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Old Edinburgh Pubs


Stuart Lyon

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I have been reading a UK Directory of UK pubs published in 1987 and came across the following listed as being in Edinburgh but cannot recollect where they are/were. They have possibly had a name change.

 

 

Claymore

 

Deacon?s Den - could this be the upstairs lounge in Deacon Brodie's

 

Ghillie ? not the Ghillie Dhu as that is a fairly new name for the west end establishment as far as I know

 

Westward Ho

 

Dizzy Lizzie?s

 

 

Can anyone help me locate these pubs please?

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Dizzy Lizzie?s

Dizzies was just off Leith Walk, on Iona Street.

 

It's still a pub (maybe restaurant) now.

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I have been reading a UK Directory of UK pubs published in 1987 ...

 

 

Had you finished the Phone Book, at this point?!

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Say What Again

Dizzies was just off Leith Walk, on Iona Street.

 

It's still a pub (maybe restaurant) now.

Decided to try and find out what it's called now. It's The Tourmalet.

 

It'd described as having a cycling theme, has a model railway running around inside, and has an Airfix reenactment of the Battle of Britain hanging from the ceiling. :ermm:

 

Certainly different.

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JoH - thanks again - well done! Based on your findings I have tracked it down.

 

Known as Dizzies 1990 to 2007

 

Dizzy Lizzy 1976-80

 

Grand Bar 1970 -76

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I think The Westward Ho was down by the Shore as well , used to be the Trade Winds.

 

The Westward Ho was on Commercial Street, opposite the Nautical College, it's Guiliano's Restaurant now.

 

The Trade Winds was on The Shore itself. Both dangerous in different ways, Westward Ho rough as filled with dockers, bampots and hoors, Trade Winds was a "disco" that people developed a habit of being murdered after they left it. Oddly enough it lost it's licence.

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Heh - it had go-go girls ...

 

Any time I saw them they looked like it was a long time since they had been girls.

 

Go-go wifies more like.

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Sawdust Caesar

Decided to try and find out what it's called now. It's The Tourmalet.

 

It'd described as having a cycling theme, has a model railway running around inside, and has an Airfix reenactment of the Battle of Britain hanging from the ceiling. :ermm:

 

Certainly different.

 

 

I live over the road from it, the guy that runs it, I've been told, used to compete in the Tour De France. He does cycle to the pub and the pub name is that of a mountain, I think, that is part of the TDF route. I've never been in it but think I will give it a try. At least it is not full of Hibees like a few of them round there.

 

 

 

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I live over the road from it, the guy that runs it, I've been told, used to compete in the Tour De France. He does cycle to the pub and the pub name is that of a mountain, I think, that is part of the TDF route. I've never been in it but think I will give it a try. At least it is not full of Hibees like a few of them round there.

 

It's not bad, it has a good selection of decent beers in their fridge, some big fishtanks, and the aforementioned cycling stuff and model planes. Could do with a lick of paint though.

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portobellojambo1

 

Westward Ho

 

Can anyone help me locate these pubs please?

 

Westward Ho is now Guilianos restaurant in Leith. Prior to being the Westward Ho it was Fairleys (there was also a Fairleys up Leith Street, but I think that was a dance hall (forerunner to discos for the benefit of the younger board users)). Anyone who got out of there alive (either Fairleys) after a Friday/Saturday night brawl knew how to handle themselves.

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Westward Ho is now Guilianos restaurant in Leith. Prior to being the Westward Ho it was Fairleys (there was also a Fairleys up Leith Street, but I think that was a dance hall (forerunner to discos for the benefit of the younger board users)). Anyone who got out of there alive (either Fairleys) after a Friday/Saturday night brawl knew how to handle themselves.

 

Does anyone remember it being called the Merrymaker or Merchants?

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Does anyone remember it being called the Merrymaker or Merchants?

 

It was the Merrymaker after it was Fairleys

 

There was a big cat of some sort in a cage in the bar when it was Fairleys people always claim.

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Brian Whittaker's Tache

I live over the road from it, the guy that runs it, I've been told, used to compete in the Tour De France. He does cycle to the pub and the pub name is that of a mountain, I think, that is part of the TDF route. I've never been in it but think I will give it a try. At least it is not full of Hibees like a few of them round there.

