My Pubs (this is my favourite page!)
page last updated 20/03/2008
Over the years I think it's fair to say
I've had the odd drink or two in a fair old
number of pubs, and this page is
an attempt to list as many of them as I can remember, together with the
occasional "review" or story connected to them. By nature it's going to be
a work in progress for a long time and I'd guess it isn't ever going to be
complete, since there's no possible way I'll remember them all, but I'll try to
list at least all the ones I regularly drank/drink in with various choirs etc.
Feel free to email me
with any opinions, additions, corrections or extra detail.
Don't forget that sometimes it's
been a LONG time and a lot of water's been passed since I've been in some of these places so what I describe tends
to relate to how I remember they were way back then. All opinions
expressed are my own. Please feel free to try even the ones I suggest
against and see if you agree with me.
Latest Tally : About 167 pubs listed (I find it hard to count when I've been drinking, and I usually have been when I piss about updating this website!)
Latest additions/updates, August 2007: The Loft, The Silver Bell, The Railway Tavern, The Waterside, The Silverburn Hotel, The Newarthill Inn, The Victoria Bar, Clutha Vaults.
October 2007: Bentley Hotel, Poacher's Pocket (updated), The Queen Vic
March 2008: Pissarro's Wine Bar, Hudson's Bar, Ryan's Bar, The Chanter, Henry J Beans
All links to external sites should open up in new windows, and don't forget I'm not responsible for anything on those sites.
All the other stuff which was listed here has been removed to
a separate page.
A B C
D E F
G H I
J K L
M N O
P Q R
S T U
V W X
Y Z
Adam
& Eve, Bishopgate, Norwich NR3 1RZ
(map)
This is one of the oldest pubs in Norwich, is just outside the Cathedral walls
and was supposedly used by the workmen during one of the phases of the building
of the Cathedral (which would have been some time between 1121 - 1369 I guess).
Although right next to a modern car park (not multi-storey thankfully) the outside wall is covered in flowers and it looks as though it's in the middle of the countryside. It sells decent food, real ale, and bowls of very nice olives.
I was there was in 1994 when the Marian Consort sang for a week in the Cathedral, and briefly in 1999 with Glasgow University Chapel Choir on a tour of Norfolk.
All Bar One, St Vincent Street,
Glasgow G2 5TS
(map)
At
the end of the day this is a pretty boring city centre pub, but one of the good
things about it is that it has huge floor to ceiling windows and it's right on
the pavement of a really busy street so it's a good place to sit, drink, and
people-watch. It gets pretty busy with straight-after-work people (as
opposed to the ones who are gay-while-at-work I suppose!). A
bit expensive, but it's the city centre after all. I was in here in November 2005 and the selection of beers is
actually pretty good, including some Belgian fruit beers (like Kriek) and various decent
lagers (Krusovice etc) all on draught. Since then I've been in a fair few
times, and I can heartily recommend their food. Nice comfy sofas upstairs,
and a good'ish view out the windows down to the street below.
For a bonus point of historical interest, across from the side of All Bar One is St Mary's Lane which is so called because it's where St Mary's Episcopal Church used to be before the good Victorians decided it's be a good idea to move to the growing west end of Glasgow. St Mary's church of course went on to become the Cathedral of the Diocese.
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Aragon, 131 Byres Rd, Glasgow G12 8TT (map)
Unmistakeably
part of the same chain as Hubbards in Great Western Road, this is a smallish bar
tarted up to look authentically old, and it achieves
the effect pretty well. Good real ale, but boringly ordinary yet kind of OK pub-food. Decent place to have a
small refreshment while shopping in Byres Rd. I like it.
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Babbity Bowster, 16-18 Blackfriars St, Glasgow G1 1PF (map)
Taking
its name from an old Scottish courting dance, this fine town house is attributed
to Robert Adam. It portrays
itself as authentically Scottish, but the last few times I've been in it felt a
bit touristy for some reason I can't put my finger on.
Good food, if a bit on the expensive side, and they used to have traditional folk music jam-sessions but again, the last few times I've been in I haven't seen them. Good selection of real ales, including usually something unusual as a guest. There's a beer garden, but I don't recall ever seeing anyone sitting in it!
Baby Grand, 7 Elmbank Gardens, Glasgow G2 4NQ (map)
As
the name may suggest, there's a baby grand piano in this small bar near Charing
Cross in Glasgow.
Incongruously sited in a concrete square between a tower block housing a
cheap hostel/hotel, a subterranean railway station, and some God-awful
1970's office blocks, I haven't been in for years but it certainly used to
do good Sunday lunches and bar snacks.
And you could sit outside and look at the concrete.
Bar Bola, 144 Park Rd, Glasgow G4 9HB
St Mary's Cathedral choir used to drink here, but it was while I wasn't singing with them. I've been in once though but can't remember much except it was very small and crowded, and not terribly pleasant.
The Barleycorn, 1 Low Waters Rd, Hamilton ML3 7LG
The nearest pub to a branch of a plumbers merchant in which I worked from 1982 to about
1988. Not every one, but a lot of lunchtimes were spent in there. Ah,
for the days when I didn't have to drive home from work!
Very very ordinary (or at least it was then).
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The Bentley Hotel, 19 High Road, Motherwell ML1 3HU
In
the former home, built in 1874, of Colonel Black of The Cameronians Regiment,
the Bentley is now a hotel with a small public bar. They seem to be
connected to
Lanarkshire Catering School (I suspect they might in fact be
Lanarkshire Catering School) and this means that the food in the restaurant is
at least partially, if not wholly, made by trainees. They do a decent
Sunday roast though.
It's across the road from Motherwell Heritage Centre, a good venue for researching family tree stuff if you have ancestry from the area. Which I have.
The Big Blue, 445 Great Western
Road, Glasgow G12 8HH
(map)
This
has to be a pretty unusual place for a bar. Situated inside one of the old
railway arches almost underneath Kelvin Bridge in Glasgow (think "The Arches"
garage in the BBC soap Eastenders) it surprisingly doesn't feel too
claustrophobic inside. There are seats outside (see photo below) if you feel like braving
the elements and the often noxious smell of the river. Good Italian food,
as you would expect since it's owned by the same people who own Paperino's in
Sauchiehall Street. And it's right next door to the best Fish & Chip shop
in Glasgow. You just HAVE to try a Special Fish Supper from The
Philadelphia. They are fantastic. Mmmmmmmm, arteries!
Black Bull Inn, Merry St,
Motherwell ML1 1JP
(map)
Now
demolished, this traditional man's-pub was 200 yards from our house when I was approaching and
turning 18 and I used to go there with my dad to play darts. The darts
team were reasonably successful and I remember us winning at least one cup!
Happy days!
Bon Accord, 153 North St, Glasgow
G3 7DA
(map)
Years ago you pretty well had two choices in Glasgow in relation to beer.
Drink the pish
which
passes for Scottish Heavy, or go to the Bon Accord and drink Real Ale.
Fortunately times have changed, and you can now get a decent pint in most pubs, and the Bon Accord is still up there with the best of them, although it feels very like Hubbards and The Aragon inside decor-wise. I've been on the winning team in the weekly pub quiz here two or three times in the past, but I don't know if the quiz still happens.
And nowadays all Scottish Heavy is still complete pish, but there are some great Scottish Real Ales too.
Boswell Hotel,
27 Mansionhouse, Rd, Langside, Glasgow G41 3DN
(map)
Known
locally as The Country Club, this sprawling building with several bars, a decent beer garden and good real ale
was
sometimes used by
Glasgow Chamber Choir after rehearsing in St Ninian's Church in Glasgow.
Big selection of beers, and pretty good food too.
Braes, 14-18 Perth Rd, Dundee DD1 4LN
Quite passable studenty
bar with a few big screen TVs for football watching (if you're into that sort of
thing) and some comfy sofas. Decent Deuchar's IPA.
Went here when I was working in Dundee early in 2005, and it became a bit of a local, although it was a fair walk from the flat. One of my colleagues, every time we were walking towards it, always said "isn't this a gay bar?" Well, if it is we never caught anything off the seats, and were never gang raped in the toilets, so that was a narrow escape then! Fool.
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Brandon Bar, 394 Brandon St,
Motherwell ML1 1XA
(map)
A basic man's-pub
(or should that be basic-man's pub?) which was for a while my local. My mum and dad both
used to work here too.
