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www.subcrawl.co.uk
What's New
Here you can find all the
latest updates and developments in the world of SUB.
The nights are fair drawing in, as they say. The end of another glorious summer and the onset of "the Dreich Season" gives us the chance to spruce up the site
a bit. Pride of place goes to our latest Photo Diary, compliments of Mark and his pals from NI who came over to Glasgow last month. Thumbnails only
at the moment, but full-size pics to come shortly.
We've also updated the Stops pages for Bridge Street,
West Street, Kinning Park and Cessnock.
You're probably wondering where we've been. And why our last update appeared briefly some 3 months ago only to vanish overnight. Nothing sinister, surely?
The truth is unfortunately very mundane - we had problems accessing the ftp site - problems which are now happily resolved. So can you look forward to
some major updates to the site? Maybe . . . What have you missed? Well, three of us went on a partial subcrawl (it's about all we can manage nowadays)
some four weeks ago. Tried some new (for us) pubs, including the legendary "lost" pub of West Street, the
Kiloran, and the Old Toll Bar at Kinning Park. Highlight of the day was, as is so often the case, the Laurieston; during our pie and peas one of the staff asked whether we had ever
heard of the Subcrawl website. Upon admitting that we were in fact responsible for the site, they took our photo for the "subcrawl wall" and asked if we wanted to meet another subcrawl in the other room
(of course we declined - the excitement would have been too much for the poor sods). We saw evidence of a few subs along the way, particularly evident at the Three Judges (a big
Hullo to anyone who was there). We also seem to remember a number of young women dressed as cowboys in Macintoshes, but think that more likely that was just a piece of wish fulfilment.
As a result of our sojourn, updates to a number of the Stops pages are planned. Meanwhile, thanks
to Robin for pointing out that the Doctors at Kinning Park has closed indefinitely as of 20 June, and that the Clachan (a pub at Cessnock we never managed to
visit) has now gone. A bientot, mes amis . . .
Is it March already? We must have forgotten to set our alarm clock. That hibernation's a bugger, by the way. Anyway, Happy New Year and, er, Happy Saint Paddy's Day. A couple of wee things to announce. Firstly, Ali and Co.'s
subcrawl we mentioned at the end of last year - by all accounts it went swimmingly, and Ali even sent us some photos, but due to some "computer naughtiness" we never got them. So for the time being you'll just have to make
do with Ali's description: "I am delighted to inform you that our annual subcrawl was finally completed
on Saturday December 16th. Sadly, for various reasons (not least that it was
a daft idea in the first place), we didn't bother with the Mexican garb, nor
anything remotely festive (coming to think of it, anyone fancy a santa
subcrawl?). Nor did we come anywhere near breaking the world record. Still,
an endearingly drunken afternoon ensued, and we all had a laugh. I'll talk
you through the pictures if you like.
We kicked off at Fat Boab's at one o'clock. Neil was an early pace-setter in
the cheesy pose stakes. (pic1)
At the wonderful Laurieston (easily the best pub at Bridge Street, unless
you count the poker club across the road, which you shouldn't do on a
subcrawl), the barman took our photo, to add to their display of subcrawl
pics on the wall. Note how, from this pub onwards, I get closer and closer
to the floor in each photo. (pic2)
I'm not sure where we are in this one (possibly the Star Bar at West Street,
possibly not), but things must have been starting to pick up as it's smiles
all round (pic3) (pic13) (pic14)
At the Three Judges (Shields Road) (pic5), we became worried that Neil would
be stuck for life with that cheesy grin and thumbs-up pose, which he'd been
modelling all day (pic4).
So where did we take him?
Doctors. (pic6)
We tried to talk him into calling an ambulance, but, in what is surely as
good an advert for 21st century phoneboxes as you'll ever see, we were too
pished to bother (pic26).
It was all to no avail, and on the way to Cessnock, he even managed a double
thumbs-up, when the chat turned to shoe sizes (pic7).
So we tried to teach him some other gestures. Please note the classic
example of crap subway upholstery in the foreground (pic8).
At this stop, which may well have been Cessnock, we tried to recreate a
famous pic from last year's subcrawl. Sad, innit? (pic9)
At Ibrox, we began to hear rumours that there was another subcrawl party out
that day. All in yellow t-shirts, and well ahead of us. Personally, I was
mortified by our relative tardiness and lack of colour co-ordination, but
everyone else took the news pretty well (pic10).
