Clachan Inn, Castle Douglas

The town of Dalry or to give it its full name St John's Town of Dalry sits at a busy junction of 2 A-roads. The pub itself is right on the junction. The pub is CAMRA pub of the year for the Dumfries & Galloway Stewartry and seems to have earned similar acclaim many previous times too. There are a couple of rooms. You enter into the right-hand side of the building where there is a traditional bar. Off to the left is a separate dining room, which seemed to be unoccupied on our Wednesday lunchtime visit. The number of telephone calls received for dining reservations whilst we were there, suggested that it was quite popular for food. Our visit didn't start off the best when we noticed a 'no children' sign. I think it may also have said 'unless eating'. We hadn't long had a substantial breakfast. So, the thought of further food was unappealing. I asked the young barmaid if my son could come in and somehow she couldn't understand what I was saying. No problem, I thought. I'm in Scotland and they probably don't understand my English accent. I'll repeat my question very slowly and use plenty of hand gestures. But no, she still didn't understand what I was asking and looked at me as if I'd just landed on earth from another planet. Luckily the landlady was sat next to the bar and overheard my attempts at communication. She intervened and said he was fine to come in at that time of day! From there on in, the young barmaid suddenly seemed to wake up. I ordered a Bysbie Blond from the Five Kingdoms Brewery with relative ease and I'm fairly sure listing to the conversations that she was actually English! In addition to the Five Kingdoms beer, there were also a couple of real ales from Born - Amber & Blonde, whilst Weston's Old Rosie was available from the cellar. Despite the initial communication issues, I found this to be an enjoyable drinking environment and with the good choice of Scottish real ales, I can see why it wins the Pub of the Year award.