Pretty rough to be honest but when you're one of the regulars in a place like that, your parents work there, and every other regular knows you, then it's fine. It has a pool table on which I've had one or two wins in my time!
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The Brandon Works, 41-61 Merry St, Motherwell ML1 1JJ
JD
Wetherspoon bar in the centre of Motherwell in what used to be Bairds department
store when I were a lad and used to walk past it twice a day enroute to school
and back! I've been a few times with my dad at lunchtime and
once to a colleague's leaving do on a Friday night. Big and
spacious, but with sticky carpets. Usual Wetherspoon food and drink.
I'd go in again, but would probably stick to lunchtimes as there are likely to
be fewer bottles flying around (by all accounts - although to be fair it was OK when I was in on the
Friday!)
Brel, 39 Ashton Lane, Glasgow G12 8SJ
(map)
Waffles, chocolate, beer, the European Parliament and Jacques Brel the jazz
musician - what else do you know about Belgium then?
Update 16th March 2007 - A colleague told me today that Audrey Hepburn,
although brought up in England, was born in Belgium. So there you go!
I've only ever been in here for a last beer or two after drinking elsewhere in Glasgow's west end, and it's always been full to bursting, and indeed overflowing into the lane outside. It's in an old barn or cowshed and the floor is still identifiable with its channels for taking the water/piss away, and the walls have those white tiles you might remember from primary school toilets! Well worth going in just to look at the architecture, but don't do it on a Friday night!
And in the interests of fairness, the Lonely Planet Website says: "Belgium's sluggish surface hides cultural schism and a passion for pleasure. If Belgium's spotlight on the European stage is a little dim, it's only because its people are rarely boastful. This slow-burning country has more history, art, food and architecture packed into its tiny self than many of its bigger, louder neighbours. A rich and bubbling vat of beer, chocolate, oil paint and bureaucrats, Belgium gives off the heady pong of the bourgeoisie. But stir the pot a little and you'll find an 'artificial state' roughly made up of two parts Germanic Flemings to one part Celtic-Latin Walloons."
So that's alright then, except I'm not so sure if I fancy sampling the heady pong of the Bourgeoisie, having dealt with the heady pong of the native Glasgow Jakey Bastard for three years when I was a Turnkey!
Bridge Hotel, Castle Square,
Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 1RQ
(map)
In my
very brief sojourn with the choir of St John the Baptist, Newcastle upon Tyne,
this is where they drank. Can't remember much about it other than it's a
rambling place with several rooms. And it must sell Real Ale if a choir
drank there!
A while back I discovered that it was designed by a famous architect, and for the life of me I can't remember his name! Oh well.
Bunker, 193-199 Bath St, Glasgow G2 2HU
I would have walked straight past this basement bar unless my colleagues had pointed out the door! Modern decor, fairly spacious, and with Internet access on about 6 wall mounted PCs, we were only in here for one very quick drink so I can't really comment that much on how good it was. I'd go back though.
Burts Hotel, Market
Sq, Melrose TD6 9PL
(map)
I don't remember that much about Melrose, apart from the impressive Abbey and
Burts Hotel's famous Sunday lunches. And all I can remember about them is
that they are famous. Can't for the life of me describe what they were
like, or whether it was Sunday Roast or Nut Roast (oh, alright then, it
certainly wouldn't have been Nut Roast!)
Cafe Royale Circle Bar, 19 West Register St, Edinburgh EH2
The
big island bar dominates this attractive Edinburgh pub where the walls are
decorated with 19th-century Royal Doulton tiles featuring famous figures from
history.
Been in it once, on a pub crawl about 10 years ago.
Carbeth Inn,
Stockiemuir Road, Blanefield, Stirlingshire G63 9AY
The Carbeth Inn is an old
coaching inn dating from 1816. It features in Sir Walter Scott's novel Rob
Roy, as it was where Baillie Nicol Jarvie, a Glasgow magistrate, stayed when
travelling to visit him. In the book it is the "halfway house", described as a
"most miserable alehouse", but the last time I was in it it certainly wasn't
miserable! The whole place has an "olde worlde" feel about it, and it has a good
selection of real ales, beers, wines, liqueurs and single malts. At the
front of the inn is a beer garden where you can sit and eye up the motorcycles
parked there on most dry days, since this is a very popular venue for a break when out
on a day's ride. The inn apparently has two restaurants, and the bar food is good.
Standing in the shadow of the Campsie Hills, though only twelve miles from the centre of Glasgow, this is a decent country pub and is well worth a visit or two, particularly on two (motorised) wheels.
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CCA, 350 Sauchiehall St, Glasgow
Now
called the Centre for Contemporary Arts, this place, a long time ago, used to be
the Third Eye Centre. I can't actually remember which one it was called
when Glasgow Chamber Choir used to have a glass of beer or two after rehearsing
in St Aloysius church round the corner.
How sad am I? The main thing I remember is that they had the best ever alcohol-free beer. I seem to remember it was Furstenberg Frei, it came in large bottles and it actually tasted like beer!
The Chanter, 30-32 Bread St, Edinburgh EH3 9AF
After attending a concert by the Edinburgh Singers, I tagged along (as the friend of a former member who was with me) with the choir to their after-concert party here. They always apparently have a good knees-up after every concert, and lay on food too, so I was looking forward to it.
The party was fine, the pub was ordinary and pretty studenty. The food was very very very late in arriving, so much so that 3/4 of the choir members had buggered off elsewhere to eat by the time it arrived, and when it did arrive it consisted of huge plates of OK chips, and large plates of boring sandwiches containing not very appetising fillings.
Never mind, the company was good!
Cleopatra's, Great
Western Rd, Glasgow
Affectionately known as Clatty Pat's, this nightclub,
right above Hubbard's and directly across from Coopers, has the obligatory sticky
carpets and is apparently heaving with medical staff from various hospitals
once a month on NHS
pay day! I haven't been in for years and it'll stay that way for the
foreseeable future thank you very much.
Update: It has changed its name to The Viper and moved the door from the side to the front (see photo), but there's no doubt everyone will still refer to it as Clatty Pat's, so that's how it'll stay on this site. And another thing. Apparently the bouncers are instructed to refuse entry to anyone who looks over 35. Tossers.
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Clutha Vaults, 167 Stockwell St, Glasgow
I have been in here precisely once. In the dim and distant past I was selected for jury duty on a murder trial at Glasgow High Court, just round the corner, and after the final day of the week long trial some of the jury members, myself included, adjourned here for a quiet drink to wind down. Can't really remember much about the pub, I had other things swirling around my head at the time. Had we come to the correct decision, for example. Well I still think we did reach the right verdict.
Clutha is the original (Gaelic) name for the river Clyde.
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Coanes, 26
High Street, Johnstone, PA5 8AH
(map)
This
was technically my local from late 2003 until July 2006, but to be honest I've only
been in it about 4 times! When we moved house in October 2003 I took a week of holiday and found myself in Coanes one afternoon. I was sufficiently impressed to send a text message
to my closest mates saying something like "right now in pub, malt whiskies, real
ales, sells mussels. Boys' night out anyone?" But the
promised night out never materialised. Oh well. It isn't as
boring inside as the outside looks!
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Colonel Linskill, 25 Charlotte St, North Shields.
They all blend into one after a while! I think this was a good one, warm and comfortable, with Timothy Taylor's Landlord beer.
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Coopers, 499 Great Western Road, Glasgow G12 8HN (map)
After
its original life as an old-style supermarket type place called "Coopers" (those
of a certain age may recall subsequently "Coopers Fine Fare" which became
"Safeway", which is now "Morrisons", I think), this
building became a Mexican Bar called "Chimmy Chungas" and as such it featured in
John Byrne's BBC drama series "Tutti Frutti" in 1987 as the workplace of the
character played by Emma Thompson (with a passable Glasgow accent!). This
was the series which Robbie Coltrane (pictured left) apparently credits with launching his career, and in
it he played the lead character "Big Jazza". The series was about The
Majestics, Scotland's "Kings of Rock" and it also starred Richard Wilson (later
of "One Foot in the Grave" fame as Eddie Clockerty.
