Real fires in public houses, hotel bars, coffee houses and even railway
station waiting rooms are about as rare as hens’ teeth. Most have been
bricked up or boarded over and spend their time with the spiders hoping that
some day they will be rediscovered.
There’s nothing nicer than a real fire. Many fires look real. They’ve got heat and flames and the sort of ruddy glow that you might expect. But most are just flame-effect gas fires that need no attention bar a bit of a hoover now and then. They are akin to keg beers in the real ale world. Because, like real ale, a real fire needs some input for the final glorious product to be realised. You don’t just switch it on or turn a tap; you have to ensure there are plentiful supplies of wood or coal or peat to nurture it, then to build and light it and tend to its every need. It then repays the effort by blossoming and growing like a living thing, and unlike a mock fire the flames are not always in the same place or of the same height and colour.
A real fire is a wild untamed beast that is only barely kept in check by the metal guard that retains it. Tall yellow flames burst out all over its surface, sparks explode and fly, and smoke billows and twirls and performs lazy pirouettes before being unceremoniously wheeched up the chimney. And all the while the fire grows and changes, first unsure and tentative like a child, then bold and unruly, and finally calm and majestic in the dull rosy glow of old age.
There’s nothing nicer than a real fire. Many fires look real. They’ve got heat and flames and the sort of ruddy glow that you might expect. But most are just flame-effect gas fires that need no attention bar a bit of a hoover now and then. They are akin to keg beers in the real ale world. Because, like real ale, a real fire needs some input for the final glorious product to be realised. You don’t just switch it on or turn a tap; you have to ensure there are plentiful supplies of wood or coal or peat to nurture it, then to build and light it and tend to its every need. It then repays the effort by blossoming and growing like a living thing, and unlike a mock fire the flames are not always in the same place or of the same height and colour.
A real fire is a wild untamed beast that is only barely kept in check by the metal guard that retains it. Tall yellow flames burst out all over its surface, sparks explode and fly, and smoke billows and twirls and performs lazy pirouettes before being unceremoniously wheeched up the chimney. And all the while the fire grows and changes, first unsure and tentative like a child, then bold and unruly, and finally calm and majestic in the dull rosy glow of old age.
If you know of some place with a real fire, please tell us at
getreal@thegoodsoupguide.co.uk and we will try to mention as many as we
can before Christmas.
Here are some real fires we know about in Scotland. There will be many more.
CALLANDER - The Old Bank, Main Street – Once a bank, as the name suggests, now a glorious place with a real fire and plates of good soup. What better way to warm one’s cockles.
CALLANDER - The Lade Inn, Kilmahog - One of the snuggiest hotel bars in the country with a huge fire and loadsa good Scottish ale.
DUMFRIES - Coach & Horses Inn, Whitesands – A nice old tavern where time stands still and the warmth of a real fire warms your bones.
GLASGOW - Babbity Bowster, Blackfriars Street – A very pleasant hotel bar with a Georgian theme where they use Irish Peat in the fire. There can be nothing nicer in life than sitting with an ale at hand gazing dreamingly into the flames. You’ll know when you’re getting near Babbity Bowster because the peat gives the surrounding area a delightful aroma.
GLASGOW - Cottiers, Hyndland Street – A humungous fireplace can be found in this atmospheric old church. It is indeed so large that I’m sure it would be up to the task of roasting a football pitch whole. They use a mixture of wood and rounded smokeless coal which gives a satisfying yellow and blue flame and buckets of heat.
GLASGOW - The Belle, Great Western Road – A small but perfectly formed real fire can be found in this small public house. Wood and smokeless coal are used to great effect. If you’re unable to get a seat by the fire then grab a window seat which boasts unusual and utterly beautiful flowers. Real flowers, that is.
GLASGOW - The 78, Kelvinhaugh Street – They use wood and smokeless coal here, and while I might say that, as with all smokeless coal fires, the blue/yellow flames look ironically like those on a mock gas fire, the decor and sumptuous comfort of the place means you will probably never ever leave. There is a magnificent squishy squidgy arrangement of seating around the fire, ranging from two-seater couches to snugly sleepy armchairs and a splendid wooden settle. Once ensconced, you will become pleasantly roasted and swiftly forget all of life’s ills.
