On The Road Again......

November came and I started a roadshow that will take me all over the UK. We will be travelling from Aberdeen to Exeter, London to Liverpool, Cardiff to Glasgow and loads of other places in-between.

The first venue was in London, by the royal mint. We stayed at the Hilton hotel beside tower bridge and found a great pub just round the corner called "The Dickens Inn". This is a really old building down by the river which used to be a warehouse many, many years ago. We ate here, the food was good standard pub grub served well by friendly staff and the bar has a good selection of drinks but they were lacking in any real ales. We had a great night here before heading back to the hotel bar for a night cap. The hotel bar has a great view of Tower Bridge, as you can see from the photo below.

Our next two venues were Dartford and Brighton. The first picture below shows the view from my window in Dartford. This is the end of the Dartford bridge - with no pubs in sight and after speaking to the bar staff at the hotel, no pubs within walking distance. This was a quiet night.

We had more luck in Brighton. After rigging the equipment for the road show we headed out to Jamie's Italian. The food was good, as you would expect, the service was attentive, but the beer selection was poor - two types of bottled lager and that's your lot ! In their defence the wine selection was ok. It was a good night out here and I'd recommend it - but only if you have a little bit extra cash as it wasn't cheap.

Guildford was next on the list. We stayed at the Radisson Blu Hotel which was recently built and really beautiful. The hotel bar stocked some beers from local breweries and the bar staff knew enough about them to advise me which one I should try. I ended up with the "RIP Snorter" from the Hogs Back Brewery. I can't remember much about this beer other than I enjoyed it and it had a strong rich flavour.

We went out for something to eat and came across the "Three Pigeons", a very pleasant old pub on the high street. The meal was basic pub grub but it was served quickly, it was filling and not too expensive. The bar had some nice real ale's but was lacking in any great whiskies, it did have a lot of bright blue and pink alcopop type drinks - which are not to my taste. OK pub, I'd come here again. 

Next venue was Cardiff. We flew into Cardiff airport in a really bad thunder storm with some of the worst turbulence and visibility I've ever traveled in. It was so bad the guy two rows back from me threw up all over himself and the aisle. When I got off the plane and was walking to the terminal I saw the pilot sitting in the cockpit with his hands covering his eyes !

We ended up in "The Corner House" which I would describe as a gastro pub. It was recommended to us by the wife of one of the road show crew who had been here a number of times. It was a good call ! the pub was absolutely brilliant ! The food took a little time to come but it was well worth the wait and the bar was very well stocked with great beers , wines and spirits. We had a great night here and  I would definitely recommend it.

A few days later we were in Bristol. 

I always like coming to Bristol as I find the town very welcoming, this may be because I have a few friends here or possibly because one of my favourite pubs is here. "The Old Duke" is a jazz pub which is busy every night of the week. You could see a few locals play here or you could see a world famous act, this venue attracts both.

We started by having a meal in a Spanish restaurant down by the river, it was great ! with good food, good wine, good service and not too expensive. Then we moved onto "The Old Duke". The pub was jumping ! with a jazz band playing,(average age of the band was about 150 years old), and the average age of the crowd was about 21. The atmosphere here was lively, the band were going for it and the crowd were loving it. If your in Bristol you have to come here and experience it for yourself. 

The next venue on the road show was Reading. 


There are a lot of pubs in Reading but as far as I could see there are only one or two good pubs. I know that we only spent one night here, which is not nearly long enough to get to know a town, but that was the feeling I got. Having said that I did enjoy going to "The Horn", this was a solid pub with a good, welcome atmosphere and would happily return. The other bar we liked was "The Sahara". This is a cocktail bar with a vibrant feel to it and a young, trendy crowd. We didn't exactly fit in here but we enjoyed it ! Bring your wallet though, as the drinks are very expensive.

There was a break in the roadshow schedule so I took a job in Frankfurt for a week working at a pharmacutical conference. This was at the hilton hotel at the airport so I didn't see much of Frankfurt but we still got a chance for a few pints ! I preferred the darker beers and took full advantage  of the large Germany Stein glasses.

At the end of the job in Frankfurt we were all delayed by a day due to our flight being cancelled because the plane was frozen. We sat on the plane, on the runway, for 6 hours. Then we were taken off, but not given our bags back ! we then had no hotel rooms and had to find somewhere to sleep till we could get a flight the next day. Not a pleasant experience.

When I got back to the UK I went straight to heathrow and joined the roadshow crew again, borrowed some clothes, (I still didn't have my bag), and carried on till I got home a few days later.

Christmas came and I enjoyed some time off work with my family, I also enjoyed some time with other freelancers that I know and have worked with for many years.

2013 started with work on the roadshow taking me to ever more weird and wonderful places throughout the UK, such as a management training centre in Milton Keynes, a conservatory in Chelmsford, Canal Street in Manchester and a lot of football grounds........ 

The roadshow is now coming to an end. I have enjoyed working on it but I'm looking forward to a new challenge.


I may try to include some video blogs next time, even a few youtube video's that I've got idea's for.


Thanks for reading the blog !


Cheers !!!!


Alastair