 

My local!

 

Great bar with a fine selection of unusual German beers. Named after the biggest climb on the TdF Col Du Tourmalet http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Col_du_Tourmalet

 

Murray the owner is a keen cyclist, he does the Etape every year. He's also the guy behind old club nights in Edinburgh like Going Places. He also writes Shavers Weekly.

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If the Claymore was on Royal Terrace do the names Chesterfield and The Dream Bar have any association with it? Over to you Toxteth O'Grady!

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boy_in_maroon

the deacons den entrance was at the top of cockburn street it had blue doors and was accross from the bank, it was a small lounge down in a basement frequented by the then older generation.

 

hope this helps :rolleyes:

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the deacons den entrance was at the top of cockburn street it had blue doors and was accross from the bank, it was a small lounge down in a basement frequented by the then older generation.

 

hope this helps :rolleyes:

 

Under the Black Swan? Now that was a dump. You have to love a pub with the furniture bolted to the floor.

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boy_in_maroon

Under the Black Swan? Now that was a dump. You have to love a pub with the furniture bolted to the floor.

 

 

 

thats the one!!!! :yucky:

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Cairneyhill Jambo

On the subject of old pubs, I had an argument with my mate, who used to be a taxi driver. I argued with him that Mitre on the Royal Mile used to be called Ca Va in the eighties but he claimed its always been called Mitre. Help please to sttle an argument. Cheers

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On the subject of old pubs, I had an argument with my mate, who used to be a taxi driver. I argued with him that Mitre on the Royal Mile used to be called Ca Va in the eighties but he claimed its always been called Mitre. Help please to sttle an argument. Cheers

That's my neck of the woods, so I can confirm

 

*drum roll*

 

You are 100% correct.

 

Ca Va.

 

Always had the huge windows fully opened in the nice weather.

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Cairneyhill Jambo

That's my neck of the woods, so I can confirm

 

*drum roll*

 

You are 100% correct.

 

Ca Va.

 

Always had the huge windows fully opened in the nice weather.

 

Yep. It was a pishy type overpriced wine bar. Cheers mate. I can finally claim my bet.

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According to the 1980 and 1982 editions of the Edinburgh Pub Guide the Mitre was called Corkers during this period. Any idea of the years it was the Ca Va?

 

Boy in Maroon thanks for the info on the Deacon's Den.

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Cairneyhill Jambo

According to the 1980 and 1982 editions of the Edinburgh Pub Guide the Mitre was called Corkers during this period. Any idea of the years it was the Ca Va?

 

Boy in Maroon thanks for the info on the Deacon's Den.

 

Pretty sure it was Ca Va round about 1989-1993 when I used to drink there. Not my choice of boozer but our works nights out always used to end up there.

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Toxteth O'Grady

If the Claymore was on Royal Terrace do the names Chesterfield and The Dream Bar have any association with it? Over to you Toxteth O'Grady!

 

Dunno,It was near a casino IIRC

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According to the 1980 and 1982 editions of the Edinburgh Pub Guide the Mitre was called Corkers during this period. Any idea of the years it was the Ca Va?

 

 

Pretty sure it was Ca Va round about 1989-1993 when I used to drink there.

 

That timescale sounds roughly about right to me CJ. I'd maybe have gone a year or two earlier.

 

I'd have only been 7 years old in '82 so wasn't paying much attention to pubs. While I can't recall ever having a drink in Ca Va, I distinctly remember the windows in the summer. Big huge things that seemed to open like curtains.

 

I reckon it was still Ca Va when I used to go to the Ladbrokes next door, so that would have been about '92. After putting our bets on though we didn't go to Ca Va for a pint, we went to Cheers (the next one down) with Andy Goram and Jimmy O'Rourke (behind the bar).

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Cairneyhill Jambo

That timescale sounds roughly about right to me CJ. I'd maybe have gone a year or two earlier.

 

I'd have only been 7 years old in '82 so wasn't paying much attention to pubs. While I can't recall ever having a drink in Ca Va, I distinctly remember the windows in the summer. Big huge things that seemed to open like curtains.

 

I reckon it was still Ca Va when I used to go to the Ladbrokes next door, so that would have been about '92. After putting our bets on though we didn't go to Ca Va for a pint, we went to Cheers (the next one down) with Andy Goram and Jimmy O'Rourke (behind the bar).

