The Canny Man’s aka The Volunteers Arms

[Morgan]

An absolute favourite pub of mine, not the same though since the death of the charismatic, but strangely odd, owner, Watson Kerr.

 

What do/did folk think of this institutional bar?

 

 

 

 

[Tazio]

1 minute ago, Morgan said:

An absolute favourite pub of mine, not the same though since the death of the charismatic, but strangely odd, owner, Watson Kerr.

 

What do/did folk think of this institutional bar?

 

 

 

 

Haven’t been in it for years. For the very good reason I always found it cliquey with rude staff if you weren’t known to them. 

[SUTOL]

Was in it for the first time in years a few weeks ago.

 

 

 

Canny 'mind much about it though! 

🍺🍺🍺

[Jeffros Furios]

On two occasions refused a drink due to not bring a regular and on the occasion I did get served I spewed on the bar .

Never went back for about 15 yrs .

[NANOJAMBO]

3 hours ago, Tazio said:

Haven’t been in it for years. For the very good reason I always found it cliquey with rude staff if you weren’t known to them. 

This.

Some weird punters thinking they own the place (when sitting around the bar).

Also, some great punters too.

But definitley a clique thing. 

[the general]

8 hours ago, NANOJAMBO said:

This.

Some weird punters thinking they own the place (when sitting around the bar).

Also, some great punters too.

But definitley a clique thing. 

 

Last time I was in there was a sales conference thing going on

All these guys in cheap suits get prizes for sale of the month etc etc

They had 2 of the biggest bottles of champers I had ever seen

Bunch of dicks

[Seymour M Hersh]

14 hours ago, Morgan said:

An absolute favourite pub of mine, not the same though since the death of the charismatic, but strangely odd, owner, Watson Kerr.

 

What do/did folk think of this institutional bar?

 

 

 

 

 

Never knew it was also called the Volunteers Arms. Every day and all that. Only been in a couple of times and was with well kent faces so I was allowed. Your comment about the owner/manager did remind me of the other nutcase owner in Edinburgh. Can't remember his name but ran the Oxford Bar in Young St for years. 

[I P Knightley]

5 minutes ago, Seymour M Hersh said:

 

Never knew it was also called the Volunteers Arms. Every day and all that. Only been in a couple of times and was with well kent faces so I was allowed. Your comment about the owner/manager did remind me of the other nutcase owner in Edinburgh. Can't remember his name but ran the Oxford Bar in Young St for years. 

It is (or was) engraved on the front window but, in all the time I've known it, there's never been anything else to identify it as that. A bit like the Athletic Arms which used to confuse tourists who'd come looking for the Diggers and whoever had given them directions hadn't bothered to tell them that there's nothing anywhere saying "Diggers". We used to tell anyone who'd ask that they put up "Athletic Arms" because you'd need them to get home as you'd be legless. Boom, feckin' Boom!

 

The Canny Man's used to be a meeting point on a Friday evening before heading into town (early- mid-1980s). I'd have been happy meeting mates almost anywhere so I wasn't particularly pro- or anti- the place. They had a funny wee man (Brian?) who did the door. I mean, in Morningside??? There was never any threat of trouble and I don't remember seeing any ne'er-do-wells thronging the streets; although I do remember one evening when a ruffian left The Merlin (pre-makeover) and set fire to a street bin. The horror! (We always suspected him of being the one behind the fire which led to the Merlin's makeover.)

 

Haven't been in the Canny Mans this century, though. The last time was on a visit back home when two of us thought we'd kick off with a wee snakebite only to be told by the lassie on the bar that they wouldn't serve such a thing. Nor would they serve me a pint of lager and a pint of cider because she "knew what we wanted them for". So two pints of lager it was. And five minutes later, two pints of cider.

[Morgan]

16 minutes ago, Seymour M Hersh said:

 

Never knew it was also called the Volunteers Arms. Every day and all that. Only been in a couple of times and was with well kent faces so I was allowed. Your comment about the owner/manager did remind me of the other nutcase owner in Edinburgh. Can't remember his name but ran the Oxford Bar in Young St for years. 

It was Harry that ran the Oxford Bar.

 

Big bloke with a beard, really nice and gentle man.

[Morgan]

14 hours ago, jonnothejambo said:

 

Isn't he the chap that banned mobiles and, shockingly, wheelchairs ? 

I knew about the mobiles, but have never heard about him banning wheelchairs.

[Morgan]

14 hours ago, Tazio said:

Haven’t been in it for years. For the very good reason I always found it cliquey with rude staff if you weren’t known to them. 

That’s very true actually.

 

I could never work out how it was ‘regulars only’ when it was virtually impossible to become a ‘regular’ as you were often not allowed in.  🤷🏿‍♂️

 

Thankfully, we overcame that particular hurdle and became ‘regulars’ as it were.

[Morgan]

14 hours ago, SUTOL said:

Was in it for the first time in years a few weeks ago.