It then became for a long time Bar Oz, a very ordinary chain-pub with an
Australian theme,
and its current name presumably harks back to its original
incarnation. Circle of Life and all that!
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The Corinthian,
191 Ingram Street, Glasgow G1 1DQ
(map)
This is the former Lanarkshire House which was Glasgow's Sheriff Court building
until a new one was built south of the river.
Very expensive drink, fairly exclusive clientele (or at least it attracts the sort of pretentious poser who is happy to pay the outrageous prices), and exceptionally good architecture.
Worth going in for a look at least once, if you can get past the bouncers.
Counting House, 67-71 Reform St,
Dundee DD1 1SP
When I worked in Dundee temporarily between March and July 2005 this was my
default pub. Pretty bog-standard JD Wetherspoon place, but it fitted the
bill fine. Some pretty rough chaps drank there some nights though!
Counting House, 2 St Vincent
Place, 24 George Square, Glasgow G1 2EU
Converted bank overlooking George Square right in the centre of Glasgow.
Reasonably priced good selection of real ale, as you would expect from JD
Wetherspoon, but it's a barn of a place with very little atmosphere. Worth
going into to look at the architecture though.
This was for a while a regular venue for Glasgow Chamber Choir when they rehearsed
in nearby Strathclyde University, and is currently the venue for Glasgow
Renaissance Singers (or Cathures as they are now bizarrely known) after their
rehearsals in Strathclyde University. I was one of the original members of GRS,
and indeed GCC.
The County, 70 High St, Gosforth,
Newcastle upon Tyne NE3 1HB
One
of the regular pubs for both the church and chamber choirs of All Saints, Gosforth
when I sang with them.
On the sadly all-too-rare occasions when I manage to get back to Newcastle and see old friends, this is where we tend to meet up.
Good selection of Real Ale.
Coylet Inn, Kilmun, Loch Eck (A815, 9 miles north of Dunoon)
Picturesque
is a word which might have been coined to describe this pub and the photo
doesn't do it justice. Go see it yourself, and try some of the Real Ales,
Malt Whiskies and good food too.
If you travel from Arrochar towards Inveraray, after you pass Rest and be Thankful and go down the other side the next road on your left will be signposted for Dunoon. If you take this road you will eventually pass the Coylet. Or from the other direction head out of Dunoon (always a good idea!) past Holy Loch.
Cumberland Arms, Byker Buildings, Newcastle upon Tyne NE6 1LD
Pretty old
building (1850's) in need of a bit of repair. Good beer though. And
the Newcastle Kingsmen
Rapper Dance team practices here upstairs on a Wednesday night.
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Curlers, 260 Byres Road, Glasgow G12 8SH
One
of the oldest buildings on Byres Rd, but not one of the best pubs. Very ordinary
in fact. Architecturally however, the building stands out from those
around it as being obviously much older.
Dalziel Arms, Brandon St, Motherwell ML1 1XA
Not
terribly well placed, but to be fair
the building does predate the horrible one-way system (which is actually two-way
again, now that I think about it!) and underpass. This was
where the good people met to discuss the foundation of an Episcopal Church in
Motherwell, in the late 19th century so presumably it wasn't as
rough-as-a-badger's like it is now! From the Episcopal Church Website:
"Holy Trinity had it origins in a meeting held in
the Dalzell Arms Hotel on April 25th 1882 to consider the possibility of
starting a Mission in Motherwell in connection with the Episcopal Church in
Scotland. A congregation gathered and services were held in Mrs Keith's
schoolroom until, in June 1884, a corrugated iron church was opened. This
building is now the church hall. A building committee entered into
negotiations with the Duke of Hamilton for a building site, and the foundation
stone of the present church was laid on 29th September 1894. The new
church, built in red stone and dedicated to the Holy Trinity on September 28th
1895 is Early English in style. The building was consecrated on November 21st
1896."
On reflection, I guess it was maybe a previous incarnation of
the Dalziel Arms in which the meeting was held! As an aside, the original
corrugated iron church referred to is now the church hall
as
seen in the photo (left), and they've applied for planning permission to knock
it down and build flats!
But back to the Dalziel Arms, one memorable year when I was visiting my parents over the festive season, I
dropped in here for a pint (don't know why, it was never a place I frequented
when I lived in Motherwell) and I happened to meet a former school mate who,
although a nice guy, had
a bit of a reputation for exaggeration while we were at school (I honestly don't
know how deserved it was at the time though). In conversation he
"happened" to mention that he'd been at a Queen concert recently in Germany (he
always had been a huge fan) and I'll give you a flavour of the conversation
which ensued:
Him: ...... so I found myself by luck staying in the same hotel as
the group
Me: that must have been interesting
Him: Aye, and because I was staying in the hotel I got invited back to the
after-gig party
Me: superb!
Him: so anyway, I says to Freddy ......... etc ad nauseam
I've met him once since then (the school mate, not Freddy Mercury) and to be honest he's perfectly alright, but he used to be such an arse (as I suspect we all were to a greater or lesser degree when younger, to be fair).
Anyway, the pub. Don't go there.
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Doublet, 74 Park
Rd, Glasgow
(map)
Former
regular drinking place of the choir of St Mary's
Cathedral in the 1980's. Very small. Quite crowded, and used to be fairly
smoky, although smoking is now banned in all Scottish pubs so that won't be a
problem now.
Dr Gormans, 50 Upper Craigs, Stirling FK8 2DS
Now I don't say things like this lightly, but this pub served the BEST burger I have ever eaten in a pub or restaurant. And it was two for the price of one!
Four of us went here in August 2006, which was towards the end of my temporary period of working in Stirling, and it was all in all a very good place to have lunch. Pretty well right in the centre of Stirling, just round the corner from the Thistle Shopping Centre, it's a modern interior with quite a few plasma screens on the walls, but no outrageously loud music, which was a blessing. The screen nearest us was actually tuned to BBC News 24, although since the volume was muted it would have been nice to have had subtitles displayed.
I can't comment on the beer, we were in at lunchtime and it would be a bad thing to drink during working hours (although I was the bad lad who ordered a pint of lager - I was leaving after all!). So four meals, 3 soft drinks and a pint of lager, all for just over sixteen quid. And both of us who had the burger agreed that it was very nice indeed. Verdict: Go there.
Drouthy Neebors, 142 Perth Rd, Dundee DD1 4JW
Went there once with a colleague. A couple asked us if
they could sit down at our table (it wasn't all that busy) and we said yes.
They lit up cigarettes and blew the smoke in our direction. We left and
went to Braes, just down the road a bit. Five minutes later they came in too, and asked if they
could sit at our table. We left sharpish! Freaks.
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Drovers Inn, Inverarnan
Famous
pub right next to the far north of Loch Lomond. Good food, but very busy
on Sunday lunchtimes.
The last time I was in it was apparently being renovated so we ended up sitting in a freezing cold large back room with the ceiling almost falling about us!
Dundee Contemporary Arts, 152 Nethergate, Dundee DD1 4DY
A bit poncy for me, but big, light and airy with
a (concrete) beer garden outside with uncomfy plastic furniture made to look
like real comfy sofas! Very arty, funnily enough.
This is where in conversation with a colleague one evening after our 13 hour shift had ended I discovered that he lives in a cottage owned by, and rented cheaply from, the Queen because he worked for her (in direct daily contact with her apparently) for several years. And then he ends up in Dundee for two weeks. Nae luck!
Eagle Inn,
180 Bellshill Rd, Motherwell ML1 3SG
A LONG time ago this was owned, or at least managed, by an ex St Mirren, Glasgow
Rangers and Scotland footballer called
Willie Telfer
and at that time my mum and dad worked there behind the bar. This was probably round
about 1966/67 or thereabouts and I can still remember going in there after
finishing primary school for the day to wait on mum or dad to finish their shift
and take me home! So I suppose technically this was probably the first pub I was ever
a regular in!
The
pub is situated right next to a main railway line and near to a shunting yard so
was frequented by many rail workers and there's a story I remember (probably
apocryphal but you never know, this was the 1960's) whereby a couple of them in
uniform came into the pub and sat for a while while they had a couple of pints
each. Eventually they left and another rail worker sitting nearby said
that it was about time they had gone, and when asked why he explained
that the pair had left a train full of passengers on the line just behind the
pub while they came in for a drink!
