We left the hotel and walked via Gregg's to Queen Street, bought the train tickets to Edinburgh and boarded the 9.45am for the 45 minute journey. Now as I said in Part 1, my plan was to head back from Edinburgh to Livingston for their game vs Greenock Morton while my companion was going to Tynecastle. I've never been to Livingston and I don't want to offend anyone locals but having mapped and then mapped Livingston again there seems to be nothing there apart from the football ground and an outlet centre..well and 2 Wetherspoon pubs that nearly lured me in. Being a new town and a new'ish ground I was really fighting my reasons for being stuck there when I managed to get wifi on the train and via BBC Sport found that Dunfermline Athletic were at home to Cowdenbeath. A local derby and only 30 mins on the train from Waverley to Dunfermline Town station....decision made I was now going to Dunfermline!
This meant I could have several hours in Edinburgh ticking off more pubs from Beer Guide. We disembarked at Haymarket and walked the 15 mins down Dalry Road to Tynecastle so Mick could get he's match ticket aswell as a programme for me. From here we went to Diggers as the first of the pubs in the guide and the nearest to Tynecastle. Being so close this place apparently gets absolutely packed to bursting on a match day so 11.15 am was a good call. Cracking pub with a really good range of memorabilia on the walls including that great image of Dave Mackay (Hearts legend) grabbing Billy Bremner by the throat during a Spurs-Leeds game in the 70s. Another pint of creamy Scottish ale was sunk and we headed off in search of the next pub.
This was Thomson's a small 1 bar pub on Morrison Street heading towards the castle. We arrived just before noon and had to wait until noon as it wasn't open for service until then. Another new pub and another new ale was ticked off. A very friendly bar maid who was expressing her disgust that her pub had been omitted from the 2013 version of the guide and they had not been informed, we humoured her as of course we didn't know why they were not in the new guide.
From here we walked in an almost straight line to the Blue Blazer on the corner of Bread Street & Spittal Street. This is a cracking little pub with some great ales on, I had a pint of Eden Breweries Seggie Porter as it was the first dark beer I had seen that morning and it was superb, this is a pub that I will be coming back to. By now I only had an hour before the 13.48 to Dunfermline so we headed towards Waverley and past the Bow Bar which we would come back to in the evening. Right by the station was the Doric Arch so we popped in for one. Despite not being in the guide the pub was pleasant enough but was very empty.
I walked down to Waverley and having arranged to meet Mick in the Halfway House just up the Flesh Market steps at around 17.40 I boarded the train for the 30 minute journey to Dunfermline Town station. A short walk across the park and through a lovely residential area brought me to the corner of the ground. East End Park sits slap bang on the main road to Cowdenbeath and looms above everything close to it and opposite houses.
The ticket office was in the corner of the ground between the main stand and the Norrie McCathie stand named after one of the Pars most famous players. £16.00 bought me a seat in the main stand. I went into the club shop to see if they had a fridge magnet as requested by Mick, they didn't but I did get a programme. Once inside the ground I was met with sight of 2 identical sides one behind each goal. The home end is already mentioned named after a Pars Legend. The away end had a smattering of Cowdenbeath fans but nowhere as many as I expected them to bring.
It was cold in the ground as the wind came in at either end and the start of the match had me huddling in my coat with my hands in my pockets as I really started to feel the cold, being tired obviously wasn't helping.
The game was slow to get started but it was the hosts with all of the chances and they deservedly took the lead on 28 minutes through Joe Cardle. Then a strange incident happened, a challenge with a Pars players saw Cowdenbeath Player Manager Colin Cameron collide in the middle of the park with the referee, while this looked harmless this enough this incident was to play a major part later in the game. With the hosts 1-0 up Cowdenbeath pushed on and tried to get their equaliser before half time but it just wouldn't come. So 1-0 at half time it was.
I moved from one side of the Main Stand to the other as I was so cold and I wanted more bodies around me, this did the trick as I instantly warmed up. The 2nd half started a whole 35 minutes late as the referee had gone off injured at half time due to he's collision with Cameron during the 1st half. One of the assistant referee's had taken the whistle but after numerous announcements for a qualified referee or linesman to take over a chap in a Dunfermline tracksuit emerged and the game finally started.
I wanted to get the 17.15 train so with the start of the 2nd half starting so late I left the ground with just under 20 minutes to go and the score still at 1-0 to the Pars. I made the train and once I was sat on my way back to Edinburgh I saw there had been 2 further goals & the hosts had triumphed 3-0. Of the 70 minutes I saw I'd say this was a fair result and. Though my visit to Dunfermline had been brief it was extremely enjoyable but I had 2 more pubs to tick off my list back in the capital.
I arrived back just before 17.45 and made my way to The Halfway House just mid way up the Fleshmarket Steps, a lovely atmospheric pub that resembles someones living room. My companion arrived from Tynecastle a few minutes after me and a pint later we were making the 10 minute walk to the Bow Bar on West Bow, this was the last pub of the day for us and what an absolute cracker it is. A huge choice of Whiskies and a really good selection of ales had me trying another new beer from a Scottish Brewery.
With the time being nearly 7pm, we went back to Waverley station and caught the bus to the airport.
A quick pint in the 'spoons airside was had while the queue was forming waiting for the plane that was around half an hour late. The plan landed at Gatwick just 10 minutes later than scheduled and after a dash to the station I managed to get my connection from East Croydon that got me home just around 11.30pm.
I was absolutely knackered but a great 2 days in Scotland, 2 decent games of football with plenty of drama, 2 new grounds and the added bonus of 13 new pubs.
Til the next time....
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