By the time we got to the Hayburn, different emotions were coming to the
fore- merriment (pic13), aggression (pic12) and stoney-faced misery (pic11)
All smiles again at the Three Judges, as Gillian decides to flaunt her
atrocious sun tan (pic15).
'Did you hear about the subcrawler who walked into a pub and asked for an
innuendo?'
By this stage (and with all due respect to old ladies and the disabled), we
figured that K-dawg and Gildo were entitled to use the 'priority seats for
the elderly and infirm', since by now everyone else was looking at them with
mild embarrassment, and hoping they'd manage to cross the road OK (pic17).
At the Captain's Rest (Kelvinbridge), we all felt dead happy. No particular
reason, least of all the Tequila slammers at Curlers. With hindsight, I'm
glad I brushed my teeth that morning (pic 18). As did Dougie (pic 19). Well,
we wanted to look our best, as we'd now had it confirmed that there was
another party of subcrawl people who'd been to all the same pubs as us about
an hour before. Would we ever meet them?
Presumably at Waxy O'Connor's (Neil's pint of guinness is the clue, Watson),
a sense of achievement was in the air (pic20).
And yes, since you ask, we did close the circle. Back at Fat Boab's, we
finally caught up with the mob in yellow T-shirts whom we'd been chasing
(pic21).
As a faithful subcrawler, I took it upon myself to ask the yellow people
'does this amount to a World Record Subcrawl?', and more importantly, 'what
is that scarlet liquid you are drinking?' I never got an answer to my
question, and this picture maybe explains why (pic22).
It all made no sense the following morning (least of all, how do you explain
these pictures?- pic14 and pic27). But we had a really good subcrawl. Roll
on 2007 (oh, wait a second, it's here...) and an excuse to do it again.
Cheers,
Al" Thanks for the report Al, and if you're reading this, you could try to resend the photies. We've even got (crappy free doesnae work properly) Broadband now, which should improve the chances of success! We are also pleased to announce a
new addition to our Links page. It's the website of the boys from Glasgow Islay AFC, a Glasgow-based football team for former inhabitants of Islay ("Duh-UH!", we believe the kids say nowadays). Their site
includes pics from a recent subcrawl. Well worth a look. Finally, the big news you've all probably not been waiting for - the SUB crew are back on speaking terms and are talking about a subcrawl-related activity of some description
later this year. We are currently ploughing through our diaries trying to find a suitable weekend - late February 2011 looks good at the moment but we're looking for something even sooner. Watch this space . . .
"Hey gringo, you smell of piss!" "I sleep with your sister!" "Give me your money or I
shoot you like a dog!" Not the sort of thing you'd expect to hear on your average subcrawl. Hmmm, on second thoughts, they're EXACTLY the sort of thing you'd expect to hear on your average
subcrawl. But not in a Mexican accent. Which is our way of saying that next Saturday (16 December) sees the first recorded "Bandit SUB". It's being organised by Al and his mates after their last attempt in November had
to be curtailed at an early stage due to an accident which caused the closure of the subway. This time the guys and gals are looking for better luck, so look out for sombreros, big 'taches and maybe a few bandilleros full of tequila. Sounds fun - but it could
get messy! Plans are still to meet in Fat Boab's, but a bit earlier than the 2.00pm start attempted the last time (see, our words of wisdom did not go unheeded!). We're in a state of shock. Was Chris Evans really singing the praises of the Star Bar on Radio 2 this evening? "Surely they haven't emerged from a three month hiatus to tell us that?"
you are probably saying. And, just for once, you'd be right. For we return with news of nothing less than a monster subcrawl planned for Saturday next. Our corresponndent Al informs us that the annual Clinic memorial subcrawl is taking place on 25th November.
Start time is 1.30pm for 2.00pm, the venue - errr, Fat Boabs (still never been there). All comers are welcome, Al tells us,
"as long as they are self-sufficient and don't expect us to entertain them with magic or anything". They are also "vaguely" going for the world record of
44, although this comes with a rather heavy disclaimer. Sadly we here at SUB won't be able to come along
- the self-sufficient bit wiped out most of us, and the rest insist on a bit of prestidigitation every time they near Kinning Park (more specifically, they like to disappear).