Eagle Inn, 155 King St, Broughty Ferry DD5 2AX
Old inn,
first opened in 1597 apparently, in the middle of Broughty Ferry with some seats
outside on the pavement. Very low ceiling, even for a shortarse like me, I
seem to remember.
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Edwards Bar, 410 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow G2 3JD
Big but quite reasonably nice pub at the busy Charing Cross end of Sauchiehall Street. Used to be very busy on a Friday with the after work crowd, but then a new place opened up nearby and became the new fashion so Edwards is a lot quieter. O Tempore, O Mores! I had my stag night partly in here and partly in The Hengler's Circus across the road.
Update: It's been renamed and is now something like The Sauchiehall
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Egypt Cottage, 117 City Rd, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 2AN
For those
of you of a certain vintage, this is right next door (and I mean RIGHT next
door) to the Tyne Tees Studio where The Tube used to be filmed in the 1980's, so
apparently some of the biggest names in the 1980's UK music industry have
propped up the bar at one time or another.
Nice looking pub with, strangely enough, an Egyptian theme! Decent Deuchars IPA. And the Sallyport Sword Dancers sometimes practice here if they can't get into the Cumberland Arms.
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Electric Bar, 291 Airbles Rd,
Motherwell ML1 2AW
Happy memories of being in sixth year at Dalziel High School in Motherwell, and
having various free periods during the week. Often my mate Dougie
Johnstone and I used to take advantage of the good weather and lack of
supervision (we were old enough to be trusted - ha!) when our free periods coincided
to take off our blazers and ties and leave them in the sixth year common room,
and wander across the Duchess of Hamilton Park to the other side where lay
......... heaven!
We used to brazenly stroll into the Electric Bar and
have a beer or two and a game of darts or pool, before casually sauntering back
the way we came in time to get properly dressed for our next lessons. We thought we were being
completely covert by removing our blazers and ties, but this left us wearing
black shoes, grey trousers and grey shirts and when I look back on it I cringe
to realise we must have been so bloody obviously Dalziel pupils! But they
served us anyway!
The Electric is still the unofficial Dalziel Former Pupils pub and the last time I briefly went there, enroute to a 40th birthday party for a former school mate, I walked in and at least half a dozen people sitting at the bar were instantly recognisable as being contemporaries of mine at school who hadn't quite escaped the clutches of the Electric. I swear they hadn't moved off the bar stools since 1980! And yes, it is as boring a building as the photo suggests!
Update: I've just finished reading Margrave of the Marshes, the biography of John Peel, and apparently he visited here, took part in the music quiz, and got royally pissed when visiting a friend in Motherwell. I have since mentioned this to people who still drink there and they knew nothing of it. You'd think they'd have a plaque up or something! Or at least use the connection as a bit of free publicity.
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Exchequer, 59 Dumbarton Road,
Glasgow G11 6PD
Former Sunday lunchtime venue of some members of the choir of St Mary's
Cathedral. Glasgow Chamber Choir also sometimes drank here when we
rehearsed in the chapel of the Western Infirmary across the road. Now too studenty by half, but I suppose that's OK if you're a student!
Update: I drove past it a while back and it was actually called something like The Clinic, presumably because it's across from the Western Infirmary, but it was closed even though it was during normal drinking hours although it has since reopened as a night club called BoHo. Thanks to Wullie Davidson for emailing me and giving me a jag to update that!
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Fat Sams Nightclub, 31 South Ward Rd, Dundee DD1 1PU
Three am. Sticky carpets. Shite beer. Loud
music. Local fuckwits obviously spoiling for a fight, but apparently too shit scared to start anything
with the particular crowd who'd just come in.
Last night of my secondment to Dundee. Never again. Enough said!
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Fir Park Club, Fir Park St, Motherwell
The social club attached to Motherwell FC's stadium. I've only been in it twice, I think, years ago, and it was what you'd expect a social club to look like. I know a few folk who go there (one of whom reminded me that it was missing from this site - thanks Jim) so maybe it's OK now, but probably not.
Fisherman's Tavern, 10-16 Fort St, Broughty Ferry DD5 2AD
Cosy local bar with decent real ale and a beer garden (with real grass, not concrete!).
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Fort Bar, 58 Fort St, Broughty Ferry DD5 2AB
Decent beer, but outrageously smoky.
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Fountain Inn, 169 Beacon St, Lichfield WS13 7BG
Smoky, noisy, and by far the worst of the three pubs I was in when in Lichfield for the wedding of two friends in August 2006.
Fountain Inn, 1 St Thomas St, Wells, Somerset BA5 2UU
Just
2 minutes walk along from the cathedral. I've heard it's more geared to the restaurant
bit o
f it nowadays, but it used to sell great real ale, real cider (including
one called "Rat"!) and lovely bar food.
One of my favourite pubs (or at least the way I remember it, is one of my favourite pubs!).
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Fox & Hounds, South St, Houston, PA6 7EN
A famous
pub in Renfrewshire which has its own brewery (The
Houston Brewery) attached. Built in 1780, this former coaching inn has
a deserved reputation for good beer and good food. Their website claims
that "modern comfort is subtly blended into the interior to ensure the olde
world atmosphere is preserved throughout the three bars and restaurant, the Fox
& Hounds is: "The Pub with today's comfort and the atmosphere of bygone days"."
Well I was in it for the first time a year or so ago and I can vouch for the standard of the food (and beer!) but the claim about it having today's comfort must have been written in the 1970's! The restaurant felt a bit like an old Bed & Breakfast dining room and they managed to squeeze six of us onto a table for four by the simple expedient of adding two extra place settings to one end of the table. Not at all cramped or anything! Friendly enough service, I suppose, but not very efficient or fast.
On the whole though, I'd say give it a try.
Frankenstein, 92 West George St, Glasgow G2 1PH
Gabriels, 33 Gauze St, Paisley PA1 1EX
Been in
here just once at a leaving do. Not too bad but fairly ordinary.
Going back again soon for another leaving do (March 2007). I'll see if
it's changed.
Update: I didn't go to that leaving do, because I ruptured my Achilles Tendon in the middle of March and was on crutches and off work for 3 months!
Gallus, Dumbarton Rd, Partick, Glasgow
Drove
past this a while ago and suddenly remembered I've been in it a few times years ago
when it was called something completely different but for the life of me I can't
remember what! I think it might have been an Australian themed pub but I
could be wrong, and "The Outback" rings a bell.
For the uninitiated, the Scottish word Gallus means something like "full of oneself".
It's on the corner of Dumbarton Rd and Church St, near the Western Infirmary.
Update 1st July 2006: Thanks to Archie Grossart for emailing me to say he used to live just next door to this pub in the 70's when it was called Reid's of Pertyck (yes, Pertyck, that's the right spelling). I had forgotten that, but after Archie's email I remembered that this was what it was called when I moved to Glasgow in the early 80's. And Archie reckons he's been in all the Glasgow pubs listed here. We obviously share good taste! Cheers Archie.
Update 23rd February 2007: Thanks to Wullie Davidson for emailing to tell me that after being Reid's this place had three incarnations, as The West End Bar, then Zoo, then Solid Rock West, before becoming Gallus.
Garvie's Lounge Bar,
2 Elphinstone St, Kincardine on Forth, FK10 4RH
The quiz and Karaoke nights in Garvie's are legendary! Or maybe there's
just not all that much else to do in Kincardine.
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George & Dragon, 28 Beacon St, Lichfield WS13 6PR
Just down the road from my hotel and enroute to the Cathedral, this pub proved to be the find of the weekend.
On various occasions a small Glasgow contingent in Lichfield attending a wedding was in there and on the Friday night we played darts (it is a long time since I played!) and were fed sandwiches by the local darts team who had been playing a match. On the Saturday after the wedding (strange things English weddings. You attend the service, then sometimes are given drinks, then usually are told to bugger off. In Scotland the practice is there is pretty well ALWAYS an evening reception with dancing and drinking. Anyway, I digress), a slightly larger Glasgow contingent went in after the "drinkies at the Palace" part of the wedding. Of course, this time three of us Scottish chaps were being devils in skirts and as soon as we walked in the front door, whoops of delight came from a crowd of women in the public bar!
