A Statement of Apology (2)

The following apology relates to the bulletin entitled “An Update From Our Resident Statistician” dated 21st November 2007.

The Management would like to apologise for an error published by our resident statistician on 21st November. In his breakdown of Pub Challenge attendees, he erroneously accompanied Greig Bingham’s entry with a picture of some congo drums. The Management would like to stress that they were not involved with the publication of this post, and apologise for any offence or injury caused as a result. The association of congo drums with Greig was NOT FUNNY and it shall not be repeated. A more accurate picture of Greig is contained below.



Until the next time…

THE EASTERN LIMITS

MUSSELBURGH is pretty much the eastern limit of the Great Edinburgh Pub Challenge, despite the fact it isn’t actually in Edinburgh at all. Oh well. The Volunteer Arms (or Staggs, as it is locally known) (North High St, Musselburgh, 15/26/30/44) was where we commenced our tour. Not to be mistaken with the pub of the same name towards the foot of Leith Walk, it is a boozer typical of those found around Edinburgh and the Lothians; front room with a bar crowded by resident drinkers, and a room through the back where either the football or the racing is being shown. You can imagine that a few years back it would have been incredibly smoky round those parts. It was the football in Staggs, Chelsea v Derby County to be precise. We arrived just after the sun went down, Nick having a pint of Jaipur IPA (“Rocket fuel, man”, he claimed the next day, blaming it for his hangover. Aye, you’re right, it had nothing to do with the other 12 or so pints you had over the course of the night). Myself and Nick Rennie (well, when he eventually arrived) stuck to less exotic pints.

Across the road is The Hayweight (North High St, Musselburgh, 15/26/30/44) which is decidedly like the Rainbow in Corstorphine, big empty floor with a karaoke machine and disco lights perched precariously against the wall. Thankfully we were long gone before anyone decided it would be a good idea to sing.

Next stop was the Ravelston House Hotel (North High St, Musselburgh, 15/26/30/44) which is, as you may have guessed, nowhere near Ravelston. Seemed to have the same pretences though, plush carpets, over 65s decidedly well dressed and all that jazz.

The Ship Inn (North High St, Musselburgh, 15/26/30/44) was the last – and probably my favourite - of the pubs we visited in East Lothian. Tell you what though – don’t sit next to the door in the middle of winter, it’s bloody freezing for about 5 minutes after anyone nips out for a fag! However, we did run into a character known locally as “Willie the porn king.” Sadly we didn’t really hear how he came to have this name.

The next day we were back in more mundane territory after visiting the Thomas Telford exhibition at the Portrait Gallery (if you didn’t go, you missed out). Lord Bodo’s (York Place, 4/8/10/11/12/15/16/17/26/44/45) has possibly the greatest name of all the pubs we’ve found so far. Not as spectacular inside but still pretty neat – it’s a basement bar and it’s pretty small with just a couple of booths round the outside and two or three tables in the middle. We were informed of the Scots draw for the World Cup in 2010, finished our pints and left.

QUOTE OF THE NIGHT: “Can’t make it out tonight lads, I was that pished last night I’d have drunk a cup of diarrhoea” – Ian Davidson. Nice.

CUMULATIVE PUB COUNT: 42

WHERE IS ADAM JOHNS?

Our some time companion (and noted chunderer) Adam Johns spends some of his evenings working in licensed premises somewhere up the Bridges. Given the state of affairs last time we left you., we devised a simple plan; meet somewhere central for a pint, take in Adam’s place of work (and wind him up a bit) and then drag him out for a few pints. What could possible go wrong?

Logie Baird’s Bar (The Bank Hotel, corner of South Bridge and High Street, 3/5/7/8/14/29/30/31/33/35/37/47/49) is a funny one, particularly as far as the clientele are concerned. You get a few students watching sport whilst enjoying the use of discount cards (note: their Setanta reception was crap when last tried), a few tourists who’ve stumbled in off the Royal Mile, and a few folk who seem to just be jakes who’ve managed to find themselves on the wrong side of South Bridge from Hunter Square. Other than that, it’s got a big central bar, some nice upstairs seats and does passable grub.

