This pub is in one of six malls in Scotland’s ‘largest undercover shopping centre’. Originally, the centre was two parades of shops, open to the elements. The shops were the focal point of the ‘new town’ of East Kilbride, officially opened by Harold Macmillan on 1 May 1959. The new town was built on 6,000 acres of open countryside, replacing hedgerows, hayfields and harvest stooks (sheaves set upright in fields to dry).
An illustration and text about George Orwell.
The text reads: George Orwell was a British novelist, essayist, journalist and critic. He is perhaps best known for his novel 1984. Orwell spent several months in Hairmyres hospital in 1947-48, where he worked on the draft f his novel 1984. He died not long after, aged 46.
A print and text about the Dollan Aqua Centre.
The text reads: On the crest of Brouster Hill is the well-known Dollan Aqua Centre. Scotland’s first Olympic sized swimming pool. The grade A listed building was named Sir Patrick Dollan, first chairman of the East Kilbride Development Corporation. Dollan guided the new town of Kilbride through its formative years. The son of a miner, he had been Lord Provost and was knighted in 1941.
Text about the writer James Struthers.
The text reads: James Struthers was born in Long Calderwood not far from today’s town centre. He worked as a farm labourer and became a shoe-maker like his father. In 1801 he published a book of poems and eventually became a fulltime writer. Struthers was also a literary editor, publishing a three volume collection of songs named The Harp of Caledonia and wrote biographies of ‘Eminent Scotsmen’. He provided the inspiration for this set of hand embroidered poems linking East Kilbride to its past resident.
A sculpture entitled Stook of Steel.
This hand forged sculpture is a representation of a sheaf of hay that when stacked with others, makes a ‘Hay Stook’. The sculpture had been fabricated using 400 bars of steel, each one had been heated to an orange heat and power hammered using the corner of the die set.
External photograph of the building – main entrance.
If you have information on the history of this pub, then we’d like you to share it with us. Please e-mail all information to: pubhistories@jdwetherspoon.co.uk