Cairns Bar

[Roxyhibee]

Heading home with my mate from the victory against them last Tuesday, we drove under the railway bridge at Abbeymount and I recalled a bar my dad took me to as a teenager (I must have been about 16) in the mid 70's which I'm sure was called Cairns Bar - owned by Pat Stanton.?

I thought the door to it was directly under the bridge, but looking at the structure now, it doesn't seem possible.

Can anyone shed some light on its Sir Paddy history - or even a photo.?

Cheers in advance.

[Bostonhibby]

Heading home with my mate from the victory against them last Tuesday, we drove under the railway bridge at Abbeymount and I recalled a bar my dad took me to as a teenager (I must have been about 16) in the mid 70's which I'm sure was called Cairns Bar - owned by Pat Stanton.?

I thought the door to it was directly under the bridge, but looking at the structure now, it doesn't seem possible.

Can anyone shed some light on its Sir Paddy history - or even a photo.?

Cheers in advance.Try here

http://www.edinphoto.org.uk/1_edin/1_edinburgh_history_-_recollections_edinburgh_old_town_croft-an-righ.htm#07_reply_03_derek_sutherland

Number 11 mentions sir pat. He definitely had the bar, we used to go there occasionally before games.
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[Hi Heid Yin]

Heading home with my mate from the victory against them last Tuesday, we drove under the railway bridge at Abbeymount and I recalled a bar my dad took me to as a teenager (I must have been about 16) in the mid 70's which I'm sure was called Cairns Bar - owned by Pat Stanton.?

I thought the door to it was directly under the bridge, but looking at the structure now, it doesn't seem possible.

Can anyone shed some light on its Sir Paddy history - or even a photo.?

Cheers in advance.

Not sure about the Cairns bar, but I do recall going to The Regent Cinema at Abbeyhill, that was located on the slope leading down to the rail bridge you mention. The whole block that housed the cinema was demolished - a wee piece of Edinburgh history now consigned to mere memory.

[ancient hibee]

Stewart’s Ballroom was also there and down at the bridge was the Armenian restaurant.Not many of us ate there and lived to tell the tale!

[Peevemor]

Stewart’s Ballroom was also there and down at the bridge was the Armenian restaurant.Not many of us ate there and lived to tell the tale!

I met the guy that owned that place a few times in the old Polish Club in Great King Street (he lived there IIRC) - scary indeed. He had a big black classic Citroen (1940s?) that was always parked around there.

[Roxyhibee]

Try here

http://www.edinphoto.org.uk/1_edin/1_edinburgh_history_-_recollections_edinburgh_old_town_croft-an-righ.htm#07_reply_03_derek_sutherland

Number 11 mentions sir pat. He definitely had the bar, we used to go there occasionally before games.
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Thanks.! Seems to say that the entrance to the bar was indeed under the bridge (unbelievable when you look at it now) - and it was actually called Stantons.! Would love a photo of that.

[FitzAlan]

Heading home with my mate from the victory against them last Tuesday, we drove under the railway bridge at Abbeymount and I recalled a bar my dad took me to as a teenager (I must have been about 16) in the mid 70's which I'm sure was called Cairns Bar - owned by Pat Stanton.?

I thought the door to it was directly under the bridge, but looking at the structure now, it doesn't seem possible.

Can anyone shed some light on its Sir Paddy history - or even a photo.?

Cheers in advance.Cairns Bar was owned jointly by Pat Stanton and Alan Gordon for a period in the mid to late-1970s. It had a reputation for a good pint of 80/- due to its proximity to the brewery. It did actually have sawdust on the bare floorboards and, I suspect, an element of spit. There was also an upstairs room with a pool table.

Amusingly, the pub put out a football team called Athletico Cairns named after the notorious Atletico Madrid team who had brutalised Celtic in 1974. The team featured both the owners and their best pal Jimmy O'Rourke. I recall one match away against Pencaitland and a certain Roy Baines played in goal. As I remember, only Alan Gordon was retired and the others were all still playing professionally.