We necked our pints of Best and shuffled off to annoy Adam, who had informed us that he was working until ten. There was only one problem, however – he wasn’t there. “He might be working at [other licensed premises in Tollcross] tonight, he ain’t on the rota pal”, we were informed and so we trekked off across the city. After all, it was still only quarter past nine, and we could get a couple in before he joined us. However, the staff in this other place told us that the bar wasn’t open that night. Strange.

The Stage Door (Home Street, 10/11/15/16/17/23/27/45) is, as the name would suggest, across the road from the King’s Theatre. It was fairly deserted when we went in, but it’s got what looks like a fairly decent wee function room downstairs. Inside it’s all long tables and comfortable chairs, but it was nice enough.

Just further up the road towards Bruntsfield is Bennett's (Leven Street, 11/15/16/17/23/45),a classy old style pub with maps on the tables (these provided plenty of entertainment, needless to say), and a load of good ales and malts. The pints were excellent in here, and I’d highly recommend that people pay a visit.

After this we trekked back down to the King’s Arms (Home Street, 10/11/15/16/17/23/27/45) which is most definitely a “local” boozer – somebody’s dug was wandering around the place, there was a free spread on the bar and the open fire was going in the corner. We didn’t meet too many of the locals but it seemed a pretty welcoming place. Unfortunately, there was also a smell in the air which indicated that one of the locals had soiled themselves.

By this point, Adam still hadn’t appeared, even after both Nick and myself had spent a lot of time on the phone providing a reminder as to why he should come out, irrespective of any extenuating circumstances. Regardless of his absence, we headed to Cloisters (Melville Drive, 24) around the corner. Now we’ve been to good pubs, bad pubs and painfully boring pubs, and I’m glad to say that Cloister’s falls into the first category. It gives the impression of being quite compact inside, but that may just be as a result of the fact that it is seemingly always busy with a good mix of students, professionals and locals. The atmosphere is buzzing, there’s a great choice of drinks (when we visited, they even had Black Isle Blonde on tap) and if you’re stuck for entertainment, you can sit beside the spiral staircase and watch folk fall on their way to and from the toilets. Priceless. It was time for a chippy and to head home.

Until the next time…

QUOTE OF THE NEXT MORNING: “Haha I can’t believe you guys, I had 15 voicemails all calling me gay” – Adam “Sicknote” Johns

CUMULATIVE PUB COUNT: 37

An Update from Our Resident Statistician

After 10 blog entries, it is probably high time for a statistical update...

So here goes, after 32 pubs we have;

Nick’s top three drinks so far:

Belhaven Best – 11 pints
Guinness – 8 pints
Deuchars IPA – 4 pints

Rodney’s top three drinks:

Belhaven Best – 11 pints
Guinness – 7 pints
McEwan’s 70/- – 4 pints

League table of pubs scooped so far:
1=Nick – 32

1=Rodney – 32

3.Adam Johns (!!!!!!!!) – 4

4=Ali Brown – 3

4=Ian Davidson – 3

4=Greig Bingham – 3


Finally, the bus route with the most pubs drunk in so far is the Number 12, with 14 pubs visited.

It’s about time that more folk joined us out and about! You must have a local somewhere we can visit...

Until the next time...

The 32nd, for a 32nd

As has been mentioned in previous editions of this blog, the West End is mostly full of poncy bars with comfy seats which are empty by mid evening. A notable exception to this rule, however, is J.P Mather’s (Queensferry Street, 13/19/36/37/41/47). It was here that we convened for our friend Neil McDonald’s 32nd birthday – many happy returns (and happy birthday).

Mather’s is a big Tartan Army pub – and with Neil being a prominent member of the TA, this was an obvious choice for his birthday night out. Anticipation was high for the Italy game, and Neil was presented with a commemorative “Mather’s Bar Tartan Army” t-shirt to mark the night.

