Mathers West End – Unchanged

A review from almost 50 years ago looks remarkably similar to mine.

This week, I’m taking you back to a 2024 review of Mathers on Queensferry Street. It’s a simple pub, and a bit of a throwback among the posh hotels and busy streets on the corner of Princes Street.

I was struck by how similar its entry in the 1979 Edinburgh Pub Guide was to my own review. It was described as a “man’s bar” back then, and I would still very much describe it as that today. In fact, the last time I went in, there were probably fewer women in there than in 1979.

The quickest way to define Mather's to the uninitiated is to say that it is a very bare high-ceilinged, man's bar. Only four women were present when I visited it and two of those were the barmaids! A few characters abound, and the bar is not short of the friendly banter and argumentative spirits of its inmates, who mostly seem to have seen the better days of a bygone age. It's what could be described as ethnic, yet this and the bar's very barrenness can be depressing if one goes in absent of good company. However that's the individual's own lookout.

I’m not sure what they mean when they say it’s “ethnic”. Are they talking about the clientele? If anyone can enlighten me, get in touch.

I do like a pub which seems unchanged in almost 50 years. Of course, the city and the people around it have to change, modernise, and move on. We can’t live our lives stuck in the past. But when it comes to pubs, there’s something about walking into a place which seems timeless which really appeals to me. It’s comforting.

The best pubs which survive are community spaces. I think a great way to feel more connected to your local area is to think about its past, what it’s been through, and how it’s shaped what we see today. So a pub which gives us a window into the past helps connect us.

There are plenty of more modern pubs and bars – as there should be. But it’s not either/or. The great thing about Edinburgh is we have access to both the old and the new.

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The chaser – The man who made pubs look old

On the question of how pubs should change with the times, I occasionally mention Ian Whyte in this newsletter. He bought a series of pubs in Edinburgh and did them up in an old style. He is responsible for the design of some of my favourite pubs in the city – including The Cumberland Bar, which features in the latest edition of Camra’s Pints of View magazine.

• Heritage Pubs of the Future in Edinburgh, Mick Slaughter (PDF, page 10)