The Horse Shoe, Glasgow

A traditional pub located in a small side street, but nonetheless just a very short stroll from several main thoroughfares, it has some quite ornate touches internally, but is clearly in need of a little TLC with sections of ceiling showing evidence of water ingress, and one section being covered up with hardboard where it has presumably collapsed completely. Décor wise it’s quite traditional, with a mixture of quarry and Victorian style tiling on the floor. It’s a single open plan room with a high ceiling and a large central bar counter taking up much of the pub, to the extent that in some places the remaining space was little more than a passageway. Plenty of stools were provided so punters could sit here. Elsewhere was some padded bench seating. Quite ornately carved and dark wooden panelling covered the lower part of the walls, with pale painted wallpaper above. A number of tall supporting pillars had some quite elaborate cornice work around the top, and there was also some stained glass panelling in the roof. It must have been quite something in it’s heyday. A number of TV’s were dotted around, and although the volume was on low this was rather overshadowed by the music. Large mirrors covered much of the back wall, and there were a few old black and white photographs around. Beers on tap were Deuchars IPA, London Pride and Doom Bar, whilst the ciders were just Strongbow and Strongbow Dark Fruit, unfortunately. A pretty decent pub overall, although with a bit of investment to bring it up to scratch and a better choice of cider it could really be top notch.

Classic Glasgow bar famous for the longest counter which snakes around the middle of the square bar. Second claim to fame is karoke apparently. Four pulls of mainly national (UK) stuff but not bad as it’s a Nicholsons pub. Loads of big screens ruining the otherwise tasteful Victorian decor.

This is a pretty spectacular heritage pub in the city centre which holds a claim to have the longest bar counter in Britain. The servery dominates the pub, running in something approximating a keyhole shape, through the centre of the pub, with numerous rooms, now mostly opened out, fanning off around it. The pub’s splendour is generally attributed to the efforts of former landlord John Young Whyte who took ownership of the pub in 1923 and installed many of the horse themed items still seen today. Fittingly, his initials appear etched into small glass panes around the servery, which is a dark wood beauty topped with a marvellous gantry which holds some spectacular vases and has a selection of quotes printed on the inside. The bar back has a few numbered whisky barrel ends set into it, but it’s unclear if they were ever functional in their present location. The extent of the servery means that space for seating is fairly restricted, with only a few notable pockets here and there as you walk around the bar. To the front for example, there are a few upturned barrels to rest your pint on, but that’s about all. Further back, decent bench and chair options appear in some pretty dark corners and those in the right hand side of the pub still retain bell pushes above the benches. Several smart fireplaces have been dotted around the room, most of which are horseshoe shaped. The back wall is dominated by some quite incredible pub mirrors which are well worth a look, plus a few black and white photos of the pub back in the day and a marvellous pub clock. Elsewhere, decorative panels, ceramic tiles, brewery mirrors and more photos round out the rather special decor of this impressively fitted pub. Several TV screens were showing a muted sports channel whilst pop music played quietly in the background. There is an upstairs lounge which was given a thorough refurbishment in 2015, but I didn’t visit on this occasion. Apparently a former landlord used to let the band Travis rehearse in this room during their rise to stardom. The pub is more famous for its pies than its beer, having sold locally sourced pies for many years until owners Mitchell and Butlers, put an end to this practise, opting for frozen pies from a national supplier instead – an issue which I believe remains unresolved to this day. They did have three cask ales on when I arrived though – Harviestoun Bitter and Twisted, Caledonian Deuchars IPA and Inveralmond Lia Fail. The latter set me back £3.25 for a pint and was in reasonable shape, served to me by a very pleasant barmaid. I really enjoyed visiting this place and loved the novelty of the crazy servery as well as the numerous items of historic interest which thankfully M&B haven’t managed to totally ruin as yet. The beer is decent enough to make this place worth the odd look in every now and again and I would certainly have no complaints if I were to find myself back here again.