As far as furnishing goes, Mather’s is fairly sparse – on a busy night it can get fairly crowded as everyone gathers round the whisky casks which pass for places to rest your beer. The extensive whisky collection is marked on the wall – a handy point of reference for those who are either unable to read the labels of the bottles, or those who are incapable of reading the labels of the bottles… However we just stuck to a few pints of the various ales which were available on tap. All good.

Just as we were finishing our respective last pints a message arrived from legendary lightweight - and my former flatmate - Adam Johns, announcing that he was “well up for getting involved in the Great Edinburgh Pub Challenge again during the forthcoming week”, having not put in an appearance since the opening night (see below). How would we be able to refuse this offer? Only time would tell…

Until the next time….


QUOTE OF THE NIGHT: “Happy Birthday” – various.
CUMULATIVE PUB COUNT: 32

The Hair of the Dog...and a Few More

Hangovers are terrible things. Especially those which leave you feeling so precariously close to the edge that the only thing on your mind is, well, getting back down to the pub for the hair of the dog. And so, after seeing The Charlatans in Glasgow the previous night, The Management headed out mid afternoon to take in some new pubs.

First up was the Athletic Arms (also known as The Diggers) (Angle Park Terrace, 1/34/35), which is a traditional Jambo pub with strong links to the former McEwan's brewery at Fountainbridge. It was derby day, so the vast majority of the punters were decked out in maroon to witness a 1-1 draw.

The pub itself is really nice – good pints, good atmosphere and lovely old style décor. Traditional in every sense, it also had the added bonus of offering carry kegs to take away – although these were only available off (sic.) barman Aitken Founts.



From there there was a short stagger along the road to McCowan’s Brewhouse (Fountainpark complex, 1/34/35). From the outside, you’d think McCowan’s was a brew pub (given the fact that there are two fermentation tanks on display). However, it isn’t. Given the fact that Fountainpark is generally full of neds going to the cinema, neds coming from the cinema, neds going to the bowling, neds coming from the bowling, neds - you get the picture – McCowan’s is alright actually. Nothing out of the ordinary, but alright. Also, amusingly, they had a Family Fortunes-esque buzzer which kept sounding every time that Nick made any assertion. (More on this later, readers.)

Ryries (Haymarket Terrace, 12/26/31/X48/100) is rubbish. However it also featured the same “wrong” buzzer as McCowan’s, which was perhaps deployed to its best effect when Nick said, “You know, in five years time, I might be married with kids.” ERRRRRRR.

The other pub around this area of town is The Haymarket (Haymarket Gyratory System, 2/3/4/12/25/26/31/33/44/X48/100), nice enough inside and fairly cheap but with very little which stands out to recommend it specifically – except for the fact that it’s usually open later than the Caley Ale House. Not that we’d ever nip across the road for another pint. Ever.

Talking of nipping across the road, the next pub on our travels was The Mercat (West Maitland Street, 2/3/4/12/25/26/31/33/44/X48/100), a split level pub which occasionally puts on live music. There was no such entertainment for our visit, however, just a bunch of lagered-up neds in the corner who were ejected after a very brief stay. Oh, and if someone could tell the barmaid how to pour pint of Best correctly that would be much appreciated.

The Grosvenor (Shandwick Place, 3/4/12/25/26/31/33/44/X48/100) is one of those pubs which has the potential (in terms of location, layout and being in an area where there aren’t too many great pubs) to be something special, but sadly it’s not. In fact, it is decidedly ordinary. Perhaps the fact that when visited for the Great Edinburgh Pub Challenge, The Management were the only punters there didn’t help things. However, it really does come across as a big, soulless room with a couple of beer taps. From past experience it’s cracking on rugby days (or any other big events at Murrayfield), but really it isn’t one you should go out of your way to visit.