 

 

 

Canny 'mind much about it though! 

🍺🍺🍺

The Canny Minds!  😆

[Auld Reekin']

I never cared for the place, but - in many ways - I did have a grudging respect for the owner's desire to run his pub exactly how he wanted and admit entry only to those he approved of, and if anyone didn't like it they could g.t.f..

[felix]

Was in recently for a sales conference.

Love the place.

[rudi must stay]

They were good enough to give me work the last few years and I can't complain. I've left now but they were respectful and gave me time to do my work, also plenty money of course. Some great people run it

Edited November 19, 2021 by rudi must stay

[Morgan]

1 hour ago, jonnothejambo said:

 

Is that the same Harry that ran the Roseburn bar years ago ?

It could well be.

 

Was he quite tall, longish hair and a beard?

 

 

[Morgan]

1 hour ago, felix said:

Was in recently for a sales conference.

Love the place.

The last time I was in was about two years ago.  Still good, but not the same as when Mr Kerr was still alive.

 

His son, Tristram now runs the place and doesn’t seem quite so strict as his dad was.

[Tazio]

For a short period of time I rented a flat on Wheatfield Street from the family that owned it. Rent was to be dropped off in the pub in a plain envelope once a month. Useful location, shit flat, and shit landlords. One bedroom flat so it had precisely what was needed for 2 people in it. 2 plates, 2 soup bowls, 2 sets of cutlery. I wasn’t there long. 

[Morgan]

I remember he banned Christmas parties and groups of ‘revellers’ as he put it.

 

He called them ‘paper-hatted fools’.  😳

[Tazio]

Just now, Morgan said:

I remember he banned Christmas parties and groups of ‘revellers’ as he put it.

 

He called them ‘paper-hatted fools’.  😳

So he wasn’t all bad then. 

[Morgan]

3 minutes ago, Tazio said:

So he wasn’t all bad then. 

No, he definitely wasn’t.

 

Once you got to know him, he was a pretty nice bloke.

 

 

[rudi must stay]

13 minutes ago, Morgan said:

The last time I was in was about two years ago.  Still good, but not the same as when Mr Kerr was still alive.

 

His son, Tristram now runs the place and doesn’t seem quite so strict as his dad was.

 

Tristan. But Gloria Kerr really runs it 

[EIEIO]

1 hour ago, jonnothejambo said:

 

Maybe an urban myth, mon ami. I've never set foot in the place.

Not sure if he banned wheelchairs but he barred patients from Royal Edinburgh Hospital and their carers. Remember the Evening News printing the story.

[sinks]

59 minutes ago, jonnothejambo said:

 

No he was baldy and fat.

Harry Thompson..could swallow a pint of lager in 3 seconds

[Savage Vince]

I was in it a few times years back and it seemed like they wanted some kind of Man's Club vibe. It looked like a tosspot's shop tbh. 

[NANOJAMBO]

2 hours ago, jonnothejambo said:

Bar stools around any actual bar should be torched. Self entitled, usually obese pricks who moan like feck while you try to get served. Would be worth it to spill your pint on the tossers. 

 

Feckin wanks.

 

 A couple of years back when I was in there a guy was at the bar flashing the cash and getting a big round in while making a song and dance about every drink he ordered. My mate eventually asked him if he was done and then told him to feck off from the bar so normal people could get a drink. The punter  was an absolute ringpiece. 

[Morgan]

59 minutes ago, rudi must stay said:

 

Tristan. But Gloria Kerr really runs it 

Ah, right.

 

I just assumed that the son was running it with Frances, Watson’s wife, looking over things.

 

So, who is Gloria?

[rudi must stay]

4 minutes ago, Morgan said:

Ah, right.

 

I just assumed that the son was running it with Frances, Watson’s wife, looking over things.

 

So, who is Gloria?

 

Frances she has two names

[Morgan]

1 minute ago, rudi must stay said:

 

Frances she has two names

I never, ever knew that.

 

Thanks 👍

 

Do you know if Vivienne still works there?  She seemed to be in charge of the bar a few years ago, until there was some sort of family dispute.

[rudi must stay]

7 minutes ago, Morgan said:

I never, ever knew that.

 

Thanks 👍

 

Do you know if Vivienne still works there?  She seemed to be in charge of the bar a few years ago, until there was some sort of family dispute.

 

No she doesn't 

[Morgan]

39 minutes ago, rudi must stay said:

 

No she doesn't 

Thanks again.

 

Are you a Morningside man, rudi?

[rudi must stay]

20 minutes ago, Morgan said:

Thanks again.

 

Are you a Morningside man, rudi?

 

Causewayside 

[I P Knightley]

4 hours ago, Morgan said:

That’s very true actually.

 

I could never work out how it was ‘regulars only’ when it was virtually impossible to become a ‘regular’ as you were often not allowed in.  🤷🏿‍♂️

 

Thankfully, we overcame that particular hurdle and became ‘regulars’ as it were.

