In August 1995, Frankie Lonie packed his job in at a shipping company down at Aberdeen Harbour.
Oasis and Blur were battling it out for number one in the charts, Apollo 13 had just hit cinemas and Windows 95 was transforming the way we use computers.
But for Frankie, this time period is remembered more for his radical career change – which would see him trade loading ships for pulling pints.
The Aberdonian still remembers the nonchalant way he broke the news of his new acquisition to his wife.
“My wife came home and asked ‘what did you do today’, I said ‘I packed my job in and bought The Regent’,” the 66-year-old reminisces.
“She said ‘Aye okay, what did you actually do?’, and I said again “I bought The Regent”.
“’Why?’, I said ‘I don’t know’!”
Approaching 30 years in charge of The Regent Bridge Bar, Frankie looks back on his decades at the harbour pub, and tells me about:
- Why he swapped life as a docker for running his own pub
- The reason The Regent Bridge Bar is still standing as other harbour bars have fallen by the wayside
- And the impact the upcoming Tall Ships event will have on his business
Why did Frankie take a chance on Regent Bridge Bar?
Strolling into The Regent Bridge Bar on a typical grey morning, I’m greeted by Frankie’s trademark broad Aberdonian accent and firm handshake.
We lean over the harbour pub’s bar for a chat – the same way the city’s dockers have done for decades.
He begins to tell me how his life has been entwined with the Granite City’s harbour, and more specifically this pub.
“I was a docker and I used to drink in here like every docker did,” the father of two tells me.
“I changed my career and got a job at a shipping company, but after packing that in I’d said to my wife ‘well what am I going to do now?’
“A friend had come up to see me in the middle of May that year and he said the Regent was for sale.
“I said ‘Is it?’, and then I bought it! It was as simple as that.”
‘I had 13 weeks without a day off’
And as soon as the keys were handed over, it was full steam ahead for Frankie to make sure his move into the pub game would pay off.
The harbour veteran tells me: “Like any self-employment I threw myself into it. I had 13 weeks without a day off, I was in cleaning every morning.
“I’d put in a lot of hours, and it built quite quickly. I was familiar with the boys at the harbour.
“Since then it’s been a task at times!”
But the quayside landscape has changed drastically since Frankie took over The Regent Bridge Bar all those years ago…
How has Regent Bridge Bar stood the test of time?
Aberdeen’s docks used to be home to a whole host of traditional harbour pubs – all serving the workers of the Granite City’s booming and bustling shipping industry.
But as time marches on, Frankie’s Regent Bridge Bar remains the last one standing, as one by one, bars such as the The Snug Bar and Peep Peeps poured their last pints.
So just how has The Regent Bridge Bar managed to buck the trend?
“I’m not sure if it’s survival of the fittest, or the determination I’ve got, but you’ve just got to stick it out, it’s as simple as that,” Frankie reckons.
“It’s easy to say survival of the fittest but it doesn’t relate like that nowadays.
“Young boys like yourself rarely go out for a pint nowadays. It’s the regular punters. They like the atmosphere in here, it’s friendly enough.
“There used to be 11 bars along the harbour here, but one after another they were all shut and knocked down.
“It makes me feel very good actually to be the last harbour pub standing, although I do feel sorry for anyone that’s had to close their business.”
Is Frankie looking forward to Tall Ships?
Despite trade dwindling at the harbour since the glory days of the fishing industry and the oil and gas boom, things are looking up for The Regent Bridge Bar.
The Tall Ships will be sailing into Aberdeen this summer – and they’re expected to bring hundreds of thousands of visitors with them.
And for Frankie, that means jingling tills and empty kegs. His front door is right outside the heart of the celebrations.
The pub boss admits: “I’m anticipating being a hell of a busy.
“I’m looking forward to it but I’m also slightly apprehensive as to how busy I’m going to be.”
‘The Regent Bridge Bar was out the door for last Tall Ships’
More than 50,000 people helped create a carnival atmosphere in Aberdeen when the Cutty Sark Tall Ship Races arrived in July 1997.
It’s estimated the event added £10 million to the local economy – many of that coming from the hospitality industry.
And Frankie remembers it all just like it was yesterday.
He looks back, saying: “The city was absolutely buzzing the last time they were here.
“I had worked at the harbour for 22 years, and I had never seen it so buzzing. There wasn’t even one area busier than another.
“I came down with my kids and we didn’t even attempt to get in here, every bar was out the door.”
So with the Tall Ships just around the corner, the pub boss is hoping the city can turn back the clocks and create a similar party atmosphere – where the last harbour pub standing is queuing out the door once again.
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