The Old Forge Community Ownership

[rohan]

This can only be good news after a number of years of unreliable welcome and opening hours at what used to be a great watering hole. I, for one will be getting behind them.

https://www.theoldforgecbs.org/

[Mal Grey]

This can only be good news after a number of years of unreliable welcome and opening hours at what used to be a great watering hole. I, for one will be getting behind them.

https://www.theoldforgecbs.org/

Got to be a good thing. The pub should be the heart of the whole community, as it once was.

The schism in the community because of the way the pub has been in recent years was very sad to see.

[Sgurr]

I only knew the Old Forge under previous management and was very sad to hear how things had become.

[al78]

I know nothing about the history of the pub, what had gone wrong with it?

[Giant Stoneater]

I know nothing about the history of the pub, what had gone wrong with it?

Good luck on a community buy out.
Belgian who worked in top class hotels all over the world took it over and changed the character of the pub, upmarket food etc, plus it opened/closed whenever it suited him, threw people out when he took a dislike to folk.
Once the only meat meal on menu was venison stew at a eye watering price everything else was seafood at a price. Think he forgot where a lot of his custom was coming from.
Had visited a few times for a pint,he was a hard owner to chat to but no one else in the pub,all the locals drunk at the place below.


https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/highlands/1746983/remotest-pub-in-scotland-now-has-a-rival-as-local-hostilities-erupt/

[WalkWithWallace]

The Belgian chap was really friendly to us, but that was right at the beginning and it's a shame it didn't work out. I'm sure he purchased it for around the £500K mark?

They're going to do a share offer, sounds interesting.

[Mal Grey]

The Belgian chap was really friendly to us, but that was right at the beginning and it's a shame it didn't work out. I'm sure he purchased it for around the £500K mark?

They're going to do a share offer, sounds interesting.

JP ran hot or cold. On a two night visit, he was the perfect host first night, even bought a group of us a late round of whiskies (we'd spent a fortune and included him on the last few rounds), and it was a memorable evening.
Second night, he was an absolute argumentative nightmare the second night from the moment we walked in the door at the ridiculously early 6pm he'd insisted was the only time he could fit us in for dinner. That didn't go well from the moment we sat down, told us we had to order immediately or he'd have to give the table to somebody else (we were the only people in the pub), the food was rushed and expensive, he accused us of underpaying (we'd actually rounded it up to include a big tip for the poor waitress), and we ended up leaving with a bad taste in our mouths and unhappy it hadn't been resolved. Next morning he came down to wave us off happy as anything, our best friend again, wishing us all the best. Genuinely odd.

A proper community hub would be perfect for the Old Forge. I don't think anybody really minded the fact it was expensive, its understandable in the middle of nowhere when every thing has to be shipped in. It wasn't the right menu, but it was more about the way it was done and the arrogance at times, only wanting a certain (wealthy) customer, rather than what was on offer. Good food, not too "poncy" but using local ingredients and so on could be excellent.
Beer was always good.

[WalkWithWallace]

That's bonkers Mal, total Jekyll & Hyde character. Let's hope the locals can purchase it.

[allanglens]

Interesting. I see it's listed as 'offers over £425,000' for the bricks and mortar, with the business, goodwill and inventory available ' by negotiation'. So it's possible it could end up as a private house.

https://bairdlumsden.co.uk/property/?propertyid=10674506

[Lightfoot2017]

Wow...the Belgian dude does sound a bit of a whacko. I'm glad I've never had to endure that experience at his hands. One thing I cannot stand is poor customer service or purveyors of any kind of service thinking THEY'RE doing YOU a favour by letting you spend your money at their establishment! I really don't respond well to that.

Good luck to the community buy out effort. I hope it all works out ok for them.

As a positive counter point, I can heartily recommend an overnight stay at the Crask Inn. Ideally located for a wee jaunt up Ben Klibreck. It's the exact opposite of the treatment doled out by the Belgian nutjob. And....AND....the owner even asks his guests if they're comfortable for him to say a wee Grace ahead of the evening meal.

[nigheandonn]

Doesn't the building belong to the Church of Scotland, or something? So it's not just personal idiosyncracy!

I hoped to get up to the far north this year, but...

[ChrisButch]

As far as I can see, the possible bid is being promoted independently of the Knoydart Foundation which already has community ownership of the estate, bunkhouse etc. Which suggests there may be murky local politics involved. But when is there not with things like this?

[rohan]

As far as I can see, the possible bid is being promoted independently of the Knoydart Foundation which already has community ownership of the estate, bunkhouse etc. Which suggests there may be murky local politics involved. But when is there not with things like this?

Knoydart is a small community where there can be disagreements and tensions between opposing interests as is normal in any such community BUT knowing many people who live there, I have never seen them more united in their horror as to what they saw unfold with J.P.s ownership of the pub. Since the community buyout in 1999 of what had been a badly run estate by various absentee landowners, the community has grown in strength. They have always prided themselves on the welcome that they gave visitors who brought with them much needed income to support local businesses. This changed with J.P. and the way he ran the pub. There is nothing "murky" about the buyout and it will mean the pub works for all the community , not just the foundation, with a committment to make the pub the place of welcome to all as it used to be.

[ChrisButch]

That's good to know. For a number of years I've been a 'Friend' of the Knoydart Foundation, but at a distance I can't follow local developments in detail.

[AM1953]

I've only been to the old forge when it was a great wee place well before the Belgian owner and I'd certainly support some sort of crowd funding to help with a community buyout.