Glasgow Road Rutherglen

209 Main Street, Rutherglen, Glasgow. G73 2HH. Closed.

The Bower Bar. 1991.

Bower Bar. 2005.

This is an image from the back of the premises.

Mr J Motion, Bower Bar, Rutherglen. 1963.

The above image was taken at the Benevolent function at Sloan’s restaurant in 1963. from left to right J Motion, R Purdie of Archibald Campbell Hope and King Ltd; H Campbell, Grosvenor Restaurant and C Russell.

Update 2008…

The Bower Bar with a for sale sign. 2008.

The Bower Bar has been closed for some time now.

Update November 2009…

The Bower Bar is now a restaurant called Bombay. Thanks to Norrie McNamee.

In the NEWS 1977…

Angry bar boss had the police in a panic.

Bar manager Joseph Docherty was furious when one of his customers hit him on the mouth with a glass full of beer at closing time. He went to the police station and pleaded to be allowed into the same cell as the man.

Doherty (31) even volunteered to spend a penny worth on the floor so that police could charge him and lock him up beside his assailant.

When that didn’t work he stole a policeman’s pocket radio and for the next three hours put the force in a panic. For Glasgow Sheriff Court was told today Doherty went back to the Bower Bar in Main Street, Rutherglen, and began broadcasting bogus messages.

His calls included two emergency “Code 21” messages which meant a policeman needed help urgently. And for three hours he had the staff in three control rooms working furiously trying to trace where the calls were coming from.

PLEAS

Doherty of 529 Springburn Road, Glasgow, admitted stealing a police radio from the CID room at Rutherglen police office on April 17. He also admitted wasting the time of the police by broadcasting and repeating false messages from the pub in Rutherglen.

Doherty, who had five previous convictions, was fined £60.

Mr Ian Angus, prosecuting, said the police told Doherty to go home after his pleas to be allowed into the cell to fight the man who had attacked him.

About midnight police received a “Code 21” message saying that a policeman needed assistance in East Kilbride Road, Rutherglen.

BOTHER

Seven policemen rushed to the scene from various places to find nothing there at all. Another “Code 21” message also proved to be false, and from then on there was a stream of messages some of them garbled, which put the police to a whole lot of bother.

Eventually the radio was traced to Doherty when police returned to the bar. Doherty told the Sheriff the pub was the roughest in Rutherglen and he couldn’t let his assailant get away with it because “everyone else would be trying it on.”

He had now left the pub business and was a self-employed taxi driver.

Update… 2018.

Another name change, it’s now called Padano, restaurant selling pizza, pasta.

Do you remember the Bower Bar? If so please leave a comment.

END.