Commercial Hotel, Hawick

[brina]

I wonder if it was the Station Hotel.   I have attached a link which describes it as a "first class family and commercial hotel".   It would not have been too far from Sainsbury's either.

http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/sc-51198-1-dovemount-place-the-station-hotel-

Brina

[stirling76]

I was talking to some old Hawick worthies yesterday, and none of them can remember a hotel called the Commercial in their lifetime, let alone the 70's or 80's.
I mentioned perhaps the old Channel Cafe, (Sergio's) but they said no, as that was only used as a boarding house for Turnbull's the dyers workers, and was never a Hotel, so that lets that out.
The only reference I can find about a Commercial Hotel is in the 1870's a wee bitty early, which stood where the Catholic Church now is.
I think Brina is spot on, the Station Hotel, it fits the description perfectly and the location is just about correct.
Stewart

[ThrelfallYorky]

Thank you so much, Stirling76, especially. I think it must have been the Station Hotel from all your efforts - wonder how we could have got the name "Commercial Hotel" fixed in our minds? Perhaps there was something etched on a window to that effect??
Your descriptions fit so well with what I recall, apart from the name, of course, that you all must be right. Ah well, it was a long time ago ... and in another country.... and we were young.
      Thank you all for your help and kindness.

[minto77]

Hi
The building at the end of Albert Bridge was The Bridge House Guest House run by my mothers parents later extended for Turnbull the Dyers Workers.
I lived in Hawick until the early 70s and cant remember a Commercial Hotel But it could be the old Victoria Hotel (THE Vic) frequented by business travelers demolished mid 70s.It was situated next to Woolworths on the High Street It had a large function room used for weddings etc. (I had my reception there).
There was also the crown hotel with a public bar fronting on the High Street this was between the Town Hall and the Tower. The building is still there.
The was also the Temperance Hotel on the High Street opposite the Vic.
Hope some of this jogs the memory. Regards minto77

[minto77]

Hi again
My wife has just reminded me about the Buccleuch Hotel on weensland Road/ Trinity Street. Still there now a public bar /function room. In the 70s you would have seen the railway bridge and embankment on one side and the cattle mart on the other. The cattlemart now a supermarket Safeway I think. The railway embankment also gone to make way for a new road. The road layout has also changed a large roundabout now stands where the railway bridge across Weensland Road once stood.
minto77

[ThrelfallYorky]

Thank you also, Minto - I'm glued to GoogleEarth now, with all these alternatives.
I even scavenged out some old negatives, hoping against hope I'd taken a photo of the place - but I haven't found one.
I suspect it means that we'll have to take another trip to Hawick sometimes, and try to ascertain exactly which building it was. It's really annoying when something gets so stuck in your mind, isn't it? It wasn't until we found ourselves in the area last month that I'd even thought of the place.

[minto77]

Hi again
There is also a small hotel in North Bridge Street/Northcote Street which is close to the old bridge on what WAS the main road into the town. It was two houses but was licenced for residents, now on Hawick map as Lux B&B but had a few names. Remember the road layouts have changed a lot the main A7 ran along the High Street and North Bridge Street not Commercial Road as it does now. You mentioned Sainsburys that is on Commercial Road which has always been an industrial/college are no hotels there.
I don't know what type of building you are looking for but if you Google Old Photographs of Hawick there a number of sites and hundred of photos you might get lucky.
minto77

[ThrelfallYorky]

Thanks again, Minto77, you really are a mine of information, as I recall it most definitely was an hotel, with dining room, bar and all that, as well a quite a number of (rather gloomy) rooms and a central-ish staircase.
Brown paintwork comes to mind, but that's not a lot of help, most things seemed brown then. We only stayed one or at the most two nights, on the way back down into England, and we booked through a tourist Information service when we decided that we'd travelled enough for one day.
It was I think very greyish, rendered possibly, symmetrical and I think 3 or possibly even 4 floors high - I think our room was on the first floor, above the dining room / public rooms, and I'm sure there were other floors above.
It's silly, but I was determined to try and find it when we ended up back in Hawick again. I think that on that evening many years ago we didn't realise there was so much more of the town than a short stroll round in the immediate area after dinner, showed us - some shops, all rather traditional and similar, on one or two streets nearby, in one direction, and, as first I mentioned, quite a sizeable bridge on the right hand side, a short way away, I think, as you stood at the front door, but well within sight.
 I really think you may have been on the right track with the name "Station Hotel", and can't prove that the place we stayed was "the Commercial Hotel" - but for some reason we both thought that was what the place we'd stayed years ago was called.
Thank you all for your helpfulness with our nostalgic ramble looking for Memory Lane!

[minto77]

Hi
The attached photograph shows the Station Hotel. Does this revive any memories??
minto77