Within a few minutes one of the males from the bar came through to the lounge to pass the message that our presence was required next door. Being good sports the three of us went through and posed for photos with the nice drunk ladies. It is a strange yet wonderfully erotic feeling being groped by strangers, although I rather guess that if we three guys had been asking the ladies to show us what they had under their skirts, then had tried to find out for ourselves (not just tried, succeeded I have to confess!) then questions may have been required to be answered later under caution down at the station! As it was, I for one rather enjoyed it! And for the avoidance of doubt if anyone is wondering if anything is worn under the kilt - no, it's all in perfect working order!
Anyway the pub. If you're in Lichfield, go there. It's good. It has good beer. And the staff and clientele are very friendly (even before we wore kilts!)
The George Hotel, East Main St, Inveraray, Argyll
Visit
Inveraray. Do it. It's a very picturesque wee town on the
shores of Loch Fyne in Argyll and is well worth a visit.
The George Hotel building in the main street dates back some 220 years or so and it became a hotel in 1860. The room we stayed in (Room 12) during a visit in March 2006 to celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary is one of the 5 master bedrooms, all of which feature some sort of combination of antique furniture, king-sized beds, Jacuzzi baths and oil paintings. A digression and pause while an elderly anorak is donned: Although advertised as such, they probably aren't in fact Jacuzzi baths since that name only applies to baths made by that company (a bit like Hoover = vacuum cleaner), but are probably in fact merely generic spa or whirlpool baths. Our room didn't have that sort of bath so I don't know for certain. OK, I'm removing my anorak now. Back to the review.
Very comfortable bar with a lovely warm open fire. Big range of whisky behind the bar, but disappointingly only one real ale, albeit Deuchars IPA which is one of my favourites. Now, I have a broad Glaswegian accent although I can, and do, moderate it quite easily to make myself understood (having spent a few years living and working in Newcastle upon Tyne, and many years holidaying all over England), but it took several attempts to make the barman understand the words "IPA" then "Deuchars". Slightly strange since presumably they sell a reasonable amount of it, and I was also pointing at the handpump!
We ate in the conservatory part of the bar, and for the most part we were the only ones in there. The menu is the same as the one in the bar but the surroundings are a wee bit nicer, and the atmosphere is certainly less polluted with cigarette smoke, although from tomorrow (as I type this) at 0600hrs the law changes in Scotland so that there will be no smoking allowed in public places which notably and, not unsurprisingly, controversially, includes pubs.
Our starters were really nice (Crispy Duck in Hoi Sin sauce with Spring Onion, and Chicken Liver Paté on Garlic Bread with Red Onion and Cumberland Sauce - you MUST try Cumberland Sauce, it's spicy and lovely) and my main course was a perfectly adequate Sirloin Steak (cooked as is the norm a bit less than what was asked for, i.e. I asked for medium, and I got medium rare, but I expected this as it seems standard in restaurants), but my wife's main course (fish and chips) not only looked boringly anaemic (which could have been easily alleviated by some peas on the plate) but was greasier than a very greasy thing from grease land, and was to all intents and purposes inedible. As much as the fish was greasy, the chips were dry but not in that lovely crunchy way. A long time ago (25 years if you must know) I was shown how chips should be fried when I worked very briefly for a neighbour driving his chip van around a (very rough) housing estate in Lanarkshire. Chips should be crispy on the outside and soft and fluffy inside. I'm not a rocket surgeon, you just need the fat at the right temperature, and the George Hotel failed. To their credit, when they collected the plates and asked if everything was OK and we said no, the fish was very greasy, they did take the price of it off the bill (of which more anon ...).
And so to breakfast. Slow service, but that was OK because so often you get rushed, and the food was nice but very greasy. Is there a pattern emerging here? You must remember of course that to put all this greasiness in context, I was brought up in the west of Scotland and will happily cook for myself fried eggs, fried bacon, fried sausages etc etc, but this was a hotel and usually the level of grease in professionally prepared food is considerably less than I'd accept from my own cooking. The coffee was lovely and strong though. Kept me awake all day!
And so to checking out. The normally perfunctory (is that a real word?) check of the bill revealed that there was a small discrepancy. Small, but on a point of principal, important. The £6.95 for the greasy fish had been taken off the voucher I'd signed the night before, but the total on the main bill was something like £10 or thereabouts more than it should have been, but the figure bore no resemblance to £6.95 and the receptionist (who I suspect was actually the manager/owner) couldn't work out what had happened (including a comment that "you've been given a £6.95 discount off your meal for some reason" to which I replied loudly, in deliberate full hearing of the growing queue behind us also waiting to check out "no it was because the fish wasn't very good at all and the staff offered to take the price of it off the bill". She then tried to suggest that the price had been taken off already, but when I stood my ground and showed that the price on the main bill (which had separated the food & wine elements) didn't match the voucher I'd signed, she eventually just recalculated it and we went away happy. I don't think they were trying to rip us off or anything, they were just inefficient. Probably.
Anyway, the summary. Well worth a visit but avoid the fish! And if you do visit the town be sure and visit Inveraray Jail.
George Hotel, St Johns St, Keswick CA12 5AZ
Sunday
Lunch - Rack of Lamb and gravy made with Jennings beer. Worth going just
for that, but there's also the good real ale and authentic atmosphere of
antiquity in this original coaching inn!
Keswick is my favourite place in the Lake District.
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Glaswegian Bar, 69 Bridge St, Glasgow G5 9JB
Roughty-toughty place just south of the river not that far from Glasgow Sheriff Court. I've been in it once, a LONG time ago, with the darts team of the Black Bull in Motherwell to play against their team in a cup match. Can't remember what the result was. It was owned or managed, at that time anyway, by a guy who played darts for Scotland. Can't remember his name. Can't remember much about it at all really, but only enough to be sure I'll never be in it again!
top of pageGolden Rule, 28-30 Yeaman Place, Edinburgh EH11 1BT
Decent pub near where my former sister-in-law and her boyfriend used to live. Good real ale.
top of pageGoose, 48 Union Street, Glasgow G1 3QX
Barn of a place. Very boring.
top of pageGosforth Hotel, Salters Rd,
Gosforth, Newcastle upon Tyne NE3 1DH
(map)
One of the two regular pubs for the church and
chamber choirs of All Saints, Gosforth when I sang with them. This was the
more regular one.
The scurrilous (and no longer funny) magazine Viz was first written in here, since this is where the
bunch of students used to meet and drink and produce cartoons originally for
circulation amongst themselves.
I couldn't find a more up to date photo but I'll correct that next time I'm in Newcastle. It hasn't really changed much anyway.
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Gotham Town, Neville St, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 5DF
Straight
across from Newcastle railway station. Strange place. But I suppose
it's the theme!
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Gowdoc, 372
Great Western Rd, Glasgow G4 9HT
I believe it got its name originally from the owners, the Gows and the Dochertys.
In 1983, when I joined the choir of St Mary's Cathedral in Glasgow, this is
where we drank after rehearsals and services. A right dive I seem to
remember, although I've recently seen it described on a Glasgow Discussion
Website as a "good old Glasgow bar - sadly missed" by an expat who has obviously
had a memory bypass! I remember being in there wearing a tee shirt which
advertised a new Tennents beer (it might have been Tennents Special) and had the slogan
"I think you'll like it" on the front. While I was standing two deep at
the bar waiting to be served having just come out of choir practice, a
complete stranger standing in front of me turned round, looked at the tee shirt
and said to me "I don't!". I said "Don't what?" and he said "I don't like
it, so what are you going to do about it? It's out of order wearing a Tennents shirt in a (whatever the brewers were who owned this place
at the time)
pub!" I was kind of lost for an answer until the bar manager, who was
a decent guy and knew we were the Cathedral Choir, told the aggressor to leave me
alone. I think we moved elsewhere to drink after that!
This pub subsequently changed to become Bilko's, although I don't think I was
ever in it during that time, and then it fairly quickly
closed and lay derelict for ages before being resurrected as Oblomov,
then became The Junkyard Dog and is now a
Bier Halle Republic. When it opened
as Oblomov they must have taken over the unit next door too because it's easily
twice the size the Gowdoc was, and you can still see where the two units used to
be separate, with the present bar being in the old Gowdoc half.
