Irvine: A look around The Old Argyle bar and nightclub

The Old Argyle bar and nightclub closed around 2009, after once being one of the most popular spots in Irvine.

Located inside the Rivergate Shopping Centre, it would be a hive of activity over many a weekend in the early 2000s, during which time it was also known as Amanda's and The Cavern.

Though after Irvine based photographer known as 'Jason Myres' took a look around, he explained the venue is now a far cry from those days.

“There’s that much wrong with it," he explained, "it’s a fire hazard, the ceilings are falling in, the floors are falling in. The floors are all warped from water damage.”

In fact, he was fortunate to get a look around himself when he first took the pictures years ago.

The images were taken when the photographer was working at the Irvine mall, and part of his job was to ensure the building was structurally safe and obtain metre readings.

He added: “That’s the only reason I got into see, I’m not an urban explorer.”

Now, the bar is all covered up, and Jason believes that no access, even to Rivergate staff, is now possible.

Though the local photographer - whose work can be found on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram - was still able to share some insight from his visit, both more recently and in days gone by.

The popular venue previously had two floors - a top floor that was accessed, confusingly, by going down a flight of stairs from the mall. This was the old bar area.

While one floor further down was the nightclub area, for those in for a longer night.

Though Jason's photos showed just how much of a state of disrepair the building was in - he added that large parts of the old bar were just as he remembered.

He commented: “Those pictures are how people will remember it, that carpet is probably older than me and I’m 35!

“That carpet is supposed to be red and it’s brown now.

“Even the paint jobs are exactly the same as when I used to go, and probably the same as when people before that used to go.

“The general shell is the same, apart from that it’s been partially ripped out.

“The benches as we used to call them are all the same, the red velvet seating is how it used to look when I used to go.”

While he also recalled fond memories of going along to one of the town's best loved bars.

He added: “I used to go down on a Friday night – I knew people who worked at Asda that used to change in the toilets then go to The Cavern for a night out.

“It was like a wee rock pup, they played everything and it was always jumping on a Friday night.

“You could get a bar lunch during the week, it was always really good.

“Everybody knew everybody, it was like Cheers, you could go down there yourself and there would be someone there you knew.

“You didn’t have to say to three of your pals, you could go down yourself and you knew for a facts there would be someone there you could sit with.

“You never went out and had a bad night – you always had a great night.”

Though beyond the general intrigue, there was one more upsetting aspect from his trip into the bar.

Jason continued: “Walking about in it and knowing it will never re-open again, it was upsetting.

“That place will never open again, I’d like to be proved wrong, but there’s just too much to do.”