1901 landlord hopes to turn around smoky Fothers/Horse Shoe image
It could be argued that 21 Nithsdale Road is simply a vexed location for licensed premises – since its heyday as the Fotheringay in the mid-70s it’s been a struggle for a succession of publicans who have had their turns at reinventing it.
Just 11 months ago, the bar was relaunched as the Horse Shoe amid high hopes that some of the magic of its famous namesake in Drury Lane might rub off on it. That’s not been the case, however, and its owner Dave Smith has now shut down. He blames the smoking ban, which will come into effect on 26 March, although the new landlord Jacques Boyeldieu reckons it’s just a matter of understanding your local market.
Jacques is well known to Strathbungo residents – after all, he runs our bar and beer tents every June for Bungo in the Back Lanes. He currently runs El Sabor in the Merchant City, the 1901 bar and bistro on Pollokshaws Road, a delicatessen of the same name in Skirving Street in Shawlands and he’s also planning to open a second deli in Broomhill.
He said: “I am hoping to turn it around, but I don’t want to compete with the other pubs in the area. It will be a wine bar but will also sell German beer.” Plans are to reopen before Christmas.
A spokesman for Punch Taverns, which owns the premises, said: “Jacques is a well-known and respected operator who has been very successful at 1901.”
But do spare a thought for poor Dave Smith, who did his best to make a success of the Horse Shoe. In a rather unfortunate choice of words, he called the smoking ban “the nail in the coffin, especially in that pub where four out of five customers smoke.”
Perhaps the new management will prove to be “a breath of fresh air” for Bungo barflys who have been at loose ends since the Georgiades family sold up the original Tav.
