The Anchor Line Story
We are located in the magnificent booking offices for “Anchor Line” a Scottish success story in travel. Designed in 1905-07 by James Millar, the grand interior reflected the great success of the company and also the aspirations for the well-heeled who made their travel arrangements here. Anchor Line were the go-to for Scots to take transatlantic voyages.
Mario Gizzi and Tony Conetta of The DRG purchased the Grade A1 listed building in 2009 and spent £1.5m bringing the interior back to it’s former glory and clear inspiration from bars and restaurants in New York. The Anchor Line opened its doors in 2014.
In collaboration with Glasgow University Archive services, we have taken the business archives of Anchor Line Shipping from a dark room and framed them around the restaurant to tell the story of this remarkable business. Distinctive Scottish roots mix with exotic destinations in an extensive and fascinating collection of advertising boards, posters, tickets and correspondence. It is easy to lose time en-route to your table when something catches the eye.
A BRIEF HISTORY
1838
The shipping company N&R Handyside & Co was established in and became Handysides & Henderson in 1855.
1856
The company inaugurated a new mail, cargo and passenger service, the "Anchor Line of Steam Packets" between Glasgow and New York. The Anchor Line shipping company grew from small beginnings in tandem with the River Clyde shipbuilding industry as the Glasgow river was transformed.
1881
Barrow Shipbuilding Company delivered the Furnessia. At 5,495 tons she was at the time of her launch the biggest ship to have been built in Great Britain. Although owned by the Barrow Steamship Company, she was to all intents and purposes, an Anchor Liner and began her maiden voyage on February 17th 1881 from Glasgow to Molville and New York.
1899
Handysides & Henderson became the Anchor Line (Henderson Brothers).
1906
Main office - Built for Henderson Brothers of Anchor Line, hence the nautical emblems, seaweed and shell details, modelled by H H Martyn of Cheltenham. (Historic Scotland) inside several rooms designed with the opulence of an ocean liner - James Miller having also designed interiors for the SS Lusitania.
SS Transylvania launched - Builder Scotts, Greenock & Grangemouth Dockyard Co. Ltd., Greenock, Scotland.
1914
1932
In a company history written it was observed that: "They give employment to hundreds of dockers, loading and discharging. Each ship carries between four and five hundred crew, nearly all belonging to or resident around Clydeside. The money circulated for stores and other trade accounts runs into hundreds of thousands of pounds in the year. The welfare of some thousands of people depends on the ships."
Anchor Line artwork
The walls of the restaurant have a tale to tell. Old advertising posters, tickets and billboards adorn the walls. Telling a tale of a business heavily invested in art, design and attention to detail, here are some samples of the more than 200 original posters and documents to be found in the restaurant.
