CAMPAIGN FOR REAL ALE

GLASGOW - Glasgow, City Centre, Laurieston Bar

National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors Part One

58 Bridge Street, Glasgow, G5 9HU

Tel: 0141 429 0869

Public Transport: Underground: Bridge St

Pub Food: Snacks all day

Listed Status: Not listed

View this pub on a local map

The exterior, with its tiny patterned tiles and distinctive lettering, prepares us for what is, in its way, one of the most remarkable pub interiors in the UK; a full-blown and now very rare c.1960 remodelling of an island bar style. Not surprisingly for a nation just emerging from post-war austerity, pubs schemes of that time have none of the class of grandiose Victorian developments or the sleek elegance of the 1930s. However, the design style in unmistakable. The entrance from Bridge Street has a small off-sales facing it. On the left comes the public bar with fixed seating round the walls, a series of small, screwed-down, two-tier Formica tables and contemporary low chairs. The boarded elongated oval bar counter (with Formica top) is a fairly simple affair, not unlike work of the ’30s, but the suspended structure over it and the panelling of the ceiling are quintessential 1960s. There’s even a c.1960 heated glass food display unit on the counter that is still in use today for hot pies and bridies. The lounge is a smarter place, carpeted unlike the boarded public bar, with more fixed seating, panelling and a number of bell-pushes for table service. To complete the picture the Formica-covered walls in both ladies’ and gents’ may not exactly strike you as tasteful but they are just as much an historical document as Victorian tiling – only much rarer!