A 450 mile pub crawl – up and down the Northeast Coast Part 1

A 450 mile pub crawl – up and down the Northeast Coast Part 1 – Granite City – The land of shillings, heavies, and the Golden T 

Having developed something of a pan-chance for long distance pub crawls following the trip in May up and down Irelands Wild Atlantic Way The thought of a 600 mile trip from York to Aberdeen and back Felt like a grand couple of days out for our annual malt travel podcast trip. I will cover our 2 day trip in three sections and it's opener we'll concentrate on our trip to Aberdeen the granite city with what we had read only a limited beer scene. 

It's a long way to Aberdeen roughly 330 miles and about 5 1/2 hours by train of the East Coast main line. Our plum was to spend the first part of our day one travelling up to Aberdeen on the 1st train out of York spend a couple of hours in Aberdeen and then head back South to Dundee for an overnight stay and then second day to take in Edinburgh and Newcastle upon Tyne on our way back to York 

As one of our podcast trio works worked for one of our National Rail networks he was able to procure some very reasonable tickets and whilst I had been to Aberdeen a few times before but only by playing the other two of us had never visited. So it was an early start meeting in York at around 7 AM to get on The 7.35 departure from York which would get us to Aberdeen or just after 1:00 in the afternoon. 

We were very privileged in having had in having first class tickets which meant we could have a quick brew in the first class lounge at York an then comfortable seats on what would be a 5 hour plus journey We set off on time and were soon taking in a splendid full English breakfast have got to say that the catering and service so our two days was top class 

I must also add that the East Coast mainline is also a stunning trip that saw was taking in two countries 11 counties 4 cities and one town for listed railway bridges and some fantastic scenery particularly north of Newcastle upon Tyne. 

Our pub total for the trip was just under 20 although we actually only drank in 17 whilst this trip was about beer I'm pubs it was also about travel unseen more of our country Rail travel is a very civilised way of getting around the country when it works well and we were blessed on this trip with trains on time and we're always able to find the seat despite what turned out to be very busy trains the trip took part over the first weekend in July and as is to be expected it was a little drink north of the border though it did brighten up on our second day 

So after a pleasant five hours which seemed to fly by and having sampled both of the beer options glad to see from 2 Yorkshire breweries we arrived in a dump Aberdeen on time just after 1:00 PM. Whilst we had discussed and perused maps and guides on the way up we had no particular plan an agreed just to follow our noses we were met with a rather stunning station something that is a feature of the East Coast main line

Aberdeen rather fine station

Up the steps to Union Street

We headed out into the granite city which was dump on Moody the first challenge was to get up onto Union Street which is pretty much where most of the action in Aberdeen can be found.

Most of the guides and reviews we had read mentioned that Ma Cameron's was one of Aberdeen's pubs that we should visit and just happens to be the oldest hosterley  in the city. 

Just off the main 3rd of that which is Union Street and on a cobbled corner mark Cameron's did look very inviting and was already pretty full with lunchtime trade it is known for its snug bar which is also the original pub giving it its oldest in the city tag. 

So that's where we headed and we're lucky to find that this part of the pub was a little quieter I have read that the snug bar is not always open so you are able to sit in the snug whenever the pub is open. The bar the snug bar was open for our visit on a Friday lunchtime though it wasn't all good news as there are no cask pumps in the snug bar only up in the main bar so we so we kicked off our crawl with scotland's most popular and what would become ubiquitous drink Tenants lager this was also what most of the locals we're drinking in the snug bar. 

Ma Cameron's named after Amelia mark Cameron who run the pub in the 1930s Retiredmartin.com gives the pub the following review;

Old on the outside, horribly Greene King-ised on the inside. Think any chain pub /diner you’ve ever been in. Halloween tat and condiments on every table top didn’t help. To be fair to the average punter will find Ma Camerons neat, cheery and good value. Its just the homogenous GK makeover, ketchup and oversized menus on every table and with a TV on every wall is deeply depressing. 

Have got to say the oversize tv in the snug showing tennis which no one was watching did rather overpower the snug room on our visit This is actually a Belhaven pub, Belhaven are now an arm of the Greene King empire and they do tend to dominate pubs in East side of Scotland. (Geene King bought out Belhaven in £187 million. 

