2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Team behind The Pot Still reveal plans for pub near Hampden Park
The family-run team behind one of Glasgow's most celebrated whisky bars is preparing for a busy summer season after taking ownership of a popular Southside pub near Hampden Park.
Late last year, it was announced that the Murphys would be taking over The Clockwork in Mount Florida after more than a decade at the helm of city centre institution, The Pot Still.
Though the news came as a pleasant surprise to some, others familiar with Pot Still were well aware of the strong connection Frank Murphy holds with the bar.
'I've always wanted Clockwork, and waiting for it to come on the market felt like a long time coming,' he told The Herald.
'I started working there when it had just been opened by Robin and Gay Graham as the Clockwork Beer Company on Cathcart Road in 1997.
'I had learned a fair bit about beer and whisky while working with my dad, who used to own pubs like The Arlington, and various other hospitality roles after that, but this place was another level.
'A six-foot double fridge full of German beers at a time such fridges were usually rammed full of Bud, fruit beers from Belgium, varieties of Hoegaarden I never knew existed, magnums of Trappist ales, and over 20 draught beers.
'I was working half of my time at the bar and half at the brewery, learning how to brew beer.
'But then the chance to reinvigorate the Pot Still came along, and it was too good an opportunity to pass up.'
Both Frank and his sister Geraldine had previously worked at the Pot Still in the early 00s under then-owner Kenny Storrie and knew they could be the perfect fit for the small but characterful unit on Hope Street.
With the help of their father, Brian, who had decades of experience running high-profile pubs in and around Glasgow, the Murphys officially took over the bar in 2011.
Since then, they have gone from strength to strength, continuing the family-run tradition of The Pot Still and building a collection of over 1,000 whiskies from all over the world on the gantry.
Pictured: Mad Men star Christina Hendricks visits The Pot Sill (via Instagram) (Image: The Pot Still)
Famous faces to have visited over the years include everyone from Mad Men star Christina Hendricks to English heavy metal outfit, Iron Maiden, while of a weekend, locals sit side by side with international visitors from all over the globe in search of the finest whisky Scotland has to offer.
Brian eventually retired in 2023, with daughter Katie Ritchie taking over his place, not long before another opportunity would present itself with The Clockwork.
'We had been on the lookout for another pub for years and went for a few we didn't get, maybe because we were too timid or not fast enough.' Murphy continued.
'The Clockwork isn't exactly what we would have picked as our second venue because it's such a large unit. I mean, the function space upstairs is probably bigger than the entire Pot Still.
'But we couldn't not take the chance, because we knew if we didn't go for it now, someone else would.'
Taking over from the Three Thistle Pub company, Murphy and his family team are now hard at work to re-establish Clockwork's standing as 'one of the best pubs in Glasgow'.
'There will always be a bit of overlap between The Clockwork and Pot Still, but there's no point in trying to do the exact same thing in both pubs.
'What we want to do is try and get the guys who drink in Pot to come to the Southside and see us over there, where it won't have to be quite as classic.
'We're focusing a lot more on blended malts because that's where a lot of the action is at the moment, thanks to guys like Woven Whisky in Leith.'
As well as reintroducing a selection of German and Belgian beers, the bar also takes lead from events at Hampden Park stadium to explore a range of worldwide spirits.
'When the women's team were playing the Netherlands recently, I put up a bottle of whisky from Millstone in the Netherlands, and when Scotland play Iceland this month, I've got a smoky whisky from Floki in Iceland.
'They don't have peat, so they have to use another form of rapidly decomposing vegetation to smoke their barley, which is sheep s***.
"...It's really not as bad as it sounds.
'Then there are big gigs at Hampden with Lana Del Rey, Kendrick Lamar and Chris Brown.
'The only problem with that is that they are three very different acts, and I have no idea what those crowds will drink.
'If it were someone like the Foo Fighters, we would be preparing to sell a lot of beers and Jack Daniels, but we'll figure it out.'
Alongside catering to customers old and new in Mount Florida, Murphy is also looking forward to the chance to add his own mark to Clockwork, with an ultimate goal to reinstate the microbrewery side of the business so that the smell of hops will 'cascade through the building' once more.
'Clockwork was the last place I worked before we took over the Pot Still, so I know it very well, but over the years it's been refurbished within an inch of its life with a lot of the parts I liked the most cut away,' he said.
'We're now fixing that, but it's a daunting task.
'When my dad had pubs, he made sure that we understood why he would buy another place even if one was already doing well.
'While the Pot Still is still running absolutely fine and there's no reason to kill that golden goose, we lease it, which means that we will never fully own it, and there's a limit to the changes we can make.
'It's the engine of everything we do, but we could be kicked out tomorrow with nothing but our bottles of whisky.
'Every single brick at Clockwork is now family owned and ours to do what we want with, that's really important to us and offers a bit of security.
'It's brought us a new challenge, and it's a big one, but it can't be the last one.
'I want to continue what we're doing and spread the good word further.'
The Clockwork Bar is located at 1153 to 1155 Cathcart Road, Glasgow.
