It was Valentine's Day and what better way to celebrate than travel through darkest Deeside on a cold winter's evening doing pub surveys? The deal was simple - I drove out to Ballater and Jo drove back via Tarland, Aboyne, Potarch and Feughside.
I hadn't covered the Ballater pubs in the last couple of years - somebody else must have been doing the surveys - and so it was my first time in both the Alexandra Hotel and the Balmoral Bar. My expectations weren't particularly high, but I was pleasantly surprised at the neat and tidy decor in both, and the fact that they each had two ales on, seemingly in good condition too.
The "new" owners of the Alexandra (ex Marcliffe) have been there for over 3 years now and seem to be doing OK. The demise of the Prince of Wales must have helped when it comes to attracting the local ale drinking clientele, but it's no mean feat to have 2 handpumps operational in this location at this time of year. Black Gold and Trade Winds were on last night, and they have a 3rd pump on in summer months. The place was pretty busy for a Monday evening - including a few couples celebrating Valentines Day properly.
The Balmoral Bar was much quieter - just 2 customers - but it's pretty smart as well. What looked like new carpets and upholstery were matched by what must have been a fairly heavy investment in 4 nice plasma screens. Thrappledouser and Deuchar's are the regulars here - never changing.
As we approached the Square in Tarland, it was no surprise to see the Aberdeen Arms in darkness - word of its imminent demise had reached me beforehand. There were notices on the windows, however:
Despite the above, the chalkboard outside still bore the usual adverts for their musical evenings:
Further along, however, more adverts to let the space:
We went in to the nearby Commercial Hotel and asked them if they knew what the position was with the Aberdeen Arms? The word apparently is that the current lease is up at the end of February and the couple who were running it latterly are moving to another outlet in Peterhead. Apparently, they will be open tonight for the usual Tuesday evening music session, but what happens after the end of the month is very doubtful.
The Commercial Hotel itself, like the Aberdeen Arms, is resolutely an Inveralmond outlet - Thrappledouser last night, and pretty good it was too.
Next stop was the Boat Inn, Aboyne, where we were advised by the barmaid that somebody had already done the survey back in November. Unlikely, I said, and pressed on. Her next statement was even more confusing when she said that they had been telephoned by CAMRA and asked to pay for their entry in the GBG. I gently explained about the voting process and we seemed to get along fine after this, but it was rather a strange greeting! Lulach and Ossian were the two ales on last night and the place was again very busy with Valentines couples out for a meal.
Potarch was the next stop - this is a Cairngorm house, and it was Sheepshaggers Gold on - the same as my last few visits here.
Finally, we drove round the back of Scolty and entered the Feughside Inn. It was 10 pm by this time and the sign on the door said they were shut on Mondays, but we went in anyway and there were a few locals playing pool, plus a couple of large dogs laid out in the middle of the bar floor. Unfortunately, no beer on last night. The owner (Dave - ex Crossroads) said it was hard keeping ale going throughout the winter and he had recently been substituting it with bottles. Still very much an Inveralmond outlet however - usually Ossian. What was occupying his mind however was the article in last Tuesday's Evening Express headed "Pubs could face tax to battle booze culture" - he had cut it out and brandished it in front of us. He did seem to take some delight, however, in pointing out that his former pub had since closed down.
So, no official "Locale" signs spotted on out trip - I suppose most of the pubs would qualify for that, given the relative proximity of Cairngorm and Inveralmond. What was a little disappointing, however, was the fact that only the Boat Inn were stocking any Deeside ales. When I was doing my BLO report with Rob last week, he indicated that Banchory was one of his best markets, with regular supplies to both the Douglas and the Burnett and also now the Stag, but the rest of Deeside, and also to an extent, Aberdeen, which is dominated by Belhaven, weren't so easy for him to break into.
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