby. With this in mind, we decided to pay a visit to the wonderfully Victorian Café Royal, complete with magnificent fixtures and fittings although the much anticipated toilets were not quite up to scratch. They did however have about four varieties of very tasty hand pumped beer which was served from their island bar. Another, perhaps even better pub, is the Guildford Arms which was also splendidly Victorian and in which we were given an even bigger choice of beer - in fact I think that I had a drop of porter or some other fully flavoured dark beer. The seats in this pub were a little more comfortable too, and the floor was carpeted rather than tiled.
Café Royal, Edinburgh
Café Royal, Edinburgh
Guildford Arms, Edinburgh

After a short break from drinking, we picked up the crawl by going to the Cambridge towards the North West of the city centre (Young Street) that could have been interpreted as a little trendy although fortunately at the time of our visit was not populated by trendy sorts. This meant that we could have a nice seat at one of the very substantial wooden tables and have a most excellent Aberdeen Angus burger in peace, washed down with some beer from the Isle of Skye. As I recall this was a little pricey but very nice. I think I polished off Avril's beer too.

Just down the road is the Oxford Arms which is not a trendy boozer, a much more traditional establishment, but with a little more refinement than a bog standard Old Man's pub. I reckon that it is the sort of place where you could expect to have alcoholic poets give readings from time to time. The bar bit is quite small, wooden and crowded, but there is a sizeable side room with minimal furniture which is quite pleasant. One of my halves of beer was a bit past its prime, but fortunately we had a reprieve from leaving which allowed me to have another much improved half as well as check out the toilets which were also small and old fashioned. All in all, a good place to settle in and drink on a cold night, although bringing your own coat would be advisable as I'm not sure how well heated it is.

The following day we went for a bit of a drive in the mountains and by afternoon had found ourselves in Aviemore where there are a couple of pubs amid a scattering of council houses. The Winking Owl is a slightly faded attic style bar with a couple of pairs of skis hanging from the ceiling. They did have a little bit of beer on and a rather geriatric landlord taking his time to pull the pints. I am not quite sure what the downstairs of the building is used for, but for some reason I quite liked the cosy charm of the place. We were getting peckish by then too, but as we did not want to stir the kitchen of the Owl out of hibernation, we went up the road to La Taverna which was a very large chalet style building in the style of an Italian Restaurant. Although the bulk of the building is use for dining, there is enough room at the back of the building dedicated to being a bar where those that wish to can concentrate on drinking. There is all the usual kind of Italian paraphernalia hanging around: Juventus scarves, Vespa scooters, olive oil cans, paintings of Italian scenes, etc etc. I liked this place too.
Winking Owl, Aviemore
La taverne, Aviemore

Before we headed off down South again there was just time to sample the quaint delights of the Bow Bar which is situated on one of those steep roads in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle. It is a fairly basic pub done in old fashioned style, but has a very extensive array of hand pumped ales and (if I a lead to believe the things on the Internet correctly) these are dispensed in a traditional Scottish manner. No matter, for Avril and I had a delicious couple of halves. Also of particular note are the huge numbers of spirits available and something that has not been mentioned anywhere else on the web, the minimal tables, about 3 foot long and 1 foot wide, fastened to the floor on a couple of metal poles. This is all you really need for drinks in a pub, and is somewhat akin to the mini-tables that you find in the facing seats of British Rail trains. For all their wonderfulness though, the man on the next table was having a bit of a job precariously balancing his plate of sausage and mash...


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Dan Lovegrove
dan@doctor-lovegrove.com

Last updated 18th January 2007.