Ah dinnae speak Dumfries nae mare...

Today we went Doonhame to the Dumfries Real Ale Festival of course!

Well, some of us did.

In order to maintain the Glasgow CAMRA spirit of travel, we even went by separate trains. Howard, Tracey and Jonathan were on the ridiculously early 10.12 from Glasgow Central. David, Dr Stan, Robin, Marg and Hector were on the more sociable 12.12. The question has to be asked yet again about the pricing structures of for rail travel in the UK. Why is it dearer to buy a return ticket from outlying stations via Glasgow to Dumfries than it is to buy two separate returns? More importantly, why is there no regional group ticket as is available throughout Germany? In Germany five people can travel for a fiver each, here the prices are simply a rip-off.









First stop for the majority was the New Bazaar, a traditional pub sited on the banks of the River Nith.
Arran ab was the bier of choice except for Dr Stan who had the Houston Doonhamer, and David who went straight for the Leffe Blond on draught. Cold, yellow fizzy bier to start? This boy will be drummed out of…sorry welcomed to the inner sanctum who really prefer to…

Marg went a wandering and saw much more of Dumfries than the rest of us. Here is the charming non-bier adventure that Marg enjoyed in what is Burns’ Country, steeped in history.














Thornbridge’s Jaipur IPA was reportedly on ‘around the corner’ in The Caven Arms. The first finished headed off to the pub which has won the Pub of the Year in SW Scotland (and N Ireland!?) for the last few years. Robin and Hector were distracted by the Phoenix Arizona which features too rarely at our local. Dr Stan opted for something different, for a change; as he was resplendent in a Fyne Ales t-shirt, he thought he better have the Crannog.











Marg made a brief return and for the first time toady the entire company was under the same roof at the same time. Yes it was time for Jaipur IPA, surely one of the best ales brewed in the UK? (And yes, we have all had it At Source!). The question then becomes, why leave such a brilliant pub with such a great range of ales? We were joined by Liam Chalmers of local CAMRA fame. The jungle drums had been beating: where was the group reportedly down from The Bon Accord? The induction was brought to us and we were suitably badged up. Marg declined: “You can keep your stinkin’ badges…”




And so Robin Dr Stan and Hector retired to the local Wetherspoons and not a token between us. The Robert the Bruce is architecturally impressive being a former Methodist kirk. It is also relatively small for a Wetherspoons, the price of the bottled bier is less than in Glasgow, but the ales are dearer. The service was also impressive, the first time I have ever been able to make this remark about a pub in this chain. Sadly the biers were unremarkable. And so off to what turned out be the highlight of the day.







Broons Bar, on English St,was selling a bier from the Madcap Brewery of Annan, this was as local as bier could get. “Triple Madness” at 9% was a certain suicide solution: at £2 a pint it was indeed madness. This was by far the bier of the Festival and as it did not drink at anywhere near the labelled 9%, one pint would be enough.










It was around this time that Marg decided that her trip to Dumfries was not all it could have been. Where/when was the tour promised by The Planner? Was it time to eat? We had passed a curry house in a magnificent building but it was full. It was the fourth totally empty Chinese restaurant that became the venue for dinner. It was ok.






By now the early risers had gone home. Dr Stan was a.w.o.l. and Jonathan was back at his old haunts. And so Hector and Marg arrived at the Waverley Bar. We had passed this at the station and Liam had expressed his surprise that we had not gone there first. Liam was in attendance and so our group reassembled slowly in time for the last train. Hector had the Waverley Steamer, Dr Stan had something different; he had the Vital Spark.

This was more of an Ale Trail than a traditional hall held festival. It was a good idea. I doubt if Glasgow could hold such an event, we hardly have enough quality pubs and too many of us would refuse to set foot in certain establishments. There is absolutely no truth to the rumour that Hector was asleep on the long journey back from Dumfries. The time signature on this blog is surely evidence enough?