GLASGOW - Gambetta, North Street - This is a bar that does a seriously good coffee, stocks cold foreign beer on tap, and has an area down in the bowels of the building which is used as both an art gallery and entertainment venue. But most important of all, they have a real fire. Yippee!
GLENCOE - Clachaig Inn - The Boots Bar is a warm place where the air is full of the sounds of ale being quaffed. It is here that hill-walkers and mountain-baggers compare notes and show off their midge bites in front of a humungous fireplace.
INVERARAY - The George Hotel - Not one, but something like three real fires in different rooms in this magnificent old inn. A most cosy establishment in which time will cease to exist as you float off on a warm cloud of wonder.
MILTON OF CAMPSIE - Kincaid House Hotel – A lovely hotel bar with a real fire, real local ale, and a most cosy snug feel to the place. The fact that it sits amidst some beautiful countryside is a bonus worthy of loud cheers.
NORTH BERWICK - The Auld Hoose, Forth Street – A lovely pub with superb windows decorated with golfers and such like. The fire, like all real fires, is a dreamy focal point.
REMEMBER TO TELL US WHERE THE REST ARE AT getreal@thegoodsoupguide.co.uk
Here are some real fires we know about in Scotland. There will be many more.
CALLANDER - The Old Bank, Main Street – Once a bank, as the name suggests, now a glorious place with a real fire and plates of good soup. What better way to warm one’s cockles.
CALLANDER - The Lade Inn, Kilmahog - One of the snuggiest hotel bars in the country with a huge fire and loadsa good Scottish ale.
DUMFRIES - Coach & Horses Inn, Whitesands – A nice old tavern where time stands still and the warmth of a real fire warms your bones.
GLASGOW - Babbity Bowster, Blackfriars Street – A very pleasant hotel bar with a Georgian theme where they use Irish Peat in the fire. There can be nothing nicer in life than sitting with an ale at hand gazing dreamingly into the flames. You’ll know when you’re getting near Babbity Bowster because the peat gives the surrounding area a delightful aroma.
GLASGOW - Cottiers, Hyndland Street – A humungous fireplace can be found in this atmospheric old church. It is indeed so large that I’m sure it would be up to the task of roasting a football pitch whole. They use a mixture of wood and rounded smokeless coal which gives a satisfying yellow and blue flame and buckets of heat.
GLASGOW - The Belle, Great Western Road – A small but perfectly formed real fire can be found in this small public house. Wood and smokeless coal are used to great effect. If you’re unable to get a seat by the fire then grab a window seat which boasts unusual and utterly beautiful flowers. Real flowers, that is.
GLASGOW - The 78, Kelvinhaugh Street – They use wood and smokeless coal here, and while I might say that, as with all smokeless coal fires, the blue/yellow flames look ironically like those on a mock gas fire, the decor and sumptuous comfort of the place means you will probably never ever leave. There is a magnificent squishy squidgy arrangement of seating around the fire, ranging from two-seater couches to snugly sleepy armchairs and a splendid wooden settle. Once ensconced, you will become pleasantly roasted and swiftly forget all of life’s ills.
GLASGOW - Gambetta, North Street - This is a bar that does a seriously good coffee, stocks cold foreign beer on tap, and has an area down in the bowels of the building which is used as both an art gallery and entertainment venue. But most important of all, they have a real fire. Yippee!
GLENCOE - Clachaig Inn - The Boots Bar is a warm place where the air is full of the sounds of ale being quaffed. It is here that hill-walkers and mountain-baggers compare notes and show off their midge bites in front of a humungous fireplace.
INVERARAY - The George Hotel - Not one, but something like three real fires in different rooms in this magnificent old inn. A most cosy establishment in which time will cease to exist as you float off on a warm cloud of wonder.
MILTON OF CAMPSIE - Kincaid House Hotel – A lovely hotel bar with a real fire, real local ale, and a most cosy snug feel to the place. The fact that it sits amidst some beautiful countryside is a bonus worthy of loud cheers.
NORTH BERWICK - The Auld Hoose, Forth Street – A lovely pub with superb windows decorated with golfers and such like. The fire, like all real fires, is a dreamy focal point.
REMEMBER TO TELL US WHERE THE REST ARE AT getreal@thegoodsoupguide.co.uk