‘Dangerous’ folk bar closed after just 12 weeks
A fractured beam has seen a floor dip
A PUB which opened just 12 weeks ago has had to shut its doors – over fears of the impact on the ceiling by dancers.
The Fiddler’s Elbow in Picardy Place, which hosts live folk music and offers a number of “shabby chic” hotel rooms, had its licence to sell alcohol suspended until it can prove the premises have been made safe.
At a meeting of Edinburgh’s licensing board, members heard that during a function at New Year, the main beam supporting the first-floor function room had fractured, causing the floor to dip by several inches.
It was agreed that the premises’ licence would be suspended until building standards officials were satisfied the premises offered no risk to those in the building, to which the pub’s operator – G1 Group – voluntarily agreed.
Manager of the Fiddler’s Elbow, Ruairi Harrington, said: “We did not do anything to endanger anyone’s life.
“I think we operated in the best way possible. There was a little dip in the floor originally. Some time in the New Year I had noticed it had got worse so I reported it to the brewery and closed off the room.
“The brewery became concerned that the room should not be used and it was checked out.
“At that stage they came to the conclusion that the room was completely off limits, but the room downstairs was OK.
“We have a main bar downstairs and a room upstairs for functions.
“That’s the way we operated for a while, then the builders came in and said they were going to come in and I closed down the bar.
“The next day buildings standards came in and I asked them for a full rundown of what was going on and they said ‘shut the bar down’.
“In consultation with the brewery, the final day of trading was February 7.”
The pub was advised that it would not be acceptable to occupy the building until adequate propping had been installed along with a structural engineer’s report on the adequacy of the propping.
Mr Harrington said it was hoped the pub, which was previously the Metropolitan cocktail bar, would reopen on the first weekend in March.
He added: “We went into a tired building and we have done extremely well in a short period of time.
“We’ve really grown the business and developed a regular clientele.”
Email to a friend
Print this page- Rangers takeover: Duff & Phelps threaten legal action against BBC
- Today’s youth not fit to be employed, says car firm Arnold Clark
- Family mourn death of Glasgow ‘fight’ schoolboy
- Rangers administration: Fans fear Duff & Phelps claims could scare off Green
- Rangers takeover: triple penalty punishment enough, says Johnston
- Alistair Darling leads ‘No to independence’ fight over tea and biscuits
- Scottish independence: SNP flip-flops over Nato
- Scottish Independence: SNP ‘won’t be Yes campaign’s only voice’
- Today’s youth not fit to be employed, says car firm Arnold Clark
- Scottish independence: ‘People here are best qualified to run Scotland’
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Edinburgh
Friday 25 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 9 C to 20 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 8 C to 20 C
Wind Speed: 16 mph
Wind direction: North east
Comments
There are 10 comments to this article
Page 1 of 1
Antha
Wednesday, March 7, 2012 at 10:44 AMFact!!!! This building and its defects are very well known to its owners. Previous Lease Holders can very easily come up with evidence of this. The current Lease Holders knew of its quirks and issues. the problem is, its not the only issue. lets hope the building control officers had a propper look around!!!
A Friend of Fernando Poo
Friday, February 24, 2012 at 01:16 PMso the bands there were doing the literal opposite of "raising the roof"?
Incandescent
Friday, February 24, 2012 at 12:35 PM#1 Bressumer
Curious Yellow
Friday, February 24, 2012 at 12:20 PM"the builders came in and said they were going to come in" - is that what's known as a prior warning?
McIntosh
Friday, February 24, 2012 at 10:44 AMNice to see the Building Standards dept out and about. Doing their job. Which we pay for.
Tartancult
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 09:07 PMWow! They have bars in Edinburgh for dangerous folk now? How's that for demographics.
KeithBraidwood
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 07:04 PMIf memory serves, this is the pub that features deep-fried butter balls on its menu.
Niebiosa tam sa naprawde nieskrzydlowe ludzie tam
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 06:20 PMRSJ
Niebiosa tam sa naprawde nieskrzydlowe ludzie tam
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 06:20 PMMust be all the Edinburgh fat lassies , pas de bas' ing :)
Sally Longlegs
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 05:20 PMA failed Bressamer. Very common in the New Town.
Page 1 of 1
Your view
Please sign in to be able to comment on this story.