The Horse Shoe Bar

The Horse Shoe Bar
The pub's exterior, 2012
Map
General information
TypePublic house
AddressDrury Street
Town or cityGlasgow
CountryScotland
Coordinates55°51′40″N 4°15′23″W / 55.86098°N 4.25647°W / 55.86098; -4.25647
Website
www.thehorseshoebarglasgow.co.uk

The Horse Shoe Bar (or Horseshoe Bar) is a public house on Drury Street, Glasgow, Scotland.

A bar opened on the site as far back as 1846 when William Turnbull, a local spirits dealer moved in to the premises.[1] The licence changed several times in subsequent years before being taken over by John Scoullar in 1884.[2] As part of his tenancy he renamed it The Horse Shoe Bar, in keeping with the equine names of his other bars.[1] The pub is said to have the longest bar in Britain, measuring 104 feet.[3]

In 1988 the building was listed as a Category A building of historic importance.[1][4]

The bar was key in the formation of Glasgow band Travis, drummer Neil Primrose was working behind the bar when he told his friend Fran Healy about a band called Glass Onion who played in the bar.[5] Healy saw them at the bar and subsequently joined them.[6] They used the pub as a rehearsal space early in their career and a number of their gold discs are displayed in the pub.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Horse Shoe Bar - Glasgow". www.horseshoebar.co.uk. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  2. ^ "Five things you didn't know about the city of Glasgow". Sundaypost.com. 6 February 2016. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  3. ^ Bell, Gavin (3 October 2017). "Glasgow nightlife". The Telegraph. Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  4. ^ "Closing time for Scotland's historic pubs". The Scotsman. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  5. ^ Cameron, Keith (23 June 2001). "Songs in the key of life". The Guardian. Guardian.com. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  6. ^ "TRAVIS; They were Glass Onion - They played in grotty toilets - And then Fran took over". Freelibrary.com. Retrieved 23 January 2018.