Griffin, 266 Bath St, Glasgow G2 4JP
Traditional
bar near Charing Cross in Glasgow. Only been in once or twice, and I think
it has real ale, but I can't really remember. Near Pitt St, so it's
frequented by a lot of police. Heard recently that it has other bars
attached, one being the Griffinette which is allegedly a gay pub. I think.
I might have got that wrong. I was told it in a pub after eleventeen
pints.
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Guildford Arms, 1-5 West Register St, Edinburgh EH2 2AA
I
spent a day in New Register House in January 2006 researching my family tree,
and nearly went into this bar afterwards because it's right next door, at the
east end of Princes St. Instead I went into the Burger King nearby because
it was 4.30pm and I literally hadn't eaten anything at all that day (a cancelled
train from Glasgow, followed by road works holding up the bus meant I was 2
hours late in arriving and wanted to get as much value for my £17 day pass as
possible so I didn't have time to eat!).
Anyway, that was then, but in February 2006 I managed to go into the pub, and very nice it is too, with some good beer. We also met a huge bear of a man who was loud, brash and claimed to have been a stuntman on the film Gladiator. He didn't tell us his name, but I overheard one of his friends call him Gordon, and lo and behold there is a Gordon Smith listed as one of the stuntmen on that film! Can't find a photo of him though so I can't confirm it's definitely the same guy.
Haunch of Venison, 1 Minster St, Salisbury SP1 1TB
Very old
and interesting pub in the middle of Salisbury. There's even a mummified hand
in the wall.
From their Website:
The first record of the Haunch of Venison is circa 1320 when the building was used to house craftsmen working on the Cathedral spire. At this time Minster Street had open running sewers, so entrance to the property was at the back of the building facing the Church. St Thomas’s Church had significant interest in the Haunch in the early years, even during the 14th Century when the property was reputedly a brothel and to save any embarrassment to local and visiting clergy a tunnel was built between the church and the tavern. The current layout of floors reflects this ecclesiastical link as the many different levels were to accommodate the hierarchical structure of the Church. The so called House of Lords situated on the upper ground floor was built to accommodate higher clergy orders.
Many references over the past two hundred years can be
found concerning the haunting of the Haunch of Venison. Visitors often comment
on feeling strangely cold in certain parts of the building and staff regularly
are frustrated when items are moved or hidden, only to reappear a few weeks
later. It is thought that there are two wandering spirits: the Grey Lady,
who is searching for her child; and the Demented Whist Player who is tormented
by the loss of his hand, severed in a card game due to cheating. In the House of
Lords is a mummified hand discovered in the 19th
Century,
which may have belonged to the ghost.
When the heating system was changed in the Choristers part of the Cathedral the tiles were used in the bar to create a unique floor. The Bar has some other unique features, for example the pewter bar top, which is believed to be the last complete bar top of its kind in England and the original gravity-fed spirit taps. In addition to the House of Lords, the Bar has a small intimate “Horsebox”. This small bar was originally for ladies to use and reputedly was used by Churchill and Eisenhower during the planning of the D- Day landings. On the first floor is the newly restored restaurant ‘one’, which carries on the long tradition of providing food to visitors. The original restaurant was created when a merchant’s house was incorporated during the 16th Century. In the main dining room is a working fireplace dating back to 1588. There is an additional private bar which has the only licensed landing in England and where the famous ghost is usually seen.
So there you have it. And it sells good beer and has a big selection of Malt Whisky. So go there.
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Haymarket Bar, 6A West Maitland St, Edinburgh EH 12 5DS
Situated
opposite Haymarket railway station and relatively close to Murrayfield Stadium,
the Haymarket Bar is a particularly popular bar during rugby internationals.
The building itself is in the late Georgian or early Victorian style and was apparently established in 1938. The name ‘Haymarket’ first appears on a map in 1812 but the area was also referred to as ‘Hayweights’ as there was a market and weighing machine which was originally on the west side of the junction but moved south when the railway arrived. When the Edinburgh and Glasgow railway line was opened in 1842, the Haymarket was originally at the end of the line since it didn't continue through to Waverley until later that century.
Just outside the pub on the Haymarket junction stands the Haymarket Clock, which is a unique memorial to the Heart of Midlothian football team of 1914. That year, Hearts were hotly tipped to win the Scottish cup, but with the outbreak of the war and patriotism sweeping the country, the entire first team signed up - the only football team to join the volunteer army en masse.
The Hengler's Circus, 351-363 Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow G2 3HU
The
photo on the right from 1958 shows the Regal Cinema which was the Glasgow
flagship of John Maxwell's Associated British Cinemas.
It was built on the site of the Waldorf Palais dance hall in Sauchiehall Street,
which had been the home of Hengler's Circus 1904-1927 (info courtesy of
The Glasgow Story).
I don't think the current JD Wetherspoon pub of that name is on the same site, looking at the 1958 image I have my doubts, and the posting below seems to confirm that it's in fact at the opposite end of Sauchiehall Street! The history of the circus is reasonably interesting, and I have pinched the following from a posting on a bulletin board by a gentleman by the name of John Turner who seems very knowledgeable, so I hope he doesn't mind. John's posting is in reply to one from someone involved in converting the original building who asked:
"I am currently involved in converting the former Henglers
Circus in Sauchiehall St, Glasgow into a live music venue.
I am trying to find out as much about the history of the building as possible,
there are so many stories of shows with water tanks, even polar bears and
elephants have been said to have performed there.....
I would love to find any old photographs, show posters etc to perhaps include in
the decor of the interior. If anyone can point me in the right directions, it
would be much appreciated"
To which John replied:
"Hengler's Grand Cirque Variete was in Glasgow from 1861. The first building was at 100 West Nile Street, the old Prince's Theatre Royal, which opened in 1862 until 1885. The next building, of brick and stone, was opened in 1867, at 79-85 Wellington Street. The third and last building was built by Albert Hengler (1862-1937), the son of the great Charles Hengler (1820-1887), at 32 Sauchiehall Street. This opened on 8th december 1904 and closed for the last time on 30th December 1924. There is a booklet 'Hengler's Circus; a history and celebration 1847-1924', by Sean Mccarthy (Third Eye Centre, Glasgow, 1981) which you will find in your Central Mitchell Library. This library should have a collection of old circus playbills for you to search. I have photocopies of many of Hengler's circus playbills but often in poor condition. Albert Hengler wrote a series of articles for the Glasgow 'Sunday Post, in 1927, which you should find interesting. I am delighted that you are so interested in the history of your building, which I failed to locate a couple of years ago! Some of the original circus building brick work, on the exterior, was said to exist only a few years ago. When I approached Wetherspoon's about their Hengler's Circus pub in Glasgow a few years ago they didn't even respond to my letter. Apart form the name there is no trace of Hengler's in their pub as far as I could see! I would be happy to help you in any way I can to preserve the name of Hengler in Glasgow. The family of Albert Hengler lived there at one time. There are many stories to tell and illustrate, including the famous 'water spectacles' mentioned elsewhere on this website. All Hengler's circuses, in the 19th century and later, had stabling and other accomodation for animals."
As for the pub, normal JDW.
Henry J Beans, Rutland St, Edinburgh EH1 2AE
Far too busy, far too loud. Avoid.
Horseshoe Bar, 17-19 Drury St, Glasgow G2 5AE
I'm sorry,
but I don't know what all the fuss is about!
This is a famous Glasgow bar and it's often said that it's one of the finest in the city. I can't see it myself. Maybe it's the karaoke upstairs. Allegedly the longest horseshoe shaped bar in existence. I haven't really got that much to say about it!
It's across from a lap dancing club, if that floats your boat (which it doesn't for me).
Hubbards, 508 Great Western Road,
Glasgow G12 8EL
Former
regular pub of the choir of St Mary's Cathedral. Used to do good pies and
a selection of good real ale. Probably still does actually. Directly
under Clatty Pat's and straight across from Coopers.
Hudson's Bar, 9-11 Hope St, Edinburgh EH2 4EL
Was
taken into Hudson's by a good friend at the start of March 2008. She used
to live in Edinburgh and used this relatively new bar as a bit of a local for a
time. The bar is part of the Hudson Hotel and I think it was opened around
2006.
Situated in the former Hope Street Post Office building, the decor is actually quite interesting inside, with rough bare brick walls contrasting and complementing the contemporary furniture. It's apparently based on New York loft apartment style, which links in with the name too I guess.