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[Roxyhibee]

Stewart’s Ballroom was also there and down at the bridge was the Armenian restaurant.Not many of us ate there and lived to tell the tale!

Was called "monastery in exile" or something. Friends of mine went there and apparently never got a bill at the end - he just asked what they'd like to pay. And he did some Armenian folk dances between courses.!

I called the number sometime in the mid 80's to book a table and all was going well until I asked something innocuous like - 'and what type of food do you serve.?' Whereupon he said something quite cursory and hung up on me.! Never tried again..!

[Mr White]

The Armenian restaurant features and is described in some detail in Whit by Iain Banks.

[Bostonhibby]

Thanks.! Seems to say that the entrance to the bar was indeed under the bridge (unbelievable when you look at it now) - and it was actually called Stantons.! Would love a photo of that.You could hear and feel the trains if my memory serves me right. Try the photo section of the website. Might be there.

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[FilipinoHibs]

You could hear and feel the trains if my memory serves me right. Try the photo section of the website. Might be there.

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There was the Astoria ballroom just up the hill. Down just under the bridge in 80s was an Armenian restaurant which might have been Pat's bar

[Roxyhibee]

Cairns Bar was owned jointly by Pat Stanton and Alan Gordon for a period in the mid to late-1970s. It had a reputation for a good pint of 80/- due to its proximity to the brewery. It did actually have sawdust on the bare floorboards and, I suspect, an element of spit. There was also an upstairs room with a pool table.

Amusingly, the pub put out a football team called Athletico Cairns named after the notorious Atletico Madrid team who had brutalised Celtic in 1974. The team featured both the owners and their best pal Jimmy O'Rourke. I recall one match away against Pencaitland and a certain Roy Baines played in goal. As I remember, only Alan Gordon was retired and the others were all still playing professionally.

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Great stuff, many thanks. Got a lot more info on it now, but still no photo. Doubtful anyone even took one..

Must have been one of the most unusual bars in Edinburgh - and a Stanton / Alan Gordon connection.!

[Big L]

Stewart’s Ballroom was also there and down at the bridge was the Armenian restaurant.Not many of us ate there and lived to tell the tale!

Trust uou ancient, bet you were at the grab a grannie nights eh!

[ancient hibee]

Trust uou ancient, bet you were at the grab a grannie nights eh!

Every night was grab a grannie night-leading young lads astray.

[The Pointer]

Stewart’s Ballroom was also there and down at the bridge was the Armenian restaurant.Not many of us ate there and lived to tell the tale!

I was in Yerevan a couple of years ago and had to be at the airport for 3:30 for my flight out so had a last meal just before going back to the digs.

Got a taxi in time but could tell things weren't as they should be. Thankfully there was almost nobody in the brand new terminal to see me retch all over the vast concourse.

Sorry, it's got nothing to do with Cairn's Bar.

[IlDiavola]

Is that near the old Berry Suite?

[Arch Stanton]

Is that near the old Berry Suite?

No idea. I've never been to Yerevan.

[IlDiavola]

No idea. I've never been to Yerevan.

:confused:

I was meaning Cairns bar!!

[O'Rourke3]

Armenian Lake Van Monastory in Exile. We found the number in the yellow pages tried to book a table as we thought it was joke and he hung up. We then called him every Sunday night after the bar shift....

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[sahib]

You could hear and feel the trains if my memory serves me right. Try the photo section of the website. Might be there.

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The pool balls used to move about when a train went by. :greengrin
I got pyssed in there one Thursday night playing pool. Spent Friday morning puking into every sink in the laboratory where I worked.
No reflection on the beer which was a good pint as stated previously.

[Bostonhibby]

The pool balls used to move about when a train went by. :greengrin
I got pyssed in there one Thursday night playing pool. Spent Friday morning puking into every sink in the laboratory where I worked.
No reflection on the beer which was a good pint as stated previously.[emoji106]thanks for that. Confirms my memory is better than I thought!

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[lord bunberry]

Is that near the old Berry Suite?

