[The] Curlers [Rest], Byres Road

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[The] Curlers [Rest], Byres Road

Postby Timchilli » Thu Dec 23, 2010 3:37 pm

Anyone know where the curling pond associated with this pub was located?
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Re: [The] Curlers [Rest], Byres Road

Postby cell » Thu Dec 23, 2010 4:45 pm

Sorry, I'm sure there is a way to post a direct link or take a screen shot but I don't know how, so you will have to go and look yourself. You'll find it half way up on the east side of Byres rd (Victoria Rd), just to west of Gilmore hill (Glassgow Uni) on the 1865 1:10560 OS map over on the old map site. There was also a curling rink on the right hand side when you go into the Botanics.

http://www.old-maps.co.uk/index.html
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Re: [The] Curlers [Rest], Byres Road

Postby ibtg » Thu Dec 23, 2010 10:53 pm

I had always thought it was Bingham's Pond, next to Gartnavel Hospital.........
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Re: [The] Curlers [Rest], Byres Road

Postby Dexter St. Clair » Thu Dec 23, 2010 11:08 pm

ibtg wrote:I had always thought it was Bingham's Pond, next to Gartnavel Hospital.........



and they carries their stones by barrow up thr great western road.
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Re: [The] Curlers [Rest], Byres Road

Postby Delmont St Xavier » Fri Dec 24, 2010 12:59 am

The curling pond is located in the Botanic Gardens, adjacent to the Kibble Palace/Greenhouse - it was removed during the refurbishment of the Palace and has apparently been subsequently restored. If you peer through the railings just opposite the 'Maggie' hamburger van - there be the pond (slighty smaller than previous) but that's where you will find it.
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Re: [The] Curlers [Rest], Byres Road

Postby cell » Fri Dec 24, 2010 8:56 am

I don't think the pond in the Botanics is the one the pub is named after, the one below is closer to the pub site, the street names and layout have changed quite a bit but there are some reference points still there. You should go to the NLS site and have a look around yourself, the pond is at NS56473 66699 so you should be able to plot it on a modern map

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http://geo.nls.uk/ostowns/
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Re: [The] Curlers [Rest], Byres Road

Postby cell » Fri Dec 24, 2010 9:20 am

Having plotted it on a modern map I may have to concede that the one in the Botanics is marginally closer to the pub site, however that is not to say the pub could not have served both rinks and I'm not sure which rink was there first and when the pub was named. I bet the Botanics was the posh pay in one and the one down towards Partick the council rink! It's interesting that in the mid 19th century the winters must have been consistently cold enough to make curling feasible on a regular basis and the sport popular enough to support two rinks close to each other.
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Re: [The] Curlers [Rest], Byres Road

Postby Delmont St Xavier » Fri Dec 24, 2010 9:30 am

Delmont St Xavier wrote:The curling pond is located in the Botanic Gardens, adjacent to the Kibble Palace/Greenhouse - it was removed during the refurbishment of the Palace and has apparently been subsequently restored. If you peer through the railings just opposite the 'Maggie' hamburger van - there be the pond (slighty smaller than previous) but that's where you will find it.


Check out the book 'A Hillhead Album' which cites the above pond as being the one used by the curlers...and hence the name of the pub.
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Re: [The] Curlers [Rest], Byres Road

Postby avitacum » Fri Dec 24, 2010 11:02 am

Sorry to have to disagree with the previous posts but the original Curling pond (after which Curlers is named) almost certainly adjoined the pub in question.

The curlers described by the pub's name were members of the Partick Curling Club, which was founded in 1842. The club minutes refers to a general meeting of the club at "Mrs Sinclair's Curlers' Tavern on 13th March 1849. A footnote in the club's history (Partick Curling Club, 1842-1970 by J. Duncan Cran, p.18) mentions that....

This is the first mention of a meeting in 'The Curlers' Tavern which ever since has been known by that euphonious title. We may assume that, since it adjoined the pond then leased from Mr James Gibson, it easily acquired this significant appellation by the local inhabitants. .... Meetings in the club were held in the Tavern at intervals till 1855. The Club in 1856 were obliged to find new ground for their pond and moved West to Peel Street.