Scruffy Murphy’s (Queensferry Street, 13/19/36/37/41/47) is a funny wee place. I’m not the biggest fan of Oirish pubs, but this one seemed to do things quite discretely (i.e. you didn’t have a choice of Guinness, Harp, or Beamish). We wandered up to the bar and requested two pints of Guinness. Off. Two pints of Deuchars? Sorry. Two pints of Calders? No. The barmaid, to her credit, then somehow conjured two pints of Best from a seemingly invisible tap. Happy days. Nick then decided that it would be a Great Idea for us to take a table right underneath a television, meaning that for me to be able to watch the snooker I would have to have invertebrate-like agility (I don’t, I’m afraid). It wasn’t really worth kicking up a fuss about however as we drank our pints and moved on to our final pub of the night.

Ryan’s Bar (Queensferry Street, 13/19/37/37/41/47) is a self-styled Café Bar, and is really designed for eating rather than drinking. Slightly less pretentious than many other West End pubs, it is excellent for a working or pub lunch, as there are always plenty of tables around. Even for an after work pint in the summer it is ideal, as the outside tables are south-westerly facing. However, at night in a capacity as simply a drinking hole, it isn’t anything particularly useful. The night we visited maybe wasn’t the best time to give it an appraisal, as not many bars at the end of Princes Street are packed come 11pm on a Sunday. However, the one feature which must be highlighted is the fact that the bar is equipped with Dyson (as in the hoover) handdryers, it’s like shoving your hands in a wind tunnel…

Until the next time…

CUMULATIVE PUB COUNT: 31

What's the Story?

Right then, where were we? A challenge to drink in (subject to conditions) every pub in Edinburgh was it? Having spent a lot of time drinking in familiar areas if not always familiar pubs, we decided it was time to head further out. So what was the fairest way to decide where to go? To wait at a bus stop, then travel for 15 minutes and go to the next boozer we saw, of course.

And so we hopped on a 16 in Princes Street and ended up in Morningside, at the Morning (side) Glory (Comiston Road-ish, 5/11/16/17/23/41). Anticipations were pretty high as it looked quite a smart wee place (as you’d expect in that end of town) from the outside. However, as is common, anticipation only led to disappointment. We ordered two pints of Deuchars. The IPA was off. I ordered a Furstenburg. It was warm. Nick ordered a Caley 80-/-. It wasn’t nice. The atmosphere was, well, a bit bland. Maybe it was just an off night but it didn’t fulfil its potential.

Onwards and outwards, and seeing as we couldn’t find anywhere for love nor money in the direction in which we were walking, we hopped on a bus. An age seemed to pass but eventually we ended up at Good Companions (Oxgangs Bank, 5). Although it looked less welcoming from the outside, it was far more enjoyable – better beer and (with due credit to whoever had just been to the jukebox) some brilliant choons being played (The Small Faces, Peter Bjorn and John, and the Klaxons’ one good song being amongst them). Whilst we just had a quiet pint, there was a darts league going on and a few games of pool and suchlike. There was a saloon bar round the front but we didn’t have time to go in.

Sadly as Nick had left some of his belongings in the Guildford Arms (ineligible but recommended) we had to return to town for a pint or three. At this stage it seemed as everywhere was beginning to shut but we eventually found ourselves in the Jekyll and Hyde (Hanover Street, 13/23/27), one of those tacky theme-pub things with ghost sounds in the bogs and eternal flames outside – it’s meant to be SCARY. However in reality it’s a pretty tame affair (like most New Town pubs) and there isn’t a lot to be said for it except that it served the lovely Finnish lager Lapin Kulta, which isn’t seen much around these parts. Oh, and if you’re looking for them, the gents is in the bookcase.

For our fourth and final (qualifying) pub of the evening, we were joined by Nick’s uncle, Calum Nicol, who was in town on business and also sporting an interesting hat. The Rutland (Rutland Place, 3/4/12/13/19/25/26/33/36/41/X48/100) is about as bland as the Morningside Glory but with higher prices. I honestly can’t think of anything interesting to say about it, but to be honest we were there for a chat rather than to review the pub. No apologies will be given.

