The Cross Keys Hotel, Dumfries

Canonbie would once have been on the main road between Carlisle and Edinburgh, but the A7 has long since bypassed the village and this large, traditional hotel now languishes in a backwater. It's still a handsome, white-painted stone building, with the windows picked out in black, and the public bar is smart, with a games room up a couple of steps to the rear. There is a post office and village shop in a further part of the hotel buildings, and I would imagine plenty of bed rooms too. The only thing missing is some real ale, and the only non-lager available is the execrable Belhaven Best. I try to avoid knocking beers in my reviews, but I make an exception for this one. It was cold, fizzy and dreadfully bad. It's not the fault of the landlord - it's the people that make it, and I suppose also the people who keep on drinking it. This was the only glass of this beer that I drank during my trip to Scotland.