We wish all the participants the best of luck, although we can't help but think a 2.00pm start
is a wee bit late (although it's probably referred to by the students among you as "the crack of
dawn"). Just in case you're worries about your potential fellow subbers, this picture gives you an idea what to expect:
We've added two new links to our, err, Links page. First up is Glasgow Big Ad, a page of adverts for Glasgow companies and NPO's
(= "Non-Profit Organisations" - keep up, now!). "So what?" you may say. Well, the site has established a "Subcrawl challenge", whereby anyone completing the subcrawl can win a nice commemorative t-shirt, and which we at SUB have been
asked to endorse (the challenge, not the t-shirt - we haven't seen it yet). Which we were of course happy to do! So now on the relevant page of their site you will see it says "SUB says: drink responsibly". Yes we did choose the words ourselves.
And no we weren't being ironic. Also added to our list of links is
Party Glasgow, a new site which will aim to do exactly what it says on the tin. "Party on, dudes!"
we say, but then we were always behind the times . . .
We love pirates. If this website wasn't about the subcrawl, it would be full of buccaneers, corsairs and freebooters. So it is with a shiver me timbers and
a yo-ho-ho that we present the pictures from a recent subcrawl. Featuring correspondent Mitch and five mates, the lads decided to don their most swashbuckling-est garb and go for a whirl round the Big Ring. Click
here for the pics. Aaaaaaaaarrrrrr!! Following our report all of 17 months ago that our West Street pub of choice was closed "for legal
reasons", we have now learned that it has gone
the way of Cagney's and The Speakeasy before it and bitten the dust. However it's not all bad news as the Airms has been replaced by - another pub.
All we know so far is that the new establishment is called BarBaxt, is owned by Jim Baxter's son, and that it has "curtains and carpets" (talk about a sneak preview). We'll try and visit in the near-ish
future. In the meantime, we have updated the West Street page to reflect the changes. We have also noticed that SPT have changed the Subway map yet again - by our reckoning the fourth change
in the five and a half years this site has been going. Why this is so we're not sure, but maybe the fact that none of the newer versions have been a patch on the old map (which was in use for at least 25 years by our reckoning)
might have something to do with it. Well, it's been a long, long time, but here at SUB we are pleased to present our first new photo diary for two years.
(Why the long gap? Well there are many reasons, but having to use HTML rather than Dreamweaver, as we now do, doesn't exactly make it easier to update on a regular basis. But enough whinging . . .)
The sub in question took place back in October and was dubbed "The Missing Link" as for the first time ever we were reduced to doing a "partial" subcrawl. Still, it was all there: new pubs, pies, peas and Demanding Women. Talking of which, our
corespondent Laura has written in "demanding" (do you see what we did there?) that we give details of the Roxanne Drinking Game: "Get a crowd of you and divide into two equal teams. Provide as many
shots as possible (or just drink 2 fingers of your chosen tipple). Put on Roxanne by Sting (shurely The Police? - Ed.); when he sings "Roxanne" Team 1 stands up and drinks a shot
then sits down again; when he sings "put on the red light" Team 2 does the same. Sounds easy, but towards the end of the song it gets a bit messy. Just promise you'll give it a go!" To be honest Laura, we're not
sure it would be good for us at our age. I mean, listening to Sting . . . In further correspondence, David has written to tell us that Glasgow Uni Accounts Society (save the jokes; we're sure they've heard them all before) had a subcrawl
towards the end of last year. The photos can be found here. David adds that he hopes "to be elected to the committee next year, and if I am,
will campaign to do the clockword orange twice in the same day. Don't think this has ever been done - will be a great adventure." We are sure that all our GU students will do their duty and vote this man into office - could this
be the start of the Subcrawl Party? Finally apologies to those of you who may have sent stuff to us recently (or maybe not even that recently) which hasn't yet appeared on the site. We'll probably get round to doing something about it some time
real soon . . . SUB returns for its seventh (I know - we had to check twice ourselves) year of subcrawl-related
fun 'n' games by completing our updates of the Stops pages which we started in the autumn. The Buchanan Street page has been expanded to include
info on "new" pub Dow's, while we have also taken the opportunity to tidy up some of the other pages (we could tell you exactly which ones, but where would the
fun be in that?). Over the festive period we've also been having a wee chuckle at the latest subway-based video clip doing the rounds. Brought to our attention by
a couple of our correspondents, "The Subway Challenge" as it's known is not "strictly subcrawl" as it involves no pub/booze activity. Instead it features some guy trying to
get from Buchanan Street to St Enoch on his bike quicker than the wee dinky train. The clip in question can be found
here. We're hoping that you're so busy laughing at that you won't notice we
haven't yet managed to upload our
most recent Photo Diary, and a load of other stuff we should have put on the site by now. Patience, my dears . . .
