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Old Glasgow Pubs by john gorevan

 

The Kelvin Dock.

1718 Maryhill Road, Glasgow. G20.

Kelvin Dock

The Kelvin Dock. 1991.

The Kelvin Dock sits on the corner of Maryhill Road and Fingal Street.

The pub is named after a nearby dry dock that was constructed by the canal company in 1790 and was last used for boat repair in 1962.

There has been licensed premises here since 1848 run by coach proprietor and spirit dealer William Abbot. Mr Abbot also had pubs on Hospital Street, two on London Street, the Abbot's Bar, and the Railway Bar, many will remember this old pub as the Nag's Head which was demolished in the 1960s.

William Abbot continued as licensee for the pub on Maryhill Road until 1876.

In 1884 Dugald Pattison took over the business, Mrs Pattison took over the licence when Dugald died in the late 1880s. The family continued to run this pub until the 1950s, they also ran pubs in 1010 London Road and 92 Cambridge Street the Ninety Two Bar.

In 1949 Malcolm MacLeod took over the pub, he also owned MacLeod's Bar at 402-4 Garscube Road next to Society Row. Mr MacLeod sold the pub to Hector Miller in 1965.

Mr Malcolm MacLeod with friends

Left to right: Mr J McCabe , Mr James Millen and Malcolm MacLeod.

Hector Miller formerly owned Hector's Bar at 1674 Maryhill Road one of Glasgow's oldest pubs which caught fire in 1969 and had to be demolished. The City Council bought the pub and ground in November a year beforehand for the sum of £30.000. The Council had plans to build on the site between 1971 and 1975.

Mr Miller then took over his brothers pub further along Maryhill Road and renamed it Hector's Bar after the old premises.

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In the NEWS 1975...

Flood washes out beer supply.

Hector Miller at the Kelvin Dock Maryhill 1975

Hector Miller in his flooded cellar. 1975.

Beer and water every-where and not a drop to drink. That's, in a nutshell, is the sad story today of one busy Glasgow Pub.

For the cellar at the Kelvindock Bar in Maryhill is under 5ft of water and the beer taps are running dry because the pub's staff can't get down to change the barrels.

The door to the whisky store can't be opened because of the stagnant flood water. Unless the water level goes down rapidly, regulars will have to survive on bottles of beer and the few bottles of whisky upstairs on the gantry.

Last week manager Hector Miller kept the pints flowing by putting on a pair of waders and piling the barrels one on top of the other. Now the water level is too high even for such drastic measures. Mr Miller reckons he's lost over £400 in ruined stock and stands to lose over £1000 in takings over the weekend.

The cause of the flood is thought to be a blocked sewer under Maryhill Road outside the popular bar and dirty water is being diverted straight into the Kelvindock's cellar. "The corporation have been notified five times this week and still the blockage hasn't been cleared," said Mr Miller.

A spokesman for the sanitary department said, "We are giving this matter our urgent attention and hope to clear it up as soon as possible."

The area around Maryhill Locks has been used in scenes from hit Glasgow sitcom Still Game.

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Kelvin Dock Interior 2005

Interior view of the Kelvin Dock, August 2005.

Kelvin Dock 2005

The Kelvin Dock. 2005.

Kelvin Dock old image

Postcard with the tram and The Kelvin Dock on the right.

Kelvin Dock postcard

Another postcard with the Kelvin Dock.

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Up To Date NEWS... 20/06/2014...

Tragic News that the Kelvin Dock was set on FIRE...

Fire engines were sent to the Kelvin Dock at around 4.30am today.

Firemen tackle the blaze at the corner of Maryhill Road and Fingal Street. There was not much damage to the building itself. The police are treating the fire as suspicious

Inquiries are ongoing but the fire is being treated as wilful.

End.

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