16th video of my pub crawl along the Great North Road in the UK, ticking off pubs using the Cask Marque & Caskfinder apps. The Great North Road is the road from London to Edinburgh, an old coaching route and is also known as the the UK’s Route 66. I will be doing this in sections. (video taken in July 2025).
Full blog can be found at: https://findmeinthepub.com/part-15-great-north-road-in-scotland/
Good morning from beautiful Beric in North Humberland. And my throat is getting a lot better after yesterday’s hangover and vomit tearing apart my uh throat pipe. Um yeah, so the forecast on BBC just now for my cycle ride today from Berrett to Edinburgh is about 60 miles. Supposed to be uh torrential rain and gusty winds. I’ve just come out the hotel building and it’s blue sky. So, I’m going to quickly have my breakfast and I’m going to get on the bike cuz there’s actually no pubs for me to tick off on car park until I get to the outskirts of Edinburgh. So, I’ve got about 5 hours cycling. There is some historical stuff I need to see. Um, but to be honest, it’s going to be a straight run and if I can get there before the rain and the wind, I’ll be ecstatic cuz I don’t want another repeat from yesterday. So, uh, let’s go guys. Let’s get to Bonnie Scotland. I’ve done it. I’ve done it on the Great North Road. I have got to the border of England and Scotland. And I’ve only got about 56 miles to the Scottish capital, Edinburgh. So, uh, another highlight of the Great North Road. Very pretty. The sun’s holding out. You know, stay like that sun. I don’t want the clouds coming in. So, uh, it’s been a good start. Good start. Let’s get on with this. Just inside the, uh, English Scottish border is a village of Lambertton. And here are the rem ruins of the Lambertton old church and churchyard. And it’s within this church that Princess Margaret of England, otherwise known as Margaret Chuda, was received by Scottish commissioners to be conducted to Edinburgh on a journey to where James 4th, I think it was in 1502. This later led to the ascension of James IV to the English throne. Later in 1573 during the disputes between loyal supporters of Mary, Queen of Scots and the region of James the 4th, the treaty of Lambertton was signed in the church, effectively allowing the English army then to camp nearby to lay siege and take Edinburgh Castle as mercenaries of the Scottish government. Well, you learn something new, don’t you, on the old great north road. I’m uh about 20 miles into my ride from Beric uh heading towards Dumbar and Edinburgh and I’ve just quickly diverted off the uh A1 Great North Road to Penman Shield uh to pay my respects as a railway worker in real life that uh I came out of Country Lane in a small hamlet in Penman’sville. And it was here on uh 17th of March 1979 where I’m standing right now. They were building a tunnel for the railway and unfortunately the tunnel collapsed uh during construction. However, uh two people lost their lives. It was only two. I think a few more were injured but there was only two. And the two people who lost their lives was Gordon Turnbill who was born in 1945. And uh the other one was a young fellow who only just got married and uh his name was Peter Edgar Fowler and he was from nearby Immouth. So, those two guys lost their lives here at Pen. And on top of where the tunnel would have been, there is a nice little memorial here. And uh in the distance, you can hear the uh A1 with the trucks rolling by, but the tunnel was never finished and the railway line was diverted just a little bit. It was either diverted. I’m not sure what they’re doing with the railway, but it’s somewhere around here. Can’t really see it with the uh bushes and scrubs. So, uh, yeah, it’s a nice little tribute. Thought I’d come here and pay my respects. Rest in peace, guys. Just got through Cop Burns path. That’s probably my fastest cycling I’ve actually done on the Great North Road since this adventure started. These Daniel sections are brilliant. Now, I’m still on the Great North Road, A1. I’ll be glad to get off the A1 shortly. Uh, but I’m in my last final county, East Loaf. It’s the birthplace of the Scottish flag. And then it’ll be Edinburgh. Not far to go, guys. Just under 40 miles to the city. Let’s do this. On the outskirts of Dumbar is Bell Haven Brewery. One of the biggest breweries in Scotland. I think they’re actually owned by Green King now. Not 100% sure. Pretty sure they are. And unfortunately, today being a Tuesday, there’s no tours. Tat room shut. So, uh, can’t visit the brewery. But I’m sure the amount of times I keep coming up the A1 to Edinburgh, I’ll stop off here one day, you know, for a few. But uh here’s the brewery. Thought I’d quickly uh nip off the old Great North Road just to uh see it. That’s nice. All right, let’s crack on. I love fish and chips and English food, but when I come to Scotland, I’ll eat haggis, too. Guys, I’m now in the town of Muscleberg about 7 milesi uh east of Edinburgh. And I’ve actually made it to my first castmark pub of the day, the David Mbth Ma. I don’t know. Just going to have a pint of whiskey and coke and quickly get panini with some hagers hopefully. Hopefully they got it in stock and then I’ve still got to build it down to Edinbar. So, uh about 85 km in, just over 50 mi. I think I deserve this. Just over there is half a seat. I’m on the last mile of the Great North Road and this is what I’m up against bloody tourist coaches bloody everywhere. Hundreds of them. But this is it. The final less than a mile. So, this is it, guys. The end of the Great North Road. And I need to get hit by buses. Tour buses are bloody everywhere. And it’s not going to be a fast finale here because I’m getting stuck at a traffic light. But that’s by Wly Station to the left. Some business council