Our latest round of Stops page updates includes details of a couple
of "new" pubs at St Georges Cross. And as further updates are unlikely before 2006 (unless we get locked in a room with no beer and a computer,
and the only alternative is to watch reruns of "Casualty@Holby City" on a wee portable black and white telly with a crap ariel), we'd like to take this opportunity to wish
all our visitors from Bogota to Bearsden a Merry Christmas and a Guid Ne'er'day! Mainly tidying of the existing stuff, but we've made substantial changes/additions to the
Kelvinbridge page. More to follow soon . . . Where've we been? Don't ask. Suffice it to say that at our age it takes
a long time to recover from a subcrawl. However we do not return empty-handed, but rather laden with goodies in the form of updates to no fewer than four
Stops pages, namely St Enoch, Bridge Street, Partick and Kelvinhall. The latter two of these include details and photos of
new pubs. Look out for more updated Stops pages in the near future, together with the epic tales and picture show that is Sub Diary IX!
Saturday saw the latest of the SUB-crew’s forays onto the Glasgow underground in an effort to dispel rumours of our retirement
from the subcrawling scene. Unfortunately, due to a number of factors beyond our control (principally having to schedule the crawl for the day of a Rangers home game, and advancing
years/declining “bottle” among most of our party), it was not possible to do a complete subcrawl, so with varying degrees of regret we missed out the stops between Shields Road and
Govan (hence the crawl being named ‘The Missing Link’: nothing to do with lost sausages or anything like that). Nonetheless a top day out was had by all, with highlights including:
The sub must also have broken some kind of record for having more than twice as many people at the end as it did at the start.
Copious updates, info on new pubs, photos, rants, etc. will follow soon (aye, we know we said that after our last subcrawl over a year ago and we never got round to doing it but this time we mean it; it’s right at the top of our ‘to-do’ list just below worming our pet Rottweiller).
Autumn is almost upon us, that glorious time of year that Keats
described so well as the "Season to get pissed and mellow, full of meths" (or something like that). For your typical sub-ber, this time of year means only
two things: firstly that there will be a World Record subcrawl; secondly that the good folk here at SUB
will come up with their usual excuses for non-participation. Well, this year is no different. As ever, a fun day out is guaranteed*. Anyone interested in taking part should
click here for details. Also, thanks to all (ok, both) of you who got in touch to let us know of the latest happenings in the "popular" Glasgow soap opera, River City. Apparently the district
of Shieldinch, where the show is set, is getting its own subway station. Wags are suggesting that some way should be
found of incorporating the new stop into the subcrawl. To which we reply: "Err, you do know that Shieldinch is a made-up place, don't you?" *not a guarantee One thing we overlooked on our last update was this, the latest offering from the guys in the 7.05 Club,
which has been added to the Miscellany section. It suggests one possible alternative "mini-subcrawl" which can be attempted when the full 15 stops isn't an option.
Rumours that the Club is preparing a takeover bid for this site have yet to be confirmed. Amid all the glorious weather we've been enjoying lately it's hard sometimes to pluck up
the enthusiam to update the site with all the latest gossip and other stuff that we are literally inundated with on a daily basis (not literally).
But we've finally managed to put down that Dan Brown novel, finish off the coconut full of pina colada and swing out of our hammock to bring you the latest.
First up is the stunning news that SPT are considering a major extension to the Clockwork Orange. Apparently the plan is to extend the existing line out into the East End, incorporating a new stop at Duke Street. The stop will
have a couple of giant electric walkways connecting the station with Parkhead Forge
shopping centre and (wait for it) Celtic Park. This we understand would be complete by about 2012. Here at SUB we have decidedly mixed feelings about the proposal.