 

Pretty sure I used to drink in there too. Was that a tiny wee bar further down?

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Pretty sure I used to drink in there too. Was that a tiny wee bar further down?

That's the one CJ.

 

Like I said above, Andy Goram could often by found there nipping back and forward to Ladbrokes. Then spotted again the next day collecting his car keys which had been confiscated from him by Jimm O'Rourke. :lol:

 

It's still a pub now but has been completely revamped. Whiski I think it's called. Never been in it.

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That's the one CJ.

 

Like I said above, Andy Goram could often by found there nipping back and forward to Ladbrokes. Then spotted again the next day collecting his car keys which had been confiscated from him by Jimm O'Rourke. :lol:

 

It's still a pub now but has been completely revamped. Whiski I think it's called. Never been in it.

 

 

Guys the Royal Mile Tavern (formerly Gladstone's, or when I first went in it in the late sixties, David Murray's - not the Ranger's man but a previous owner) is the one down from the Mitre then it is what is Whiski now - former names Clever Dicks, Cheers, Jocks and years ago the Alan Ramsay Tavern.

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Guys the Royal Mile Tavern (formerly Gladstone's, or when I first went in it in the late sixties, David Murray's - not the Ranger's man but a previous owner) is the one down from the Mitre then it is what is Whiski now - former names Clever Dicks, Cheers, Jocks and years ago the Alan Ramsay Tavern.

Actually forgot that the Royal Mile was in between. My mate used to work there and would, on occasion, deposit a bottle of vodka out the back door, which I'd collect and meet him later. C'mon, we were 18!.

 

Maybe that's the one CJ sometimes drank in, but I was definitely talking about Cheers. I think I even remember it as Jocks, but it may have been people referring to it as Jocks.

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JoH a couple (George & Kay) who used to mange Cheers (and other pubs) drink in my local Swanny's at Causewayside.

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JoH a couple (George & Kay) who used to mange Cheers (and other pubs) drink in my local Swanny's at Causewayside.

I certainly remember those names.

 

I'm at a loss to where Swanny's is. Causewayside's a bit out of my way now, but I've been in a few of the pubs that way. Leslies (I actually played cricket for them - the one and only time I've every played cricket), The Bell, Jamies (is that still there?), spring to mind. There's another I was in not too long ago up by Leslies but the name escapes me.

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System X is correct about Swanny's location. It is 50 yards up the hill from Leslie's. Jamie's has been the Bierex for about 9/10 years I think. I used to drink in Jamies but dislike the wine bar style of the Bierex.

 

Systemx - do you know it from visiting Newington TE?

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  • 3 years later...
The Real Maroonblood

Can anyone confirm that Bert's Bar in William Street used to be called The Auld House and it had a tree growing through the middle of the pub floor?

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Can anyone confirm that Bert's Bar in William Street used to be called The Auld House and it had a tree growing through the middle of the pub floor?

 

I remember that gaff. The tree wasnt real though as I recall?. Certainly not living.

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The Real Maroonblood

 

 

 

I remember that gaff. The tree wasnt real though as I recall?. Certainly not living.

It was weird.

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The White Cockade

is Jinglin' Geordies still on the go?

and there was a pub near the top of Cockburn St with go go's can't remember the name of

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Jinglin Geordies is still there AFAIK, Cockburn St bars were Scotsman Lounge, still there, and Jim,s Inn across the road

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The White Cockade

Jinglin Geordies is still there AFAIK, Cockburn St bars were Scotsman Lounge, still there, and Jim,s Inn across the road

 

Cheers

Scotsman that was it

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Stuart Lyon

The Scotsman was the Plevna Lounge then the Cockburn Lounge and the Office

 

Jim?s Inn from 1976-80 now the Arcade and was the Suburban Bar in 1965

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Can anyone confirm that Bert's Bar in William Street used to be called The Auld House and it had a tree growing through the middle of the pub floor?

 

It was certainly the Auld Hoose. Despite the fact that I was in there quite a lot as a pimply youth I have no recollection of the tree.

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Any information regarding Le Vineyard in Portobello. Was it a bar/club or a resteraunt? Looked a bit chicken in a basket if memory serves me right.

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