The seedy Provanmill Inn once had a reputation throughout Glasgow, known as the centre for notorious gangland godfather Arthur Thompson’s crew. It was in the walls of the tavern that Arthur’s gang supposedly planned killings, robberies and drug deals.
The unofficial headquarters for the Thompson clan often welcomed famed criminal Paul Ferris and bank robber Ian McDonald, who mapped out his sprees across Europe on the bar stools. Just round the corner from the pub was Arthur’s home, nicknamed the Ponderosa after the ranch in the ‘70s cowboy series Bonanza.
Born in Springburn in 1931, the mastermind criminal was born into a law-abiding family just as Hitler was seizing power. As he grew up during the Second World War, Arthur became familiar with using violence and soon earned a ‘tough boy’ reputation.
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His start in crime came as a bodyguard of sorts for money lenders, nailing those who couldn’t (or didn’t) pay to the floor. Becoming involved in heists, bank robberies and before long, murders - Thompson was soon an infamous feature of Glasgow.
He served an 18 month sentence for extortion, and after exiting decided he would put his time and effort into legitimate businesses - dance halls and pubs. That didn’t mean violence wasn’t always nearby.
In 1966, a bomb under the passenger seat of his car killed his mother-in-law. Soon after, he found the two men he believed were responsible and ran them off the road - they were both killed.
By this point, Arthur’s reputation was so strong that the police were unable to persuade anyone to testify. Over at the Provanmill, Arthur’s son (Arthur Junior - they may have been a mastermind criminal family but creativity in naming wasn’t their strong suit) eventually began running the pub.
Rivals in the gang underworld were desperate to take Arthur Senior out, and he was shot in the groin in 1985. In typical ‘tough guy’ style, and sticking to gangster code, he told the hospital and police that a drill bit snapped and pierced his groin.
Three years later, returning from the Provanmill Inn, he was run over by a car and rammed up against a fence - before being shot at several times. He later said in the witness box that former enforcer for the Thompson gang, Paul Ferris, was behind the crime.
This testimony broke the gangster code, and spelled the beginning of the end for the ganglord.
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On August 18, 1991, Arthur Junior (nicknamed Fatboy) was shot three times outside the Ponderosa. What followed were events that wouldn’t be out of place in a Godfather film.
Paul Ferris was arrested and charged with the murder - after leaving prison for a weapons' possession sentence, he believed he had been double crossed by the Thompsons. He was remanded to HM Prison Barlinnie, though eventually found not guilty in what turned out to be the longest criminal trial in Scottish history at the time.
On the day of Fatboy’s funeral, a car was found containing two friends of Ferris - Robert Glover and Joe Hanlon, who were also suspected of being involved in his death. Their bodies had been dumped on the route of the funeral procession, placed there so they couldn’t be missed.
Further drama came later in the day, with a bomb scare at the cemetery where Fatboy was due to be buried.
Two years later, Arthur Senior died in a way no one would have predicted - natural causes. He passed away, at home, at the age of 61.
The Provanmill Inn however, lived on - for a while. Over a decade after Arthur’s death, the Blackhill watering hole was closed down after a fire attack in November 2004.
While it was suspected that the incident was arson, no one was ever charged. The gutted building sat for a further decade, before it was bulldozed in 2015.
Today, a shopping precinct from developers KG property is currently planned to occupy the site. The application, submitted in March, looks to build six shops on the site of the former pub - providing a very different service to the area than the once thriving hub for the Thompson gang.
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