Main Street Baillieston

74 Main Street, Baillieston, Baillieston, Glasgow. G69 6SL. Tel: 01417711457.

The Thistle Bar. 1991.

This old established Baillieston local is haunted by the spirit of James Reid who keeps a close eye on his families business, which dates back to 1880s.

The Reid family turned the upstairs part of the building into a family home. Licensee and manager David Marshall has felt the presence of James Reid for years, as a wee boy David was told to look out for the old man that haunted the place not giving it a second thought that there really was a ghost on the premises. Young David’s uncle Kenny McDonald owned the pub years ago and thought the threats were to stop him from prowling upstairs.

Uncle Kenny used to bring the children into the pub on a Sunday morning to empty the machines, the kids were kept quiet with a bottle of coke and a packet of crisps, while uncle Kenny counted the money one of the kids used to sit in the corner of the bar and talked to his invisible friend, a ghost from the past. A photograph of the child was taken one day as he spoke to his friend, when the picture was developed a large flash mark appeared on the picture beside the child, the wee boy looked at the photo and said that was my friend the old man.

Donald McCloud a former employee who worked in the pub for over 20 years was a big highlander and refused to believe in ghosts, he too was scared out his wits one night, David went on to say that Donald stayed behind for a staff drink when the pub was empty, he heard strange noises from above the pub they go louder and louder until he left his pint and ran home, leaving all the lights on and never set the alarm.

The BBC heard of these stories and filmed Psychic Barber Gordon Smith in a series called Mediums talking to the dead. Gordon said that it was a harmless spirit of James Reid, who wasn’t’t very happy with some of the changes of the pub, which had various changes over the years; Gordon also stated that Mr Reid comes here because he likes the place and wants to look after it. David also mentioned that went the Reid family are spoken about the temperature in the room plummets and a real chill is in the air.

The staff stayed back with David one night for some drinks, a tapping noise was heard by all, everyone looked at each other said David as the noises got louder and louder we all thought someone was doing it as a joke, but realising it was something spooky, wee all rushed out of the pub that night scared to death.

The Thistle Bar. 2005.