A CHAPTER of Glasgow social history came to an end yesterday with the closure of the Stanley Bar in Kinning Park.

The building, which has existed as a pub since 1884, is being taken over by MB Jarvie Car Service next door who plan to turn it into offices.

The decision to close the pub is the final death knell of a once thriving community which, before most of the area was demolished to make way for the construction of the M8 motorway, was filled with tenement lined streets and the bustling Gray Dunn Biscuit Factory.

These days the Kinning Park region between the motorway and Paisley Road West is desolate, housing industrial complexes rather than families.

The Stanley Bar continued to act as a meeting point for those who grew up in the area and became a popular pub for Celtic fans.

But as from last night, its doors have closed.

“It’s the end of an era,” said John Byrne, who runs the pub alongside wife Elaine with other family members as co owners. “When my wife and I took over the daily running of the pub 16 years ago a regular said to us ‘This isn’t a pub – it’s a social club’. It’s an institution. It’s a sad, sad thing that it’s had to close.

“It used to be absolutely jumping. Everyone from the Gray Dunn Biscuit Factory would drink in here. There were six flats above the pub alone, as well as all the other tenements. It was always a family pub. My wife would feed all the regulars, buy them clothes if they needed it. She’d bring in pots of soup, mince and potatoes. There was never any trouble.”

The day before the pub closed, John McGarvey from Pollok was having one last drink with his elderly father Howard and his uncle Noel.

Noel and Howard both grew up in Ireland and would meet in the pub with other members of the Irish community.

“We lived in Eaglesham Street in Kinning Park,” John said. “We have lots of happy memories of spending time in the Stanley Bar as a family. There was a close Irish community and my mum would sing traditional Irish music in the pub band. Pubs on Paisley Road West always changed their names but the Stanley Bar was always the Stanley Bar. I’ve brought my dad and uncle here today for one last drink.”

Danny Rodgers from Govan is another child of the area. “I was born on Stanley Street. My family grew up here. We moved to Cessnock just as the motorway was being built. Even though now there’s no houses or communities, people still came back to the Stanley Bar and their sons and daughters would come because their parents drank here. For Celtic games and special occasions they would all come back.”

Another regular, Brian Devaney, who lives in Cessnock, chooses to drink in the Stanley Bar ­because it’s the only Celtic pub in the area. “When Celtic win big games we go outside in the street and do the huddle. It stops traffic.

“I’ve drank in here for 42 years. My father drank in here. It’s sad.”

Such are the strong memories associated with the Stanley Bar, those who have moved from the area continue to visit. Neil Hargan, who grew up on Stanley Street before moving to Blackpool, goes to the pub each time he’s back in Glasgow. “My father worked in Gray Dunn Biscuit Factory. I have memories of the area and I know the regulars – it’s still the same people who were drinking there 50 years ago. There was a good laugh and patter and characters. I would walk in and it would be as if I still lived there. Recently I went in and there was a man I knew sleeping on the chair beside me. He woke up and said ‘Alright, Neillsy,’ as if I’d never been away.

“It was a good wee pub and there was no trouble in it. I am devastated it is closing.”

The area of Kinning Park between the Glasgow – Paisley railway line and Paisley Road West was one of the city’s neighbourhoods lost to the construction of the M8. Its sandstone tenements were demolished and residents shipped to other parts of the city, separating neighbours, friends and long held community ties.

The closure of the Gray Dunn Biscuit Factory in 2001 was another blow to the area, resulting in almost 300 staff being made redundant. The imposing building, which dominated the city skyline view from the M8, was demolished in 2017, adding to the desolation of the area. The former Our Lady and St Margaret’s Primary School opposite the factory site was saved due to its listed status and has now been converted into offices, while the adjoining former presbytery remains derelict.

Called “the last post” by regulars, the Stanley Bar was the only remaining evidence of a once vibrant community.

But with rising costs, dwindling regulars and Covid-19 making the pub more difficult to sustain,

the Byrne family made the ­

difficult decision to give it up.

“In the last two years around 50 regulars who came in every day for their half and half have died,” John said. “We had two domino teams – four of the members have died. The price of beer has gone up, as well as electricity. Sky television – they’re bullies. Twelve hundred pounds a month for a wee pub like this. But if you don’t have it you don’t get the clientele. The last two years we’ve been struggling, last year was the worst, then lockdown finished us. And lockdown is going to come back again, we know it is.

“We hoped we could sell it to business people in the community but they know it’s not making enough money. And the guy next door came to my brother with a great offer. It’s a shame but what can we do? We tried everything.”