Until the next time…

QUOTE OF THE NIGHT: “Cathy Picante? Is she hot?” – Nick

CUMULATIVE PUB COUNT: 23

Statement of Apology

The Management would like to issue a statement of apology regarding a comment made in the blog entry "The Second Month Begins". It turns out that Clachnacuddin did not win their Scottish Cup match, rather Edinburgh City were the victors, winning by a single goal. We were sober at the time and realise that we must have looked like a right pair of halfwits throughout the game.

Further Adventures on Leith Walk

The Theatre Royal (Greenside Place, 1/4/5/7/10/11/12/14/15/16/19/22/25/26/34/44/45/49) was our next stop on the Pub Challenge, accompanied by regular visitor – and my coursemate from uni – Joe Boyd. A deceptively large pub, the Theatre Royal is extremely spacious with a central “island” style bar. As it was a Friday night, there was a certain convivial buzz about the place (or was that just the drink?) and we stayed on for a few, before deciding it was a good idea to go for a curry…

Those of you who haven’t been living under a rock will know that this was around the time that Scotland were playing their next lot of international fixtures and so, accompanied by now-pub-challenge-regular Ian Davidson, we returned to Robbie’s on Leith Walk for each game; the fabulous victory against Ukraine (yes!) and the not-so-fabulous capitulation to Georgia (in my opinion, this was simply as a direct result of Al Wallace not putting in an appearance for the first time since the France game – I hope you’re reading this Al). Now where was I? Oh yes, to drown our sorrows after the Georgia game we moved across the road to the Horseshoe Bar (Leith Walk, 7/10/12/14/16/22/25/49) which, as the name would suggest, has a horseshoe shaped bar. We drank our pints then left to go to the…

City Limits (Leith Walk, 7/10/11/12/14/16/22/25/49). The City Limits is an interesting pub, as back in the day (when it was known as the Boundary Bar) it used to mark the boundary between Edinburgh and Leith. As each town – as was – had separate licensing laws, the pub operated two regimes. When last orders had been called for Leith drinkers they could simply cross into Edinburgh, where they could enjoy an extra half hour of service. More on this pub – and the “mindless violence” which was the name change – can be found in this article. As we felt it only appropriate, we had a drink on either side of the boundary. Myself and Ian then felt it a good idea to crack open some whisky; Nick, on the other hand thought it a good idea to fall asleep on the 12 home and wake up coincidentally outside the Roseburn Bar… Hangovers all round the next day.

Until the next time…

CUMULATIVE PUB COUNT: 19

The Ardmillan Hotel

The Ardmillan Hotel (Ardmillan Terrace, 4/44) is probably best described as Nick Chadha’s local - and as such requires an entire article of its own. Situated in no man’s land between Gorgie and Dalry, this public bar attached to a hotel attracts a regular clientele (of more than Mr Chadha) and is yet welcoming to all; it is traditional yet is always lively; the outside tables are brilliant during the summer yet during the winter it’s always cosy inside; and it does a bloody good pint of Best.

For the purposes of The Great Edinburgh Pub Challenge, our visit was made on Wednesday October 10th, before (and after, incidentally) seeing Ian Brown at the Corn Exchange. Sadly none of the more entertaining semi-resident local characters (with the exception of Nick) was present, so we (and the younger Chadha brother, Michael), escaped without too many stories to tell on this occasion.

A further notable point about the Ardmillan Hotel is the quality of its food; it is always top notch, and I can especially recommend the Sunday roasts.

Highly recommended to all.