Belhaven do though have some prominence being Scotland’s oldest brewery founded back in 1719 they have around 150 pubs. To their credit and at least for now they are still brewing in their Dunbar base using Scots barley, the original spring water and a unique Belhaven heritage yeast, Their Belhaven best does come in as Scotland’s 10th most popular alcoholic drink so they are brewing at volume. 

Ma's CAMRA listing states that the snug was due for refurbishment along wit the rets of the pub in 2015 – but pressure from the regulars resulted in the snug have only a light touch refurb with none of the planned structural changes – to that we must thank and praise those regulars. 

Into Ma's snug

The TV does rather dominate the snug 

 

Leaving the pub in an increasingly damp afternoon we headed back to Union Street again admiring the architectural views both ways our next target was a 5 mins stroll west to a rather hidden gem the Grill – grotty and uninspiring from the outside though we must point out the rather splendid ancient looking pub sign but open the door and step back in the 19th century, in deed up until the mid 1970s it was definitely stuck in a time warp as a male only establishment – even when opened up to all the ladies had no toilet facilities for a number of years. 

The Grill Union Street -  grotty and uninspiring from the outside?

Cracking sign though 

Opened, as the name suggests, as a restaurant to serve the nearby His majesty’s theatre 

 

A little further west along Union Street is another subterranean hidden gem the Houff and without a bit of pre visit research i doubt we would have stumbled on this place. Houff which is Scots for meeting place refers to itself on its website as one of Aberdeen’s last traditional pubs – it started out as a wine bar and its certainly has that vibe as you decent the stairs to this plush dark basement bar. 

However 2 Scottish cask beers and a cheery and knowledgeable bar tender tick the beery vibe. 

We did feel a little out of place sitting amongst groups of ladies doing prosecco lunches but the beer was good.

 As time was moving on and we were planning to have evening sessions in Dundee and then near bye Broughty Ferry some 70 miles back down the line where we had a Premier inn booked. Fierce Brewery Tap is the home bar for Aberdeen based Fierce brewery they also have a tap in Edinburgh and provide the beers for Aberdeen FC/ Inspired by west costs IPA’s set up in and very much the trail blazers for Aberdeen’s booming craft beer scene though a mega craft brewery down the road at Ellon can also maybe share some of the Just after we visited said mega brewery BD did announce that they were closing their flagship tap bar in Aberdeen just round the corner from the Fierce tap. 

 Should also mention Six degree North another Aberdeenshire brewery who specialize in Belgian inspired beers – we have featured them in one pouf our lock down podcasts they don’t have a tap per say but The Marine Hotel in Stonehaven is part of their portfolio and their beers are featured in a number of high end bars and pubs across the UK including Edinburgh and much further south in Brighton see sixnorth.co.uk The Fierce tap was surprisingly quiet and it is a little hard to give a fair review, the arriving staff were evidently setting up for bust Friday night and it felt a little like we were a little bit of a hindrance wanting to buy some of their beers. 

Just as Green King tend to furb their pubs in a homogenous way I’m afraid to say we are finding that taps rooms are increasingly homogenous and this was no different scaffold poles cheap wood fittings, big windows and a digital beer board (though the Fierce board was indeed big and colourful), Being a hinderance we were quite adventurous in our beer choice choosing Rhubarb, Irn Bru and Aberdeen FC varieties the cost of each did raise our average price by quite a bit and again being a tap we hade to be satisfied with 2/3rds. 

I will give them the benefit of the doubtI have enjoyed their beers and compared to their big brewing brothers down the road appear to be a good sorts, they have a good reputation for their consistent quality beer, so they would be worth a visit if you venture this far North 

A quick dart back to the station via a surreal road where the Oil rig supply ships seem to be waiting for the traffic lights with Aberdeen’s rush hour. A quick dip into the station shop to grab some of the yellow T bars to keep us lubricated on the train. We had the pleasure of Scots rail service back south in what was an extremely busy train. 

We enjoyed our few hours in Aberdeen and would certainly recommend both Ma’s and the Grill, it’s a long way but the journey itself is a must do and we must thank the Victorian train gods who built this line. In the second part of the blog we will visit the land of marmalade, the Dandy and a UNESCo City of design Dundee and its wee daughter Broughty Ferry.