Decent (and pretty quick) food, and a limited choice of Real Ale from what I noticed. Exceptionally handy for the end of Princes St (where the shops are!) and surprisingly quiet considering it was early Saturday evening in such a central location.
It's across the road from Ryan's Bar and I'd certainly say choose Hudson's over Ryan's every time. I'll be back there without a doubt.
Jack Daniel's Lounge,
Glencairn St, Motherwell ML1 1TT
Crappy
shithole 100 yards from where I used to live a number of years ago. Been in it once, at a wedding reception (the actual reception was
absolutely fine, I must add!).
The crowds of probably unemployed, in fact quite possibly unemployable, dobbers who used to drink there seemed to take great delight in making as much noise as possible when they left at dark o'clock in the morning when I was trying to get some sleep before getting up early for work, where I earned money to pay tax to support the pricks who drank here.
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Jilts, 14 Brandon St, Hamilton ML3 6AB
Town centre pub where I had the occasional refreshment on a Saturday lunchtime after finishing a morning shift at the plumbers merchant in which I worked. It was near the railway station, and I can only think that that's the only reason I used it! Can't remember much except it was big and dark inside.
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Jinty McGuinty's,
23 Ashton Lane, Glasgow G12 8SJ
Finishing
an early shift (0600hrs - 1400hrs), getting on an underground train to Hillhead, buying a newspaper, buying Guinness in Jinty's, and sitting outside
watching the world go by. This is pretty well all I miss about working
shifts, apart from the 20% shift allowance I was paid of course!
As you might tell from the picture, it's a popular place and rightly so. It's also straight across from the Ashoka Ashton Lane Indian Restaurant (literally just outside the picture on the right hand side) so I've lost count how many times a quick drink in Jinty's has led to a quick unplanned curry in the Ashoka, entirely due to the smell coming from the kitchens!
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Junkyard Dog, (Formerly
The Gowdoc, Bilko's and Oblomov)
372-374 Great Western Rd,
Glasgow G4 9HT
This
was until recently the default regular local for the choir of St Mary's Cathedral.
You can just see the cathedral tower/spire 100 yards past the pub, just after
the lamp post and the little group of people.
When I bought a copy of Microsoft Money a while back, I discovered that when you
download the statements from your bank the program tries to add categories to
your transactions. For example, when it sees that a payee was "Shell
Garages" it automatically puts the transaction into the "Car Fuel" category.
I discovered that on the few occasions when I had used my Debit card in this pub
MS Money had assigned the transactions to "Pet Care". I couldn't believe just
how much our two cats were costing us!
Latest: The Junkyard Dog has closed! The management decided not to renew their lease and it closed on 3rd Dec 2006 and was promptly renovated into some Bier Halle Republic studenty-type crappy place. Tried it the day after it reopened and they charged me £4.20 for a pint of Kronenbourg Blanc which had been about £2.90 in The Dog. That's the only £4.20 they'll ever get from me. Robbing bastards. So now the Cathedral Choir are back using The Lansdowne again. La plus ça change ..........!
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Laings Bar, 8 Roseangle, Dundee DD1 4LR
Strange place for reasons I can't work out, but a big beer garden (with actual grass and everything!), albeit down about 200 steps from the bar! The best plan is to buy the first round when you get there and pass the bar on the way outside to the garden, then send someone else the trek back upstairs for the subsequent ones!
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The Lansdowne
(formerly La Taverna, formerly The Ragamuffin), 7a Lansdowne Crescent, Glasgow G20 6NQ
Former
long-time home of the choir of St Mary's Cathedral, and now the default regular
drinking den again. There are dozens of
stories about this place, some of which might be added in due course! In
particular I have stories about rats, pizzas, Joanna Lumley the night before her
wedding, tropical fish, cockroaches
and live music, amongst others! And for the avoidance of law-suits,
none of the vermin stories relate to the present incarnation/management of
the pub!
What I will say just now though is that although the food in here is generally good, the chef seems to suit himself what hours he works. They advertise food served until 10pm, but usually when we go in on a Thursday (about 9.15pm) he's already fucked off home because "he wasn't busy", and on a Sunday we're in there about 7.45pm to find the same story. After several pointed complaints to the manager, the situation has improved a little bit on a Sunday evening, but not really on a Thursday and to be honest they're losing money over it, because usually there are a fair few of us there!
Lauders, 76 Sauchiehall St, Glasgow G2 3DE
I always
think this pub is slightly strangely situated now that this part of Sauchiehall St is pedestrianised. I've only ever been in it during the day, usually on a
Saturday, when they often have live Big Band music. The music's great, the
beer is ordinary as far as I remember.
Liquid Ship, 171 Great Western
Rd, Glasgow G4 9AW
Exceptionally
rare
occasional
venue for the choir of St Mary's Cathedral when we can be arsed walking a bit
further than normal. Serves good
Caledonian IPA. The bar food is exceptionally poncy in a wanky Tapas fashion.
I have to say I don't like it at all, but for reasons I can't quite put into words. Usually too busy, can't get a seat, I don't know. Something not quite right about it.
One good thing though is that there's no TV so it's a good choice on football match evenings, because it's quiet.
Lloyd's No 1, 151 West George
Street, Glasgow G2 2JJ
Far too busy. Far too loud. Far too rough. Don't go there.
No, really, don't.
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Lock 27, 1100 Crow Rd, Glasgow G13 1JT
(map)
Unique (for Glasgow) canal-side pub which
quite frankly isn't worth going to unless it's a very warm summer day and you've
got one of the outside tables.
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The Loft, Ashton Lane, Glasgow G12 8SJ
This
place is connected to the Grosvenor Cinema in Ashton Lane, and in fact if you
imagine taking a cinema hall and slicing it in two horizontally, then putting a
new mezzanine floor with a bar in the top part next to the ceiling, that's what seems to
have been done here! You can just about see the top of what looks like the
old screen against the far wall when you're inside, although you can't see it in
the photo. The cinema's still there but I haven't worked out what the
refurbishment actually involved so I haven't worked out the internal geography
of it yet.
Busy busy place of an early after-work evening, particularly on a Friday. Nice balcony outside at the front to stand and drink, if you can get a space and if it isn't pissing with rain.
Update: Due to a fire around February/March 2008 this place and one or two others nearby were badly damaged and I'd guess will be closed for a while.
The Lord Darnley,
Albert Drive, Pollokshields, Glasgow
A
long number of years ago when I was in Decantus, the relatively short lived Diocesan choir of Glasgow and Galloway, we rehearsed in St Ninian's Church and drank afterwards in the Lord
Darnley. I went in again a year or two ago with some members of Glasgow
Renaissance Singers when we had been rehearsing for a concert nearby and it was much rougher than a very rough thing from roughland which has been roughened
up by a rough rasp!
It now seems to be closed down and a posh looking cafe
type place has opened up.
The photo is from the
BBC
Website and relates to a story from December 2002 when a former barmaid
kindly gave TB to some of the regulars, two of whom then died of the disease.
On the subject of Decantus rehearsals, being but a youngster at the time I travelled there all the way from deepest darkest Lanarkshire by way of a very good friend of mine who happened to be a fireman. We always had a cup of tea at a break halfway through a rehearsal and due to the antiquated facilities someone always filled a kettle and put it onto a low heat on the gas cooker at the start so that it would be ready by the break. One evening Douglas, my fireman mate, had just come off shift before collecting me in Motherwell and driving us both to the south side of Glasgow. After singing for about an hour, someone remarked that they thought they could smell smoke, and in reply someone suddenly shouted "my God! I forgot the kettle's on!" at which point several people jumped up and ran through to the kitchen to sort it. Douglas, still in uniform, just sat quietly next to me as everyone else panicked and ran about like headless chickens. I turned to him and asked "shouldn't you do something, it's your line of work isn't it?" to which he replied "naw, I'm off duty, they'll cope!". He remains to this day a very laid back man! And while I'm on about Douglas, I should pay tribute to him because he's the person who first of all got my brother to join Holy Trinity church choir, followed a wee while later by yours truly aged about 13 (Jesus, I've been singing in choirs for over 32 years!) and he thereafter dragged me along to various choirs such as Decantus, Ayr Choral Union and the Comyn Choir in East Kilbride, which gave me a taste for it. The biggest thing he did for me though was to persuade me to join the choir of St Mary's Cathedral in 1983 when Bernard Porter had just taken over as choirmaster, and that was the start of my real choir education. Thanks Dougie, without you a big part of my life would never have happened!