The Second Month Beings

And so it came to pass that the Great Edinburgh Pub Challenge reached the end of its first month, and entered into a new chapter (i.e. its second month). September 28th saw us head to Caley Sample Rooms (Angle Park Terrace, 34/35) with, amongst others, wor pals Gordon Russell and Jenni Core, who were having a few bevvies prior to jetting off to Bermuda to get married, so congratulations to them. Greig "Bongo" Bingham and his pal Steptoe (who was in a rather loquacious state having just got off the rigs) were also in attendance. The Sample Rooms is a decent boozer, huge range of beers, wines and whiskies so you can never go wrong, and it's always pretty lively. A couple of years back it was quite rough around the edges but it's been done up since then and is now pretty smart inside, almost a bit too clincal some might say. You could take a burd there anyway.

After a couple of pints we headed off to Bert's Bar on William Street, which sadly is ineligible for the Challenge due to its location, but it's a top place. It was a Friday evening so it was buzzing with west-end-city-professional-types and we all packed ourselves into a corner and got merry. I highly recommend going - apparently the pies are good at lunch as well.

The next night saw Tiles (St Andrew Square, 4/8/10/11/12/15/16/17/26/44/45) taken in, couple of pints of Guinness did the trick. Tiles is a wee bit less pretentious than many of the other new town pubs, and they usually play cracking tunes which is always a bonus.

And there ended our activity for the first month, with double figures having been achieved.

October started slowly - the first pub visit wasn't until the 6th, after Clachnacuddin had achieved a famous victory over Edinburgh City out at Meadowbank in the Scottish Cup (sorry, I'm letting my Invernesian roots show here, but you can't change your team). To celebrate their progress to the next round (East Stirling at home, by the way) myself and Mr Chadha had a few bevvies out that end of town. First up was the Station Bar (Cadzow Place, 4/5/15/19/26/34/44/45) which I quite liked. Obviously it takes its name from being located above one of the many disused stations on Edinburgh's myriad of (now closed) suburban railway lines. Inside it was a typical old man boozer, formica tables, folk clinging to their glass like it would be their last ever pint, you get the drift. All good with me.

From there, a trip was made across the road to the Artisan (London Road, 4/5/15/19/26/34/44/45), which is fairly similar in terms of clientele but also has a carpet. By this time, Nick's sore heid from the night before was beginning to wear off , so I managed to convince him to go round the corner to Middleton's (Easter Road, 1/35) which has traditionally been the "away" pub for Hibs matches. Hibs, however, were busy beating Rangers at Ibrox on the day so it wasn't too busy. Other than that there wasn't much to be said for it.

The night's activity was rounded off with a brief stop at the Boda (Leith Walk, 7,10,12,14,16,22,25,49) for a quick beer. It seemed a fairly metrosexual kind of place, silly cushions, friendly bar staff, decent tasting lager - none of the things which immediately spring to mind when imagining a boozer in Leith!

The following night, we convened with half of Shetland (ok, 3 of them - and only two were related, before you ask) in the Playfair (Omni Centre, Greenside Place/Leith Street, 1/5/7/14/19/22/25/34/49) for a couple of pints, it's generic Wetherspoons/Lloyds bollocks, but it serves a purpose I s'pose.

We've set up an e-mail address for this whole carry on, so if you want to ask any questions/give abuse/send in photos or your own anecdotes please contact us at edinburghpubchallenge@yahoo.nospam.co.uk

Until the next time...

CUMULATIVE PUB COUNT: 15

ROBBIES TO ROSEBURN

Just to appease those of you who have been thinking “why the hell haven’t they updated that blog for almost a fortnight?”, those of you who have been thinking “I wonder if they’ve given up yet?”, and most particularly those of you who have been thinking “I couldn’t give a flying pig”, here is our latest collection of ramshackle drinking tales.

Let us first rewind to September 5th, a date which people instantly associate with the IRA bombing of the London Hilton, the UK’s first trunk call from a payphone and our the commencement of our latest trip to Germany. However, regardless of the date, people are never going to be likely to remember a visit to the Turnhouse Bar (35, 100) located inside Edinburgh Airport. Even by Wetherspoons’ standards, this is excruciatingly mundane. The pints of Heineken and Deuchars IPA were, however, necessary pre-flight refreshments.