According to club records the land for this Curling pond was first leased by the club in 1848.

I can only assume that that the author of Hillhead Album was mistaken.
Last edited by avitacum on Fri Dec 24, 2010 11:26 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: [The] Curlers [Rest], Byres Road

Postby ibtg » Fri Dec 24, 2010 11:24 am

Dexter St. Clair wrote:
ibtg wrote:I had always thought it was Bingham's Pond, next to Gartnavel Hospital.........



and they carries their stones by barrow up thr great western road.



They didn't have horses and carts, then?

..........Anyway, thanks to everyone for an informed discussion - I now know better.
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Re: [The] Curlers [Rest], Byres Road

Postby Timchilli » Fri Dec 24, 2010 12:16 pm

Cheers for the information, lads.

I've become useless at navigating the NLS map section, but I'm assuming there must be an historical OS map showing the rink which adjoined the pub.

Related: http://www.oldglasgowpubs.co.uk/curlerstavern.html
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Re: [The] Curlers [Rest], Byres Road

Postby cell » Fri Dec 24, 2010 12:27 pm

Both rinks appear on the 1857-8 OS map, neither appear on the 1892-4 map. Although not directly on the site of the Kibble Palace which was built in 1873, it's reasonable to assume the Botanics one disappeared then, the larger one to the south seems to have disappeared around the same time in 1874 when the Western Infirmary was built.

On the 1857-8 map, the pub can clearly be identified with a lot of clear land round about, there is no evidence of any adjacent ponds or rinks so unless I can find any map evidence my money is back on the larger one to the south purely because it is nearer Partick and ties in with the reference to the Partick club.

IBTG's reference to them moving the pond in 1856 is interesting because even though it is just before the 1857-8 map I would still have expected to some evidence of a pond or structure that replaced it on the map.
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Re: [The] Curlers [Rest], Byres Road

Postby hungryjoe » Fri Dec 24, 2010 12:37 pm

Has anyone tried outdoor curling? I had a go at Coodham in Ayrshire in the 80s. The stones make a hell of a racket as they skite over the ice, the roaring game indeed.
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Re: [The] Curlers [Rest], Byres Road

Postby cell » Fri Dec 24, 2010 1:01 pm

The best maps are the 25 inch to the mile, (the relevant one is linked below with the pub appearing on the right hand margin), unfortunately they were surveyed in 1858 so right after the 1856 move mentioned above, still they show the pub clearly and are really detailed but there is no evidence of any pond or structure adjacent to the pub. They do show both the larger pond to the south and the new one in Peel street which is also mentioned above so that just adds to the confusion.

http://maps.nls.uk/os/25inch/view/?sid=74953120

I tried curling once, 5 mins I was on the ice before I fell landed in an icy puddle and cracked my head, that was without any drink involved! Never again!!
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Re: [The] Curlers [Rest], Byres Road

Postby avitacum » Fri Dec 24, 2010 2:04 pm

cell, you note the absence of the rink by Curlers from the 1858 OS map. However, Partick Curling Club (PCC) records indicate that their club pond by the Curlers Tavern (which was only leased to them) was wanted for a quarry in 1856. Hence, the move to Peel St. It is quite possible that the rink was swiftly demolished so that the quarry could supply the rapidly growing Burgh of Hillhead. Whether the quarry was used is a moot point as your OS map does not show this either. However, several quarries existed up and down Byres Rd/Victoria St (e.g. a couple at Partick Cross), so its life could have been short term and the quarry small.

PCC records relate an anecdote from February 1855 when the farmer who used the field on which the Curlers rink (called Clayholes BTW) was located complaining "when are you b******s going to stop your games and let me get on wi' ma plooin." Given that the Botanic Gardens moved in 1842 to its present site, this reinforces the suggestion that the rink in the park cannot have been the one linked to the PCC and the Curlers Tavern.

This doesn't mean that the rink by Church St is not a candidate, of course as the map clearly shows it is located in a field.
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