On the one hand the addition of the first new stop(s) since the 19th century would be an exciting development, as would the opportunity to explore new areas of town and of course new pubs. On the other
hand, it's hard enough (in terms of both time and alcoholic capacity) to complete a subcrawl of 15 stops. At least the trip out east will give "neutral" crawlers
the opportunity to feel intimidated by fans from both halves of the Old Firm. Our main worry however is that such a plan would probably result in the closure of the subway for a lengthy period of time;
and by the time it re-opened we would be too old to consider going more than 50 yards from a toilet, let alone complete an expanded subcrawl. We will of course continue to keep you
(belatedly) updated on this one. It's sure to run and run . . .
We also have another addition to our "Songs for Subcrawls" section. Our perennial contributors from the 7.05 Club have reworked that Live 8 party favourite "Amarillo", wittily re-titled
"Is this the way to (the) Armadillo ?" Really, these guys are putting us to shame, as they are currently producing more original material for the site than we editors are. (Did we mention the
possible subway extension, by the way?) Penultimately, thanks to our correspondent Charlotte for some new pub info and a disturbing anecdote, which can be found on our revised Stops pages for
St Georges Cross and Govan respectively. Finally thanks to correspondents Gary and Alan for news of a new subcrawling stunt which is becoming "de rigeur"
at Bridge Street. Basically it seems to involve running out of the Glaswegian (sensible enough so far) and, for want of a better word, "stoating" off the embankments on the sides of the road
opposite the station. A bit like this:
Sorry we've been quiet for a wee while - it's all this sunny weather - even now our mothers are telling us to
go out and play with the other kids so we don't grow up to be pasty-faced losers with no friends (someone should tell them . . .) Anyway, we just wanted to wish a quick "good
luck" to the lads from Stirling (an Albion supporters group plus a lone Hibbee), as they attempt to do the "big ring" for a second time this coming weekend. We bumped into this crew on last summer's
crawl - the results of this mighty union can be seen in the pic below, which comes courtesy of the lads. (Where are our photos of the day? Patience, my little ones - we're just waiting for
one of us to pluck up the courage to collect them from Boots). We have a few other things to add to the site, which we'll do just as soon as we finish that 1500 piece Charles & Camilla
commemorative wedding jigsaw . . . Oh, yeah, and another subcrawl of some sort (how many sorts can there be? - Ed.) may be on the cards later in the summer!
Sometimes those in positions of editorial authority are forced to tussle
with difficult moral issues and make difficult choices. For example, what if two of your site's correspondents
send you a copy of a videoclip entitled "Inherent dangers of the subcrawl", which is supposedly gaining some notoriety on the WWW.
What do you do with what purports to be the subcrawl's first snuff movie? Do you take the moral high ground and refuse to show it, or do you go for
the cheap hit and give up all pretext to good taste? Click here and decide what you would do.
(Seriously, we are assured that the gentleman in question sustained no serious injuries. To him we say: good for you sir, but for God's sake be a bit more careful in future)
Also, believe it or not,here at SUB we are frequently approached by the Fourth Estate (that's the Press, by ra way. See that University Challenge - pure majic so it is) to provide words of wisdom and photographs
relating to subcrawling. However, as naturally bashful creatures we must confess that fame has never really been our bag - we do this all out of love, you know!
We will therefore in future direct all members of the press to our new Press statement, which we have added to our comments page. While the rest of us bemoan the
enforced inactivity caused by the ongoing industrial problems bedevilling the Subway, our old friends at the 7.05 Club have decided to use an alternative form
of transport to get around the city - namely the Glasgow Central to Cathcart train. Read about their latest adventures
here. Oops - has it really been that long since we updated the site?
To tell the truth, things have been pretty quiet of late, but just to let you know we're still here, we've taken the opportunity
to make a couple of updates to the Links page. We know, we know - no site updates for ages, then along come two at once. Just like the buses - but not at all like the trains on the Glasgow Subway this afternoon, which weren't going anywhere as drivers staged a walkout over pay and conditions. (Did you like what we did there - clever, wasn't it?) Further details are available here. Rest assured we'll be keeping a close eye on the situation to bring you any further information just too late for it to be useful. We've also tidied up one or two things on the site, most notably changing the format of the downloadable Subcrawl checklist from PDF to Word so that it can be edited to individual tastes. Said checklist can be downloaded from the Stops page.
