In the latest in our Taproom Talks series, we talk to Steph Harris, Business Development Manager at The Old Forge, arguably one one of the UK's most remote pubs. Comnunity owned, The Old Forge is located in Knoydart in the West of Scotland and welcomes thousands of tourists each year in addition to a loyalty community of regular local customers. 

Tell us about how The Old Forge became a community pub

The Old Forge was privately owned and went up for sale in 2021. This was during covid-times so a local resident organised a community zoom to discuss if we should try for a community buy-out of the pub. The meeting was very well attended with all those there up for the challenge, so we created a volunteer steering group to take the project forward. This was followed by a formal community consultation to affirm the majority position, and with overwhelming support we got to work in trying to make it a reality. Over the next 14 months we set up the organisation, fundraised and in March 2022 our offer was accepted. 

The organisation that owns and operates the pub is a Community Benefit Society - we have over 100 shareholders most of whom are local residents, and the organisation is overseen by a management committee who make the big-picture decisions. Operationally, the pub is much the same as you would find anywhere else with management and staff. We opted for the route of employees rather than volunteers which many other community pubs do as we wanted to be able to provide new employment opportunities for local residents. 

What sort of customers visit the pub?

Our primary customers are the local community. We are situated in a rural peninsula on the west coast and our population is small at only around 130 people. Our community is the backbone of our business, with many also being shareholders in the Community Benefit Society.

Knoydart is also a popular tourism destination and we welcome thousands of visitors every year, with people from all over the world. Knoydart is a popular hillwalking and hiking area so we get lots of people who take on the challenge of the 'walk in' to Knoydart - we are not connected to the mainland road network so the only way here is to walk, or take a 30min ferry ride from the nearby port of Mallaig. We welcome families, couples, groups, sailors and everyone in between - it's a great mix and makes for interesting and varied conversation at the bar!

The pub was recently refurbished, what did that involve?

We knew even before buying the pub that it was going to need a lot of TLC, and this was confirmed when we got the keys and had a look around. The refurb was extensive and involved a complete restructure of most of the rooms except the main bar and the kitchen. The old extension which housed back-of-house areas and the toilets was ripped down and we started again, putting in new bathrooms, more storage, creating a second smaller bar area. We also reinsulated the whole building and reworked the bar and cellar to be more functional. The project took six months but it was worth it to create a more functional, comfortable and welcoming space for everyone to enjoy. 

Image Credit: Mark Harris

How do your deliveries work in such a remote location?

All our deliveries have to come by boat. Small freight for the kitchen and bar comes twice a week via our local passenger ferry, and large freight including kegs is brought over on a landing craft once a week. Given the challenges of obtaining supplies, we have to be very prepared and keep a good stock so we don't get caught out, but if we get a busy week sometimes it happens. If we run out of tatties or a particular kind of gin we just have to make do, as we can't run down the road to get more! We are lucky however, to have a brewery on Knoydart that supplies some of our casks and draught, and that gets brought down in the Land Rover to the door!

Tell us about your food & drinks menus

For both food & drinks we focus on local & Scottish produce as much as we can. For a remote bar we are pretty well stocked, with seven draught options, two casks, plus spirits, bottles, softs and of course, malts. We have local beer from Knoydart Brewery and Isle of Eigg Brewery both of which are extremely popular.

In the restaurant, local seafood and Knoydart Wild Vension feature as much as we can, and we recently started having regular deliveries of salad and veg from Knoydart Farm which is a fantastic addition. One of our priorities is low food miles, and the produce we have here is so tasty and fresh it would be silly not to utilise it as much as we can. 

How does The Old Forge engage with the local community, and why are pubs so important to communities around the UK?

Being a community owned pub, engagement with the local population is crucial. When we were developing our business plan we consulted with the community a lot to establish what they wanted the pub to provide - from food & drink options to what events and activities they would like to see. We hold regular traditional music sessions throughout the year, and in the quieter winter months we have more time to put on special events like community parties and pub quizzes. Our shareholders receive regular updates on how we're doing, and everyone in the community is welcome to give feedback at any time. 

Our pub plays such a bigger role than just being a place for people to come for food & drink - it's a neutral space where people can come together to socialise, celebrate, grieve, debate, and do all the things small communities do, and that translates across the country in to many different communities. 

Do you have any standout moments or memories from the past few years running The Old Forge as a community pub?

One of the most memorable was the day we got the keys - some locals hadn't been in the pub for a long time so it was amazing to see them come in again and enjoy being with friends and getting the craic. People whose social circles didn't usually overlap were able to catch up and celebrate together, and it was a very special moment to know that the pub was under our stewardship and we were able to take it forward on behalf of the community and start to implement their ideas and suggestions.

Find out more about The Old Forge at theoldforge.co.uk.