Back in early 2017, after acquiring the site, we set about choosing a name and started researching the history of Partick.

A number of old books referenced 'the Duck Club of Partick' formed over 200 years ago in 1810. Here was one excerpt -

It flourished particularly between about 1810 and 1830 before fading as Partick industrialised and was absorbed into Glasgow.

Partick in the early 19th century was a picturesque, leafy village on the banks of the River Kelvin, known for its mills, cottages, and an old castle. It offered fresh air, scenery, and good local produce away from smoky Glasgow. The club's members walked out from the city centre on Saturdays.

As it states in the excerpt, the club met at the "Bun and Yill House" - a tavern on Old Dumbarton Road near the river and the Regent Flour Mill. By the mid-19th century the area had changed dramatically with industrialisation, tenements and shipbuilding. The original site is near the former Transport Museum area - you might have parked in Bunhouse car park at one point.

The club consisted of Glasgow merchants, bankers, shopkeepers, professors and tradesmen. They gathered weekly on Saturday afternoons, typically between 3 and 4pm, to eat roasted duck with sage and onion stuffing, green peas, and drink locally brewed ale or cold punch. Ducks were prized for being well-fed on grain from the nearby mills.

The main source is John Strang's 1855 book Glasgow and its Clubs; or, Glimpses of the Condition, Manners, Characters, and Oddities of the City. Strang describes the rural charm of Partick and the gastronomic appeal of the Bunhouse's duck preparations, done to perfection by the landlady.

A standout member was Mr. M'Tyre - a cordwainer who rose through the Cordiners' Corporation to become Convener and a City Council member, renowned for his enthusiasm for the ducks. Strang notes that no sooner was McTear's "rubicund beak" spotted than the ducks in the mill-dam faced their fate.

after discovering the history, the club, the ties to food and partick itself, it all fell into place- and thus on easter monday, 17th april 2017, two hundred and seven years after the first, partick duck club (v2) was born