Yes we've finally slept off that Christmas hangover and return to the fray - just in time for Burns Night! First of all we'd like to say a belated "Good Luck" to Stuart and the other "Tubecrawl" guys who were due to be doing their 20th annual subcrawl just after Christmas - we're hoping that the fact we've not heard from them since doesn't mean that anything bad happened! We have also received our first ever accusation of bias (shock horror!), vis-a-vis our rather guarded comments regarding the Rangers-themed Grapes Bar at Kinning Park. In order to rectify perceived wrong we have added the comments of the correspondent in question and toned down some of our other obsevations. We await the now-inevitable backlash of accusations of "political correctness gone mad" . . . Finally a big thanks to whatever Glasgow Uni student (yes, the clues are all there) added an entry for "Subcrawl" on Wikipedia. Nice to know that the subcrawl is now enshrined for posterity along with Einstein's Theory of Relativity, the Roman Empire and the Teletubbies.
Our correspondent Martin brings us the following story: "This is a series of text messages that I received one day in September,
which I thought you might be interested in . . . 14.29: Now embarking on "speedcrawl". Shots only!
It was then followed
up by a voicemail, which was largely to the effect of "Ha! It took us three f***ing hours to do the subcrawl.[laughter]. Edward by the way. Toodle pip!"
And to think, this is the same fellow who threw up in a pub at Buchanan Street on his first Sub . . ." We're not sure to be horrified or impressed by this tale - but we're
tending toward the latter. A less socially-responsible website would probably invite readers to let us know if they had completed a subcrawl in less time than this by contacting us
at speedrecordsub@subcrawl.co.uk - but we're far too mature for that sort of thing. A timely warning for any would-be subcrawlers: West Street
favourite The Gairdner's Airms is currently closed. The only clue as to why is a notice on the door citing "legal reasons".
What exactly is going on? Has it been closed down under the Crappy Gardening Cartoons (Scotland) Act 1979? We'll keep you posted. In
the meantime subbers will have to make do with the Lord Nelson or even the
Laurieston . . . We have also finally got round to replacing our "temporary" SUB logo which we put up while we produced something better. That was in 2000 - and
we're not even sure the new version is an improvement!
After our traditional summer torpor, we spring back to life with the news that literally
some of you have been waiting for. Yes, the lads and lasses who organised the "world record" subcrawls
in each of the last two years are planning another crawl later in the year. Most of the usual suspects will be there,
and the question as ever is "will SUB manage to send a posse this time?". And the answer,as ever, is likely to be
"no". Sadly. But you never know . . . Anyone wanting more details of the crawl should email us at
subcrew_aka_sipcrew@subcrawl.co.uk pronto. We've also
taken the opportunty
to add a few extra pubs, which have been recommended by correspondents, at Kelvinhall and
Kinning Park. After our latest
subcrawl last month, we begin the site updating process which inevitably follows. First Stops pages
to be spruced up this time around are Shields Road and
Kinning Park. We're also proud(?!) to present the latest
Sub Diary, which on this occasion was produced by Tom. We will add it to the Photo
Diaries pages as soon as we sort out the photos of the day; in the meantime it can be accessed
here. And as if all that weren't enough, courtesy of the 7.05 Club we present
the words of "The Underground Song" for your delectation and delight in our Miscellany section. Yes, the SUB squad's first outing in
eleven months took place on Saturday. Titled "Sub 40" (for reasons we won't go into), our "hard core"
was augmented by first timers Dean and Droog. We also had the rare pleasure(?) of female company
as Norman's wife and sister joined in for the last six stops. Highlights of the
day included: As usual, things have changed since
our last crawl, so updates of the relevant pages are on their way, as of course are some lovely photos of the day.
Oh, and the Glaswegian hasn't closed down!" News reaches us of the sad demise of another subcrawl haunt, albeit
not one which we've visited regularly in recent years. This time it's the turn of The
Glaswegian at Bridge Street to disappear from our alcoholic radar. While we generally
tended to favour The Laurieston across the road, it's sad to think we'll now never get the chance to play "Play Your Cards
Right" on a Friday night. However to cheer you up, we've added a little something to the
Miscellany section - a James Bond drinking game. Why? We're not sure really, but on our last subcrawl we almost
decided to dress up as 007 before opting for Elvis instead. Maybe next time . . . Talking of which, rumour has it that there
just might be some subcrawling action coming to a subway near you soon - who knows? (that's enough faux intrigue - Ed.)
