Tag Archives: historic

Scotland

The Grill

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Aberdeen:

Whatpub Link
Website
Pub Heritage Link

Star pub of the holiday. Beautifully restored 1926 interior, wood panelling. Really pleasant staff.

Austere from the outside- the windows are small and etched, with clear sections previously used for signs, but the inside is a place of wonder.

This was a male-only pub until that became banned by law in 1976. As payback, the ladies toilet, which was (obviously) the gents, is upstairs, the gents being down a steep staircase in the basement, but they had to wait until 1998 to get it!

Large whisky selection, great beer, decent wine, lovely surroundings.

Devon

The Hole in the Wall

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Torquay:

Allegedly Torquay’s oldest pub, a claim I’ve got no reason to doubt, this is a cosy, proper pub with the right feel. The floors are cobbled (and listed), there’s low beams for tall people like me to bang their heads on. There’s a large restaurant upstairs, which we didn’t visit- and that probably helps the pub retain it’s pub feel. There’s a small amount of outside space in the little alley the pub sits on, just off Park Lane, very close to the harbour, but handily hidden unless you know it’s there, so the clientele’s a bit better than elsewhere. Great beer, great staff.

Scotland

The Grapes

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Stranraer:

A Good Beer Guide and historic interiors pub in Stranraer. It was a bit early really, but (as we remembered) Stranraer doesn’t have that much to offer a couple of middle-aged tourists, so we dropped in. The interior is classic Scottish pub, the barman friendly, and the cask beer was the same local ale (Beltie Blonde) as at The Crown, but in better condition. Pity we didn’t feel like starting epic drinking that early.