Right, back to the pubs.
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Magnesia Bank, 1 Camden St, North Shields NE30 1NH
Didn't like this place at all. Too busy maybe? Too
loud? Unfriendly (but not in an aggressive way) clientele? Yes, a bit of all of them probably.
Beer was fine though. Known locally as the Maggie Bank.
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Marmalade Pot, Riverside Drive, Dundee DD2 1UH
Situated
right next to the runway of Dundee airport, you might think this is the worst
place for a pub, but in fact most of the aircraft using the airport are fairly
small so takeoffs and landings tend to be interesting diversions rather than
noisy scary interruptions.
OK, fair enough it's a Hungry Horse restaurant so is exceptionally child friendly, but don't let that stop you as long as the weather is good enough for you to be at one of the tables outside and therefore well away from the little bastards!
Masonic Arms, 98 Main St, Holytown ML1 4TJ
A LONG time ago, for my sins, I used to play the side drum in an accordion band. We used to rehearse in the hall above this pub, and occasionally I'd go in there, not to drink really because I was only about 12 at the time, but to hand back the key for the hall as I was passing. Don't go there. It's a dive. Or at least it was 30 odd years ago!
H P Mather, 1 Queensferry St, Edinburgh EH2 4PA
Situated
at the west end of Princes St very near Frasers department store, this little
bar is almost certainly one of the best in the area. Traditional
man's drinking den with a very interesting ceiling. Good Real Ale and A
LOT of whiskies. Definitely try it.
It's very near Ryan's Bar and Hudson's Bar. Try Hudson's & Mathers, if you can only fit in two out the three!
Miners Welfare Social Club, 274 Ladywell Rd, Motherwell ML1 3HD
It's a social club. It's exactly what you'd expect. My grandparents used to drink (and work) there.
Miso, 57 West Regent St, Glasgow
According to The List this place, which opened just before Christmas 2004, is not just another trendy venture, and the self-styled sake cocktail bar has entertainment and DJs performing nightly with food being served up to 8pm every day except Sunday. They think it is hard to see how it could be improved and although there may only be four white and four red wines to choose between, there are six champagne options. Says The List.
I can think of a way it could be improved. Don't ask everyone to start finishing off their drinks at ten to eight on a Friday night because the whole place is booked for a private party at eight o'clock. And it isn't just another trendy venture, it's wanky too!
Motherwell Point,
21 Muir St, Motherwell ML1 1BH
Used to be known as Centre Focus, and before that .... well I can't remember the
name but that was when I used to occasionally go in there for a beer. I
remember being in once with a former school mate, and we were
sitting chatting at a table next to the fruit machine which was being played by
a complete stranger who ...... well let's be kind and suggest that he was fairly normal for Motherwell.
A young lady who had been standing drinking at the bar made her way across the
floor past our table and out the front door, followed intently by the eyes of
the guy playing the fruit machine who had interrupted his frantic feeding of
cash into the machine to watch, no, stare at, the girl. As she left
the bar he turned to look at us and said "see her?", we replied "yes", to which he replied "I've shagged her!". Well what can one say to
such a revelation from a complete stranger? Well done?
Congratulations? We just nodded sagely and continued drinking. Pure
class.
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Murphy's Pakora Bar, 1291 Argyle St, Glasgow
It was a bar. It served Pakora. All sorts of Pakora. Chicken. Vegetable. Fish. Sausage. Black Pudding. Haggis. Probably Ice Cream too. Interesting concept! Closed down now, and is a pub called The Goat apparently. Very Masonic!
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Newarthill Inn, 205 High St, Newarthill, Lanarkshire
It would appear that this might now be called Chutney's which appears to be an Indian restaurant which shares the same address. I drove past it recently and all I could see was the sign for Chutneys. I was wracking my brain trying to remember what it used to be called when it was a pub and I used to go there, when lo and behold I found references on t'InterWeb to the Newarthill Inn at the same address and that definitely rings a bell. Can't find a current reference on www.bt.com so it may have changed to Chutney's recently.
So why did I used to go there? I used to work in a branch of a Plumbers' Merchant in Hamilton and one of my colleagues, a very nice young lad, was linked to it as his father owned it, so some of us used to go there on various evenings. I seem to remember it was a nice wee local pub with an upstairs function suite.
There's a sad story relating to my colleague and his dad, unfortunately. They lived a few miles from the pub in a bit of a countryside area and they kept racing pigeons. A bird of prey had been plaguing them for ages by eating some of the racing pigeons. One afternoon my colleague's dad and a bloke who worked sometimes in the pub and did some "handyman" type work for the family were working on a car repair or something at the house when they saw the bird of prey circling above. My colleague's dad decided to get rid of it once and for all and ran to get his (unlicensed) shotgun from the house. He was taking ages to return and the handyman decided to run towards the house to see what was keeping him, just as my colleague's dad came running out the house carrying the shotgun which he was loading as he ran. And he tripped. And the handyman, a young man with a wife and children, was shot dead. My colleague, who was in the habit of regularly going home at lunchtime, arrived a few minutes later with some other colleagues (not me thankfully). Not pleasant.
Another interesting and thankfully slightly less gruesome story concerns my colleague. He was in the habit of drinking a lot of Barr's Irn Bru every day (multiple bottles I seem to remember) which is a sugary sweet carbonated soft drink. I met him a couple of years later, when he was still in his twenties, and he had lost all of his teeth by then and had false ones.
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New Inn, New St, Salisbury
Well hereby hangs a tale.
I have very happy memories of this place from the year I sang for a week in Salisbury Cathedral at the RSCM course (1991 I think) and we drank most nights in this non-smoking pub with the lovely beer garden.
Cut to 2005 and the choir of St Mary's Cathedral are spending a week singing in Salisbury Cathedral. On the first day we finish Evensong and in groups of 3 or 4 we head towards this famous bar. OK we find it's no longer non-smoking, but that's OK, we go into the beer garden with our pints and some menus. Again separately in groups of 2 or 3 (we are individuals after all!) we make our way to the bar to order food. Now I was one of the first to order so had no problems, but pretty soon we were getting varying amounts of abuse from a female who I presume is either the licensee or the manager along the lines of "if there were that many of you wanting to eat you should have phoned and booked" (there were probably a total of 12 people looking for food). It was pointed out to her that we were a visiting choir who were there for the week and who WERE going to drink and eat out somewhere every night, her establishment being the favourite candidate so far to receive our money. No, she was having none of it, she continued to give us grief for having the audacity to have come into her pub to order food off the freely available menus. Fuck that, we all thought. We're off elsewhere for the rest of the week. And so we did. QED. So I would suggest that you don't go there. The barmaid was very pleasant, but the management was an arse. And the ironic thing is that the food's actually quite good!
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Oblomov, Great
Western Rd, Glasgow
See Junkyard Dog
October, Unit 54,
Princes Square, Buchanan St, Glasgow G1 3JN
This bar is
on the top floor of Princes Square, an upmarket shopping mall in Glasgow city
centre. I've had a drink in here only once, after completing a training course
in about 1997. The only other memory I have of it is that it is the location
of a very sad incident when a young man, having that day been accepted onto a
university course, celebrated too much with his friends and decided it would be
a good idea to slide
down the banister. He fell from the top floor into the stair well and was killed
instantly. Very nasty, and very very sad.
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Oddfellows, 7 Albion Rd, North Shields NE30 2RJ
Described
as North Shields' best kept secret, this seems like a very nice little pub with
good real ale and free soup!
Yes, soup.
I couldn't find a more recent photo.
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O'Neills, 80 North Lindsay St, Dundee, DD1 1PS (map)
It's an O'Neills. It sells Guinness. It was the closest bar to where I worked in Dundee for a few months in 2005 so we often ended up going there, for some obscure reason.
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O'Neills, Merchant Square, 71 Albion Street, Glasgow G1 1NY
It's an O'Neills. It sells Guinness. It's a particularly big one and lots of work leaving nights are held here