Despite the quality (and, indeed, quantity) of beer consumed in Germany, this is neither the time nor the place to recount such tales (those of you fortunate enough to be joining us on this escapade may be the lucky recipients thereof). On returning from Germany we felt it was necessary to, erm, have a beer. And so we headed to the Caledonian Ale House (Haymarket, 12, 26, 31, X48, 100), one of the Great Edinburgh Pub Challengers’ favourite and most regular drinking holes. However, given that this was simply an opportune moment to consume a quick pint of Best, a full analysis of its qualities shall be posted at a later date.

On Wednesday 12th September, Scotland played France as the Parc des Princes in Paris. I’m sure you’re all well aware of the glorious victory we achieved, but for those of you who would appear to have been resting under a particularly large rock, we gave the French a right good kicking. This game was taken in in Robbies’ bar (Leith Walk, 7,10,12,13,14,16,22,25,49) , with the usual suspects being joined by Alistairs Brown and Wallace, Greig Bingham and Ian Davidson. Adam “I think I might give up drinking” Johns stayed at home and had a wank instead. Even at this early stage in the Challenge, I’d have to say that Robbies’ is one of my favourite boozer, a statement perhaps aided by its close proximity to my flat. It offers a great range of lagers, ales, whiskies, and is spacious enough to be able to offer a good view of the game whilst being small and busy enough to give rise to an electrifying atmosphere.

The following night, and with the mists of the celebratory hangover finally beginning to clear, myself and Nick were joined by Shetland’s 4th most famous export, Ewen Leask, at the Roseburn Bar (Roseburn Terrace, 12, 26, 31, X48, 100) for a swift half or 3. The Roseburn is another grand boozer, classic old décor and the location for a swift anaesthetic before any visits to T***c****e should our respective football teams be in the vicinity.

Until the next time...

QUOTE OF THE LAST FORTNIGHT: “don't take a picture of your knob for takin' the pish, picture of your pish” – Nick Chadha. Ask for details…

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

The Challenge is Set

What's the daftest idea you've ever had in the pub? Whilst enjoying a pint of Belhaven Best I once foolishly suggested that I'd love to experience every boozer in Edinburgh. This was, of course, dismissed as a silly and unattainable idea, but from it a plan was born. The plan was thus; that over a period of eight years we would attempt to visit all pubs in situ on Lothian bus routes. The rules were simple:

1) Guidance would be taken from official Lothian Buses bus maps - each route must be covered from start to finish, and pubs located on the named streets would be visited. Should routes be extended, we would endeavour to find any additional boozers; however should routes be shortened, there would be no obligation to visit any venues which would formerly have qualified;
2) At least one drink must be consumed per person in each pub;
3) Excluded from the Challenge are nightclubs, strip clubs, private bars in hotels (i.e. for residents only); sports clubs and bars which intend to deal exclusively with certain, ahem, niche markets;
4) There is no need for pubs to be visited consecutively according to their location nor for bus routes to be completed in numerical order;
5) The boundaries for qualification are the A720 City of Edinburgh bypass to the west and south, and the River Esk to the east; and
6) The closing date is August 31, 2015.

We hope that many people will join us on our travels, and that from the challenge we will gain a number of stories which we can recount to all and sundry for years to come (of course, by that point there will be no need for us to seek out the remotest of pubs to tell you these stories). Expect a phone call when we're in your local. Expect arguments about whether somewhere on a street corner counts (it does, by the way). And if you fancy joining us for a pint, whether it be in the neatest nightspot in Newington or a bizarre boozer in Blackhall, drop us a line. We'd particularly like to hear any anecdotes/folklore you have regarding Edinburgh's drinking spots. Until then, we shall be starting in Clermiston on Saturday September 1st 2007. You have been warned...

SMALL PRINT: The management supports (but does not always practice) sensible drinking.