The Berry Suite was in Abbey Lane

[heretoday]

The Berry Suite was where those green flats are now, I'm sure.
And what is now the Safari Lounge was the Station Bar, serving Maclays ales. The manager often forgot to ask for payment.
The Safari was just a dark room in the back with an unattended bar and some African spears on the wall.

[monktonharp]

do remember when Pat had it, and thought the entrance was just as you cleared from under the bridge, heading to Holyrood.we used to go upstairs for pool. Stewart's ballroom was just before the picture house. the Regal, if I recall. flung out of there by overzealous Usherettes a few times :greengrin .the Berry Suite was the new Strewarts and next to the flats which occupy the old Station platform of Abbeyhill. My Auld man and my uncle (his twin) always refered to Stewarts' ballroom as the "bent girders" and said all Auld miners called it that because of the age of some of the Ladies frequenting. but, as they say...for every Jock, there's a Jennie :wink:

[Tornadoes70]

Had a few good nights at a disco called Cats Pyjamas therabouts if anyone remembers that one?

GGTTH

[Tomsk]

do remember when Pat had it, and thought the entrance was just as you cleared from under the bridge, heading to Holyrood.we used to go upstairs for pool. Stewart's ballroom was just before the picture house. the Regal, if I recall. flung out of there by overzealous Usherettes a few times :greengrin .the Berry Suite was the new Strewarts and next to the flats which occupy the old Station platform of Abbeyhill. My Auld man and my uncle (his twin) always refered to Stewarts' ballroom as the "bent girders" and said all Auld miners called it that because of the age of some of the Ladies frequenting. but, as they say...for every Jock, there's a Jennie :wink:

Was the cinema not called The Regent? Either way it was a total ****hole just before it closed.

[eastterrace]

Was the cinema not called The Regent? Either way it was a total ****hole just before it closed.

Yes it was the regent and it was a s***hole as you said. Also mind cats pyjamas went there a few times


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[monktonharp]

Was the cinema not called The Regent? Either way it was a total ****hole just before it closed.yup. the Regent. :agree:those Usherettes had torches far too big, like their gubs :greengrin

[147lothian]

Had a few good nights at a disco called Cats Pyjamas therabouts if anyone remembers that one?

GGTTH

If my memory serves me right the Cats Pyjamas was the Astoria up the hill from Cairns, the Astoria did a lot of punk gigs in the late 70's early 80's the Regent which is still there and at the top of the hill on the corner was a very different establishment, back then it was a ****hole unofficial rock bar.

If you go up Abbymount the student flats you see on the right are where the Astoria / Cats Pyjamas was

[Tomsk]

A photograph of the Regent cinema.

http://www.scottishcinemas.org.uk/edinburgh/regent.html

This really does do it justice.

[Leith's finest]

Yes it was the regent and it was a s***hole as you said. Also mind cats pyjamas went there a few times


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Did jimmy boyle (sence of freedom) not complain about the noise and got the place shut down

[Roxyhibee]

If my memory serves me right the Cats Pyjamas was the Astoria up the hill from Cairns, the Astoria did a lot of punk gigs in the late 70's early 80's the Regent which is still there and at the top of the hill on the corner was a very different establishment, back then it was a ****hole unofficial rock bar.

If you go up Abbymount the student flats you see on the right are where the Astoria / Cats Pyjamas was

Yeah The Astoria was a good place late 70's for gigs - amongst others, saw The Fall, Aswad (when they were a real reggae band), a very young Simple Minds long before they became stadia pomp p!sh, and the ever brilliant Magazine, there.

A lot going on in that little area at that time given the posts on this thread..

[Pete]

Trying to get my head round this.

If you go up Abbeymount, this was all on you right hand side, where the Nissan garage used to be and what’s now student flats?

[Tornadoes70]

If my memory serves me right the Cats Pyjamas was the Astoria up the hill from Cairns, the Astoria did a lot of punk gigs in the late 70's early 80's the Regent which is still there and at the top of the hill on the corner was a very different establishment, back then it was a ****hole unofficial rock bar.

