Pub closure leaves functions in doubt

Nov 13 2008 by Shirley Bartynek, Hamilton Advertiser

A HAMILTON pub unexpectedly closed this week prompting anger from people who had booked functions at the venue.

Metal shutters were over the windows yesterday (Wednesday) and doors of the Barleycorn pub in Hamilton’s Low Waters Road.

The Advertiser understands the pub closed abruptly on Monday.

The pub is believed to have been leased by brewer Belhaven to an operator who has been running the premises.

Despite repeated calls to Belhaven, the company could not provide any comment.

Hamilton’s Fiona Brand was this week “gutted” by the news the pub had closed, as she was due to hold her 30th birthday celebrations there next Saturday.

She had booked the function suite for over 100 guests and paid a deposit of £40 to cover the cost of the hire.

The mum-of-two explained: “I booked the function room just over six weeks ago and called last week to find out if everything was okay.

“The pub were also organising my DJ for the evening so I wanted to check this had been done.

“But when I called the pub I couldn’t get through on the telephone. It kept ringing out.”

Fiona said she then heard from a friend, who was also due to have a function there this week, that the Barleycorn had closed.

She added: “I couldn’t believe no-one called to tell me what had happened. It will be almost impossible to get something rearranged at this late stage.

“I have less than two weeks to get a new venue. This was my main birthday present from my family and it has turned out like this. It is terrible.

“I will now have to frantically phone round other venues.

She added: “I could have turned up on the evening with 100 people, with my buffet, only to find the pub closed.”

In January, 2006, Hamilton’s Licensing Board approved a licence for the Barleycorn despite ongoing problems at the venue.

Between June, 2003, and April, 2005, 16 separate complaints and incidents at the pub were reported to the police, including a serious stabbing following an Old Firm match.