A Fife village that shot to fame as a location in TV series Outlander has launched a bid to buy the local pub.
Residents of Culross, which doubled as Cranesmuir in the hit show, are clubbing together for a community takeover of the Red Lion Inn.
It is the last pub in the historic Royal Burgh, which has already lost its butcher’s shop, post office and the only other public house.
Dating back to the early 1600s, it has retained its traditional character.
Owners David and Ann Alexander are retiring after 30 years and have agreed to sell the popular venue to the community if they can raise the cash.
Tim Collins, chairman of Culross Development Trust, said it is an important move to prevent the village from becoming a “dormitory town”.
“It’s a fantastic facility for the area and it would be badly missed if it was bought by a chain or turned into a house,” he said.
Tim said there was a real willingness among locals for the buyout.
A crowdfunder launched on Saturday has raised more than £5,000.
It’s a fantastic facility for the area.”
Tim Collins.
“It’s more than a village pub, it’s a tourist attraction in its own right,” said Tim.
“The pub is absolutely great and very popular but the current owners decided way before the pandemic they were going to retire and put it on the market.
“We decided that rather than see it go to a developer, we would make every effort to buy it as a community.
“Ann and David have said they’ll sell it to us in preference to anyone else if we can raise the money.”
Funding application
Once the buyout is complete, the plan is to lease the Red Lion to an experienced licensee to run.
The lease will contain a clause to ensure the pub’s character is retained.
Tim has applied to the Scottish Land Fund for finance and the community will need to raise the rest of the cash.
“Most community share offers for pubs come up with about £300,000 but we’re not looking for that,” he said.
“We’re looking for the balance of what the Land Fund gives us.
“I’ve no idea what that is at the moment but I’m pretty sure we’ll get funding from them.
“It was all put on hold during the pandemic but now that hope is on the horizon with the introduction of vaccines, we’ve started it up again.
“One of the reasons the community wants to keep it is it employs local young people.
“For a lot of them it’s their first step into the world of work.”
Throughout their time at the helm, Ann and David have supported many community events including the village fetes, galas and quizzes.