If you go up Abbymount the student flats you see on the right are where the Astoria / Cats Pyjamas was

:aok:

It was around the mid to late eighties my mates and I first went along to the Cats Pyjamas which was by then a disco with Mel and Kim's 'Respectable' and Curiosity Killed the Cat's 'Down to Earth' being played a lot so would have been around 1986/87. Sounds like a big change from the Astoria!

GGTTH

[Roxyhibee]

Trying to get my head round this.

If you go up Abbeymount, this was all on you right hand side, where the Nissan garage used to be and what’s now student flats?

If you start at The Regent on the left walking down - The Astoria would be just a few doors down on the left where The Nissan is now, walk further down and directly under the bridge on the left would be the entrance to Cairns Bar attached to Youngers Brewery - and opposite in that old disused building on the other side of the bridge would be The Armenian Monastery In Exile restaurant. (I think..!)

[Pete]

If you start at The Regent on the left walking down - The Astoria would be just a few doors down on the left where The Nissan is now, walk further down and directly under the bridge on the left would be the entrance to Cairns Bar attached to Youngers Brewery - and opposite in that old disused building on the other side of the bridge would be The Armenian Monastery In Exile restaurant. (I think..!)

Cheers 👍🏼

[147lothian]

Yeah The Astoria was a good place late 70's for gigs - amongst others, saw The Fall, Aswad (when they were a real reggae band), a very young Simple Minds long before they became stadia pomp p!sh, and the ever brilliant Magazine, there.

A lot going on in that little area at that time given the posts on this thread..

God that brings back some good memories I was probably at the same Magazine gig, I also remember seeing Crass there and the uk subs supported by the Cockney Rejects, im sure that was 1980. I also saw Magazine more recently at the picture house still as brilliant

[Iggy Pope]

Did jimmy boyle (sence of freedom) not complain about the noise and got the place shut down

Nah. Jimmy Boyle once entertained The Clash on his door step. Busking Tour around 84.

[heretoday]

A photograph of the Regent cinema.

http://www.scottishcinemas.org.uk/edinburgh/regent.html

This really does do it justice.

I saw my first ever film there in 1960 - The Magnificent Seven. Quite appropriate for a future Hibby!

[IlDiavola]

The Berry Suite was in Abbey Lane

Ah right, ok thanks.

[lapsedhibee]

If you start at The Regent on the left walking down - The Astoria would be just a few doors down on the left where The Nissan is now, walk further down and directly under the bridge on the left would be the entrance to Cairns Bar attached to Youngers Brewery - and opposite in that old disused building on the other side of the bridge would be The Armenian Monastery In Exile restaurant. (I think..!)

:tsk tsk: 19618

[Iggy Pope]

God that brings back some good memories I was probably at the same Magazine gig, I also remember seeing Crass there and the uk subs supported by the Cockney Rejects, im sure that was 1980. I also saw Magazine more recently at the picture house still as brilliant

Marvellous stuff. I produced a zine called Feed The Enemy for a while. Seen the UK Subs about a dozen times too. This is entirely un-Hibernian related!

[ronaldo7]

Heading home with my mate from the victory against them last Tuesday, we drove under the railway bridge at Abbeymount and I recalled a bar my dad took me to as a teenager (I must have been about 16) in the mid 70's which I'm sure was called Cairns Bar - owned by Pat Stanton.?

I thought the door to it was directly under the bridge, but looking at the structure now, it doesn't seem possible.

Can anyone shed some light on its Sir Paddy history - or even a photo.?

Cheers in advance.

This was one of my auld man's last boozers before heading home to the Horse Wynd. We stayed in the brewery tenements at 8 horse wynd, and he would always start out at the Lord Darnley, at the foot of the Canongate, before making his way to the holy ground. Cairn's was always a good wee boozer for the last pint before last orders at 9.50:greengrin

One of my mates worked behind the bar when Pat had it.

[Roxyhibee]

:tsk tsk: 19618

Yeah, sorry.! There's no Nissan garage there now.! God knows how long ago that was knocked down..