Traditional Glasgow pub sold to local businessman who recently bought The Star Bar.

Brechin’s Bar on Govan Road has a new owner as the traditional old school pub close to the Subway and within walking distance from Ibrox Stadium has been sold to Glasgow businessman David Low.

Low, who helped broker the takeover of Celtic FC by Fergus McCann in 1994 to rescue the club from the brink of collapse, sold The Arlington in Woodlands in 2024. Taking to social media he announced plans for the pub saying: “I’ve bought it. First floor is going to be a 135 cap music venue with a house band, top floor an Airbnb with separate entrance. Probably take the rest of the year.

“Seller has to fix the building before the transfer. Love the building.”

Brechin’s Bar is a Category B listed building located within the Govan Conservation Area, at the junction of Burleigh Street and Govan Road. It was built in 1894 in Scots Baronial style. Currently it has a pub on ground floor level, the Cardell Halls on first floor level, and a separate apartment in the attic.

The pub’s exterior was restored as a priority project for Govan Cross Townscape Heritage Initiative.

Low sold The Arlington pub in Woodlands in 2024. He bought The Star Bar last year, home to Glasgow’s cheapest pub lunch and a popular karaoke night, saying: “I’ve always had a keen interest in Glasgow’s iconic bars, of which The Star Bar is a fine example and there will be more to follow. Customers can be rest assured that I have no plans to change its distinctive character – or its famous lunch offer.”

The building was originally built as the Cardell Hall, a meeting place for 19th-century temperance campaigners, before evolving into a Govan public house.

Brechin’s exterior wall features a memorial to The Govan Cat. The Atlas Obscura website explains this quirky piece of local folklore: “The borough of Govan is situated alongside the western banks of the River Clyde. During the reign of Queen Victoria, this area was a thriving neighborhood closely linked to the prosperity of the shipping trade. Whole building blocks would be dedicated to the picking of oakum, a type of loose fiber that would be used as caulking between planks in wooden ships.

“Besides bringing well-being and security to the residents, these watery vessels also carried vermin. These undesirable pests could destroy expensive materials, as well as carry diseases. Enter a ferocious feline who was well known for ridding whole buildings of these destructive creatures. Unfortunately, this much-loved moggie met its end defending the community from a ferocious rat.

“The citizenry was so besotted with the heroic deeds of this feline that they decided to honor them with a small memorial. Attached to the southern portion of a sandstone Category B-listed building is a carved image of a cat. Ironically, the structure was initially used as Temperance (anti-alcohol) meeting place, but now houses Brechin's Bar, a vintage watering hole.”