The Flotterstone Inn - How good does it need to be, anyway?

This pub is about location and nothing else.

© Imran Rahman-Jones

What’s it about?

Clearly, I had timed my walk wrong. After a few miles up and down the Pentlands in chilly mist, I was ready for a) a wee and b) a pint. In that order.

Thank God, then, for The Flotterstone Inn, located right at the car park at the end of the Glencorse Reservoir. It looks like an old coaching inn, a white one-story building just off the A702 by Penicuik. It must have been the final stop for weary travellers from the South before they headed into Edinburgh. Or, in this case, a man with a hankering for a pleasant ale.

It was good to come in out of the cold. The place has a low ceiling and exposed beams (presumably from when it was built) and a tartan carpet (presumably slightly more recent). Brightly-coloured tinsel and Christmas lights were twinkling, a wood burner stood on one side of the bar room and motorbike racing on the TV in the corner.

However, it was lacking… something. It doesn’t need to go posh. It doesn’t need to turn into a gastropub. I just want it to celebrate its history more, be proud of the fact that it’s still standing after all these years. It could have more memorabilia around to symbolise its place at the foot of the Pentlands. It could show off the beautiful wooden bar by moving some of the racks of straws, crisps and charity collection pots somewhere else. And it could turn the telly off.

But what it was really lacking – and this comes down to my bad timing – was beer. We managed to get one pint of Stewart Pentland IPA out, but the second pint was pure foam. I was told it would take half an hour to change the barrel, as the pipes needed cleaning first. No bother, I’ll have the other real ale on offer, a Deuchars IPA. But it was the same problem. So I had to settle for a smooth Belhaven Best on keg, which was fine, but not what I was really after. In the Flotterstone’s defence, at least they take their ale seriously enough to clean the pipes.

So maybe I should have started my walk half an hour earlier to get the ale on time. But it would have taken a stunning pint to really elevate this pub beyond a decent rest after a few miles on the peaks. The thing is, it doesn’t really need to try. Flotterstone car park was packed on the Sunday morning I was there, with walkers, runners and cyclists ready to brave the cold for a few hours. I suspect a big chunk of them ended up at the inn afterwards, grateful for the real fires – and the toilets.

The chaser

To pay the place its due, I poked my head into the pub’s dining room on the way out and it was packed with Sunday lunchers. So maybe it’s worth going back to try the food.

Where is it?

• A702 Biggar Road Near East, Howgate, Edinburgh, EH26 0PP

Update: this article was updated on 29 November 2023 to correct a mistake about what was on the TV. It was motorbike racing, not car racing. It was also updated to correct a spelling mistake.