It's like the wee dinky underground trains -
you wait years for a new subcrawl-based website when two come around at once. The latest one
has the distinction of being produced by a group of offshore workers. They're planning a subcrawl
later this month, and if they've just come off the rigs after three booze-free weeks, all we can say is look
out Glasgow! The site, Following a closure of some three months, during
which subcrawlers searched in vain for a pub at Shields Road, the Honours
Three has reopened. Our correspondent Martin informs us that the mock-Tudor exterior has gone,
but we have no word yet on what changes have taken place indoors. We'll provide futher details
and photos as soon as we have them. Sometimes it's hard
(oo-er missus). Sometimes it's lonely being the only
Subcrawl-based website on the WWW. So we were delighted
the other day when we learned of another site dedicated
to this most distinguished of pastimes. It's basically a
report of a particular subcrawl held by some anonymous
(well to us anyway) individuals on 21 February. The site
can be accessed here. We've also
added it to the Links page. We
were pleasantly surprised to note that their opinions on
most of the pubs are remarkably similar to our own (e.g.
Laurieston = friendly staff, Gallery = p*sh). More,
please! We were pleasantly
surprised the other day to receive an email from the
manager of the Albion Way at Ibrox. Pleasantly
surprised that he wasn't threatening to do us in for the
"World's Scariest Pub" epithet! Seriously
though, thanks to John for his comments, as a result of
which we've updated our info on that pub. We've
also taken advantage of a quiet news week to do some
general "housekeeping", tidying up some bits of
the site and correcting a few errors. Any excuse to wear
an apron . . . Last week a
fire in the St Georges Cross area
resulted in the destruction of the Clarendon Bar, and
also, tragically, in the death of a young woman. The
Clarendon is a bar that we at SUB have never visited but
it was a familar haunt for many sub-bers, including those
on the most recent "World Record" subcrawl.
Obviously however the loss of a pub takes second place to
the loss of life, and our condolences go to the friends
and family of the deceased. We
also understand that The Honours Three at Shields Road has
recently closed and is up for sale. Here at SUB we have
many fond memories of this place, which has featured on
every subcrawl we've undertaken over the last fourteen
years. We can only hope that it reopens soon, ideally as
unchanged as possible, at the very least remaining as a
public house. Cheers to
Kevin for sending some pics of him and his mates on a
Subcrawl last Saturday. We've titled the photos "Wheels of Beer" in
honour of one of the guys involved who did the crawl
despite in a wheelchair following a football injury. Just
goes to show what a truly dedicated bunch subcrawlers
are! Kevin has also sent a video of the day which we hope
to be able to bring you sometime soon. Also,
while we're at it we thought we'd take the opportunity to
announce our newest feature, "SUB Celebrity
Spot". We got the idea recently when our good friend
Andy (aka "Gordon Strachan") saw new World
Darts champion Andy Fordham on TV, only to realise
he had seen him in the Grapes Bar in Kinning Park on Jabba's
stag do crawl (see Photo Diary II). Given
that said subcrawl was nearly four years ago we are
impressed by Andy's memory - especially as by the end of
that day, none of us could remember our names. However as
Mr Fordham is well known to be a big (in every senseof
the word) Rangers fan, it's not as far-fetched as it
might seem. Anyway,
we wondered if any of you out there have bumped into a
celebrity while on a subcrawl - or, even better, if you
know of a celebrity who has done a subcrawl. If you have,
drop us a line at subcelebrityspot@subcrawl.co.uk. (N.B.
Chick Young does NOT count as a celebrity). Astute visitors to
the site will have noticed that we haven't yet kept our
promise to bring you pictures from the World Record 2
subcrawl last October. While technical difficulties have
kept us from being able to put any photos on the site
(honest), our correspondent Martin has brought to our
attention the Glasgow University Student Television
(GUST) site, which boasts not only photos of the day (here), but also
a 13 minute video film of the day (available here for anyone
who has a Quicktime player installed on their PC)
produced by Martin and his colleagues. This is quite
possibly the best thing we've ever seen - obvious
influences include Quentin Tarantino, Orson Welles,
Jean-Luc Godard and twelve pints of Tartan Special. Watch
out in particular for the outside toilet, the Superman
costume, and the seminal vegetable purchasing sequence.