When was it that they operated this 'regulars only' policy?

 

I was never vetted for entry and would have been quite surprised to have passed any entry test of any self-respecting establishment. To quote Groucho, I wouldn't join any club that would approve me as a member, but I was a regular there between 1982 and about 1988.

[Morgan]

2 hours ago, I P Knightley said:

When was it that they operated this 'regulars only' policy?

 

I was never vetted for entry and would have been quite surprised to have passed any entry test of any self-respecting establishment. To quote Groucho, I wouldn't join any club that would approve me as a member, but I was a regular there between 1982 and about 1988.

I think it was more of an excuse on their part to give good reason for refusing entry to folk they didn’t like the look of.

 

Although, having said that, it took us a few attempts to get in at first, then all was well after that. 

 

Your years are more or less the same years as our fo drinking there regularly. Then, a bit less frequently after that.  1982 was the year we had our first house in Morningside.

[Lfhearts]

5 hours ago, jonnothejambo said:

 

No he was baldy and fat.

And gay.

[1971fozzy]

Went in once with a couple of mates and found it devoid of anything remotely approaching enjoyable. Just weird.

[superjack]

When I worked in the King's Arms, Tollcross, in the mid 90s,  one of our regulars was also a regular in the canny mans. Kings Arms after work, go home for tea then a couple in the canny mans in the evening. I went in with him once, we had a few pints. Bob mentioned that I worked in a pub in Tollcross, I never thought anything of it. I went in again a week later and I got refused service as I worked for the "competition". 

[Mister T]

Weird place, weird decor, weird clientele. 

[Morgan]

Just now, Mister T said:

Weird place, weird decor, weird clientele. 

I know.

 

Great, isn’t it?

[Morgan]

1 hour ago, Lfhearts said:

And gay.

John Scambler!

 

👀

[davemclaren]

Used to drink there in the mid 70s after a few games in the Angle club.  

[Des Lynam]

 

Little Britain - Bitty -5- U S A Bitty - YouTube

[GinRummy]

Odd place full of people up their own arse. 

[Lfhearts]

10 hours ago, Morgan said:

John Scambler!

 

👀

Rip

[Section Q]

On 18/11/2021 at 22:42, Morgan said:

An absolute favourite pub of mine, not the same though since the death of the charismatic, but strangely odd, owner, Watson Kerr.

 

What do/did folk think of this institutional bar?

 

 

 

 

Students bar with gogo dancers in the 70s.

[Morgan]

6 hours ago, Lfhearts said:

Rip

Aw man.

 

When, and do you know what happened?

[Lfhearts]

2 minutes ago, Morgan said:

Aw man.

 

When, and do you know what happened?

Big C was working as a taxi controller must be at least 5 years ago, had some life not always good but a likeable lad.

[Morgan]

3 minutes ago, Lfhearts said:

Big C was working as a taxi controller must be at least 5 years ago, had some life not always good but a likeable lad.

Thanks for that, I always had time for John.

[Janbo1874]

Canny Man's

The wheelchair ban was an old mate of mine whose father was in the Astley Ainslie and he took him out for a pint only to be refused entry because his old man was in a wheelchair.

He went to the Evening News and it made front page.

Years ago Watson kerrs old man had a spyhole drilled through from the flat above the bar as someone was dipping the till.

It was his other son who I heard left the bar trade and became a priest.

Girl I know worked behind the bar for a bit.

Mind the free peanuts in bowls on the tables which I thought were a nice touch, they smothered them with salt before dishing them out.

Thirsty punters drink more.

Lovely characterful pub back in the mid 80's but never darkened the threshold since and don't plan to again.

 

[hmfcbilly]

On 20/11/2021 at 20:38, Janbo1874 said:

Canny Man's

The wheelchair ban was an old mate of mine whose father was in the Astley Ainslie and he took him out for a pint only to be refused entry because his old man was in a wheelchair.

He went to the Evening News and it made front page.

Years ago Watson kerrs old man had a spyhole drilled through from the flat above the bar as someone was dipping the till.

It was his other son who I heard left the bar trade and became a priest.

Girl I know worked behind the bar for a bit.

Mind the free peanuts in bowls on the tables which I thought were a nice touch, they smothered them with salt before dishing them out.

Thirsty punters drink more.

Lovely characterful pub back in the mid 80's but never darkened the threshold since and don't plan to again.

 

My mum used to work in the residential care home in Canaan Lane. Always remember her telling me how, one day (whilst talking a resident of the home out for a walk) the woman said to my mum she needed the loo ASAP. My mum took her to the nearest place which happened to be the canny man's, and politely asked the bar staff if the lady could use their toilet and they refused and were quite rude and blunt about it too by all accounts. Some of the comments on here would suggest this happened fairly regularly!