building on the right. This is how my journey finishes in Scotland. Getting soaked, battered by weather. But you know what? I’ve enjoyed it. I only managed to do one car pup here. There is one near the finish line. That’ll be the official Car Smart finish. Yeah, this is it. The final junction. No sign around here to say this is the end of the great north road and that is it. I have cycled from London to Edinburgh. So yeah, this is the finish line. Now for the pub. Not sure what I’m feeling right now, but yeah, I’ve just sorted myself out. New clean shirt. Yeah, getting ready for uh a few pubs in a second. Don’t plan to get that ass, but I’ve got to do a few pubs. You know, I’m in Edinburgh. Come on. I love Edinburgh for pubbing. But yeah, I’m at the station. So, I’m just about to head out. Yeah. So, I’ve got to the finish of the Great North Road. And I want to be ecstatic. But the thing is, I’ve still got another part to do, which I missed out yesterday between Anic and Beric because of the storm. just couldn’t do another 30 miles in fog, torrential rain, gusty winds, noise passing you out on the A1 and sucking you in and all that. So, I’m going to do that bit next time and I’m going to go the country lane route. So, it’s only 30 mi. I’ve got all day to do it. So, technically I’ll be ecstatic when I finish that section when I get to Beric. [Music] However, I’m not going to let that knock me down today because uh today it was tough going. It’s rolling hills. My fitness levels ain’t um as good as they what they used to be. So, I think I might have to cut down on the beer after this. Oh my god, what my followers are going to say. But uh nah no today was tough, but mentally it it was good. And as soon as I got to Muscleberg, I knew I was near the center. And I really tried to fly through the suburbs of Edinburgh, through uh Meadow Bane Cam, Porto Bellow. It just didn’t happen. My legs just were like jelly. It was the longest three miles in my life probably. And then to get to that last pub, the region, the last one on the A1, the Great North Road, and it doesn’t open till 4 p.m. I might actually quickly run back and do it. Um get a taxi there or something. I’m not getting on the bike. So yeah, very disappointed. But guys, at the region, I will tick you off as well. I promise you. And uh but now I’m going to the nearest Pon Cast mark to the finish line just around the corner here just off Princess Street, the Cafe Royale. It’s very famous. It’s here. Supposed to be posh. I hope not. I’m soaking wet with muddy shorts and shoes. I hope they don’t mind, you know. I’ve got a reason to celebrate, you know. So, but no, no, I’m glad I got to the other end. But yeah, just got to do that one little section, one little section that is nagging me now. That’s the down of the whole trip the last two days. But let’s go and enjoy the bar and let me show you some amazing pubs which uh need to be checked out. Just look how grand Cafe Var is. So this is the oyster bar. I’m just loving the uh artwork and the decor. This was definitely uh worth visiting uh as it’s officially the last Carfinder app uh pub on the app. And if you go through here, you’ve got your main bar. And there’s the main bar just there is around two sides. And again, you’ve got all your artwork down the side. Absolutely amazing pub. [Music] Yeah. [Music] Yeah. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Music] Remember [Music] I’m totally loving it in Edinburgh. I always love it when I come back to Scotland. Okay, I’m in the tour trap of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh. But we’re just uh listening to Amazing Bad Pipes down there. Done a few whiskey shops. Done a few pubs already. Got a few more pubs to go. But yeah, Edin Bar is just tightly amazing. And it’s not so crowded today compared to last time. It was the Fringe uh festival last time I was here. And this place was packed. But absolutely amazing. Yeah, the Royal Mall. Got to show you some shots. But however, I’m not going to do some pubs along here. I’m going down to Grass Market because there’s some coaching in associated to the Great North Road. So, it’s not all just beer, you know. I’m here for history. So, guys, I’m on Grass Market in Edinburgh. One side of Edinburgh I’ve never actually been to. However, like I said, Great North Road, it’s a coaching route. Well, however, there’s a lot of coaching in on Grass Market. Makes me wonder why it’s so far away from the start of the Great North Road over towards Princess Street at Edinburgh Wavely Station. So, anyway, one of them is the White Heart. I’m going to check that out. And you’ve also got the Beehive and the Black Ball apparently. So, I’m going to check all three out. They all been mentioned in my blog. So, uh, let’s quickly knock out these three pubs cuz my train goes in about less than 2 [Music] Well, that’s it. That’s the end of my Edinburg trip. Uh done so many pubs around here. Been absolutely fantastic. Got to head back to Wavely Station. Quickly, grab some food before the train back to Grantham. It’s going to be a long time on that train, but uh I just bloody love Edinburgh. I love the pubs around here. So much history. The locals are nice and there’s so many owls on offer here. This is absolutely amazing place to come. Seriously guys, this is like my the uh air secluding work. It’s probably my seventh time here and this is one of the better cities in the uh UK. And for pubing, it’s definitely in my top five. It’s absolutely amazing. I don’t really want to go home, but got a wife and kids waiting at home, ain’t I? So, I better go. Edinburgh, I’ve booking you Scotland. You are amazing. I can’t wait to come back to you guys soon. It is amazing part of these islands. Seriously, it’s been an amazing day. Don’t get emotional or get a