Pubs - 3
Bob Steel has been my guide for many pub related adventures in London. He knows more than one City.
More Adventures Within |
I've read a lot of Irvine Welsh and he described Rose Street as being for "Tourists and Walkers", so it's just perfect for my needs. I may have mis-remembered a single letter in that summary.
The Oxford Bar, 8 Young Street, Cairngorm Trade Winds
Yep, I've read all the Ian Rankin Books and Yep, I have previously seeked out this key location for Rebus to ponder his evidence when solving crimes.
I'm not going to sugar coat it. It's a tough experience to walk in as a stranger, although for a minute, I do wonder if its been gentrified.
Maybe selling more than Corn Beef and Beetroot Sarnies? |
External Makeover |
There is a hush as you order your drink. It's prison yard rules and survival is dependent of someone being weaker than you - so I let the American in front of me try and order a Malt. The landlady (slighter than the landlord I remember, but still as fearsome) refuses to serve him until he pronounces Glenmorangie correctly.
It takes three goes in an atmosphere you could cut a knife with.... with me thinking "get it right, Brad or for god's sake have a Highland Park" as he goes through the pantomime.
My order for a Cairngorms Trade Winds is easier and appears to be met with approval. Bar conversation resumes and I take my drink to the sparsely furnished side room, set aside specifically for tourists and Rebus fans.
Uncompromising, rough around the (interior) edges and I wouldn't change a thing about it.
The Kenilworth, Rose Street, Timothy Taylor Mild
Rose Street is packed with pubs / bars / restaurants and middle aged men being sick, whilst comforted by their drinking partners.
I'm sure I've been to the Kenilworth before, but you need a Guide to point out its beauty. For it is beautiful, inside and out.
The Kenilworth |
Captures the Ceiling, The Island Bar and the Beer |
I have the place more or less to myself and get to photo all the things pointed out in the book. Beer wise, I usually go LocALE but this was a chance to sample the lesser spotted Timothy Taylor Mild.
They kindly put it in a Deuchars glass so I wouldn't stand out.
The Abottsford, Rose Street, Strathaven Ales Old Mortality
A similar experience to the Kenilworth. Without someone to point out the features, it would be just another pub in a long street of pubs. A nondescript sandstone exterior does however lead to a pub that it is on CAMRA National Inventory of Pub Interiors.
Abbotsford - Outside |
Abbotsford - Inside |
Another fine example of a beautifully ceiling-ed, Island bar boozer and a guide who has shown me the best of the area.
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