In the Beginning

And we’re off! On Saturday 1st September 2007 at 7.58pm (approximately), myself and Nick embarked on our stupidest mission yet, accompanied by my trusty flatmate Adam “4 pints” Johns. The glamourous location of this momentous occasion was Clermiston Turning Circle – we thought if we were going to do this, we might as well do it in style.



We were so excited by the prospect of spending up to the next 8 years falling in and out of bars that we only managed to take the number 1 (pictured above) round the corner to Drum Brae, where liquid refreshment was sought.

The Rainbow, Drum Brae South (1, 21, 26, 32)

I suppose this was the start proper, as this thing isn’t about sitting about on buses all day but more finding different pubs in strange parts of town. Sadly The Rainbow doesn’t really qualify as “different” - in fact it’s a pretty generic bar. Nice enough though, and the Guinness was good so that was all that mattered. We necked our pints (pictured below) and headed out to catch a number 26 to St John’s Road.



The Oak Inn, St. John’s Road (12, 26, 31, X48, 100)

Again, this place was nothing special, and they wouldn’t let us take our pints outside to the tables for some reason – are people in Corstorphine always this humourless? There was some form of karaoke going on, with middle aged punters massacring various songs which wouldn’t be out of place at a Rangers match. Didn’t hear The Sash though, interestingly.

Thomson’s Bar, Morrison Street (2)

We hopped on a number 12 into town and headed up to Morrison Street. Thomson’s is a lovely little boozer, nice ales, great range of malts - and I’m told that they do very nice pies. We were joined here by my old school friend Alistair Brown, the renowned part-time Frenchman, occasional NME hack and general connoisseur of all things drinkable.

The Ossian, Morrison Street (2)

After necking a quick Deuchars (or, in Adam’s case, Liefmans), we made our way all across the road to the Ossian, a pub which had a fantastic range of beers on tap but funnily enough not its namesake. Draft Budvar and Red Stripe were definite plus points, as was the fact that they seemed to be playing all of the Rolling Stones’ classic singles on shuffle. A nice touch, even if it meant we had to put up with Nick’s attempts at singing.

We felt that, seeing as it was the last night of 5am licensing, and we hadn’t been for bloody ages, it would be a good idea to head along to Citrus for some indie action. Sadly the place shut at 3.15 (don’t worry, this was duly met with a chorus of boos and offensive comments) so none of us lasted till 5. Especially not Adam, who somehow disappeared to be sick around 11.15 and never returned. We got there at 10.55. Hopefully next time he’ll finish his 5th pint before heading home. Still, at 4 pubs down it’s a good start. Until the next time…

QUOTE OF THE NIGHT:

“I’m not drunk, it was the crepe” – Adam “Lightweight” Johns

Cumulative pub count: 4