And thanks for the plug in the end credits! Finally
we would like to wish a belated Happy New Year to both
our readers. For the fourth in the
ever-growing list of subcrawl journal-cum-confessionals,
we welcome a new writer, Duncan, who produced this during and
after the "World Record 2" crawl. We
also continue another tradition by bringing you a
correspondent's true story of how an exhibition of
drug-related high jinks near Hillhead underground
station ended in tears. In
a completely unrelated update, we've added another
correspondent's reminiscences on a previous incarnation
of Times Square to the St Enoch page. As anyone who was in
Glasgow at the time is probably aware, Saturday saw the
second of Bruce & company's "World Record"
subcrawls. Early reports indicate that while the crawl
failed to beat last year's attendance record, a healthy
20 or so hardy souls made it around, including a couple
of Danes who just happened to be in Times Square at the
wrong time. Major disappointment was the inability of
this site to get anyone to turn up. For the second year
running. We hang our heads. Anyway, we'll be sure
to bring you any anecdotes, photos or video clips(!) that
folk are kind enough to send us in the coming days.
However for those of you who can't wait that long,
subcrawler Martin has sent us a stunning pic of . . . er,
the new Discovery ticket: Seriously
though, we found this interesting as it shows that SPT are
now referring to the underground as "Subway".
Could this change in title have anything to do with
cashing in on the success of a certain website? Yes folks,
disturbing news from one of our correspondents, who may
have encountered the "Scary Woman" previously
encountered by subbers en route to St Georges Cross. A warning
has been added to that page. We've also added some info
on the chip shop at Cessnock. p.s.
rumour has it that the Glasgow Underground will be rather
busy today . . . Or: The SUB
Plan for World Domination - Phase 2. Yes, our humble site
has now received a plug in a second Glasgow newspaper.
The article in question appeared in last Thursday's
edition of the Evening Times and can, for now at least,
be accessed here. In
addition, we've made slight amendments to Bridge Street and Ibrox pages.
16 October: New Photo Diary/Stops updates 22 June 2007: We're back! (Part 2)
22 March 2007: We're back!
'no'
'The barmaid gave him one'
(pic16)
8 December 2006: Subcrawlo Des Bandidos!
16 November 2006: Big subcrawl planned! 
3 August 2006: New links added
13 June 2006: Pirate Sub!
15 March 2006: Gairdner's Airms is no more!
8 February 2006: Photo Diary IX
13 January 2006: Stops page updates completed
16 December 2005: St Georges Cross Stops page updated
6 December 2005: More Stops page updates
5 December 2005: Stops pages updated!
3 October 2005: "The Missing Link"! 4 September 2005: World Record Sub 4 announced!
14 August 2005: Exploring the "mini-crawl" option
7 August 2005: New songs, new trends - new Sub stops?
And the patter is miiiing-in
Pish is spouted
And the jaikies are hiiiiiigh . . .
23 June 2005: Stirling boys return! 
16 May 2005: "Inherent dangers of the subcrawl"
20
April 2005: The 7.05 Club return!
13
April 2005: Err . . .
20
January 2005: Subway Strike!
18 January 2005: Happy New Year!
21 November
2004: Fastest ever subcrawl?
15.25: 1/2 way round. (I sent a reply to the effect that he'd probably be dead by Partick)
16.08: Done Partick. stard @ kelvinbridge. now @ shields rd. cd do partick agen . . .
Argh! meant 2 go 2 west st! went the wrong way! now we're in kinning park again!
17.30: YAY! Finished it!
20 October
2004: "Gairdner's Airms closed?/New Logo
23 September
2004: "World Record" Subcrawl 3 planned!
15 July
2004: Sub 40 - first updates
22 June
2004: Sub 40 completed!
12 June
2004: Glaswegian/Drinking Game
12 May
2004: Another new subcrawl website!
29 April 2004: Honours Three reopens!
27 March
2004: New subcrawl website!
23
February 2004: Albion Way
27
January 2004: Clarendon destroyed by fire/Honours Three
17
January 2004: New Photo Diary Added/Sub Celebrity Spot
10
January 2004: "World Record 2" crawl - the
movie!
19
November 2003: Sub Diary 4!
27
October 2003: Second "World Record" subcrawl
completed!
25
October 2003: "Scary Woman" sighted?
14
October 2003: In the news again!
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