Mather's Bar, Broughton Street – Sex & gigs & Billy Joel
A pub which is proud to celebrate its history - hurrah!
It’s Mather’s location which has meant it’s hosted some of the country’s biggest rock stars. Ex-Forth Radio DJ Jay Crawford reckons the likes of the Sex Pistols, Elton John, Billy Joel and Tom Waits have graced its bar over the years, thanks to the radio station’s original studio being round the corner.
The pub continues to host live music a few days every week, though I hope I’m not offending any current performers when I suggest the names these days aren’t quite as big as back in the day. The piano is still prominent, though. A sign sits atop, warning “anyone playing chopsticks will be barred” – something I can get totally on board with.
Beyond the piano, the decor is pretty decent, with plenty of variety. There’s a bit of stone wall, some tiles and wood panelling - but it’s nicely done. I presume some of this came in the pub’s 2021 refit, when it reset its name from the Empress of Broughton Street back to its previous name of Mather’s.
What I appreciate most, though, is the pub’s celebration and exposition of its own story. It’s something Edinburgh is great at: preserving its own past without getting stuck in it, and allowing its history to take centre stage for a modern audience. I may be biased, as an ex-history student who once chose to write 5,000 words on the history of Edinburgh's taverns for an assignment about the Scottish Enlightenment. (OK, I’m definitely biased.) But it always frustrates me when pubs take the mad decision to cover their history up, or deem it unimportant, or go so bland they might as well be a Premier Inn lobby.1
Mather’s proudly displays reproductions of hyper-local posters from the past, including ads from Broughton Street and nearby Elm Row. A large poster for Aitchison’s, a brewer which used to be located at this address, adorns one wall by the front window. Further inside the pub, a plaque explains that Aitchison’s traded from here form 1840, and customers would bring their own vessels to be filled up straight from the source. Before this, the plaque explains, 25 Broughton St was a grocers and then a wine and spirit merchant.
Nowadays, the beer is fine. A 60/- dark mild from Broughton Ales is cellar temperature and does the job without being spectacular. I go in again while the football is on and there are no real ales on at all.
Another struggle for the pub is its lack of outside space in the summer. Mather’s sits on the east side of Broughton Street and gets plenty of light streaming through its windows late in the day. It’s a shame there is no space on the street to enjoy that. Especially as there are two other pubs on this side of the street, Barony and Cask & Barrel, which do have some tables outside which catch the sun – and are subsequently packed on summer evenings.
But overall, it does the job well. I once went in on a late Monday afternoon for a drop, and the pub was hosting two old boys at the bar, reading the newspaper and enjoying each other’s company without really having to say much to each other. Mather’s is providing a community service and doing what all pubs should do: it’s a welcoming, shared space which opens its doors for everyone – rock star or not.
Where is it?
Where next?
Cask & Barrel is a stone’s throw down the hill.
The chaser
I have sometimes in this newsletter asked for more information about the pubs designer Ian Whyte, who once ran and refurbished many of my favourite pubs in the city. Happily, Mick Slaughter has written about some of Whyte’s work in the latest Pints of View, the local Camra newsletter.
I’d really recommend you read his piece, which is on page 10 of this PDF, and focuses on The Bow Bar and The Blue Blazer.
And if you want to read more about Mather’s Bar’s musical history, the Edinburgh Gig Archive has more info.
And one final bit of history. Last week, I reproduced the 1979 Edinburgh Pub Guide’s write-up of The Artisan Bar, which some readers got in touch to say they enjoyed. So here’s the entry for Mather’s, from the same guide:
Mathers is reputed to have one of the finest pints in Edinburgh. CAMRA members flock to its basic but lively bar to guzzle on the excellent IPA. Mather's soul lies in the imposing frame of Big John Walker and its life in the regular customers – older locals, football fans, politicos, intellectuals, journalists, DJs (Radio Forth is just round the corner) and the ordinary drinker.
The pub is split into two, a public downstairs and a lounge bar up a few steps for a quieter drink with friends. It is busy on both levels in the evenings, frequently a "Black Hole of Calcutta" situation, no room to move or to breathe but the socialist paper sellers always find a manoevring space to proffer their wares.
The normally steady trade swells nearly to bursting point at weekends, a mark of the continuing attraction of Mather's multitudinous qualities.
I’m looking at you, Joseph Pearce, Old Aberlady Inn and (to a lesser extent) Lioness of Leith.