A pub once famous as the home of Hercules the bear is to be turned into a private house.
The historic Sheriffmuir Inn, in the hills above Dunblane, has not served a pint for more than two years.
Now plans have been submitted for a change of use for the C-listed building.
Overlooking the Battle of Sheriffmuir site, the 17th Century pub was internationally famous in the 1970s thanks to Hercules’s owners, the pub’s former landlords Andy and Maggie Robin.
Wrestler Andy and wife Maggie bought Hercules from the Highland Wildlife Park in Kingussie, south of Aviemore, as a cub in 1976.
Customers at the inn became used to seeing the 8ft 2in, 60-stone grizzly – who starred in Kleenex ads and died in 2001 – roaming about the glen or swimming in the loch before coming in for his meals.
But in January 2017 the inn’s most recent owners, Geoff and Moira Cook, announced they were shutting the isolated hostelry.
Displaced regulars blamed the Scottish Government’s tougher drink-driving limits for its demise.
One 64-year-old Dunblane man said: “We used to drive up regularly for a pint or two – but of course we can’t do that now. The sad thing is that if we still had the same law as England the pub would be OK. It had a regular clientele and lots of people used to drive up for lunch at the weekends.”
The premises had featured flagstone floors and a hand-carved bar top and was decorated in Hunting MacRae tartan, tying in with the nearby MacRae Memorial which commemorates the clan which was almost wiped out in 1715 at the Battle of Sheriffmuir.
An application has been submitted to Stirling Council by a Mr and Mrs W Roberts to turn the inn into a residential property.
Their agents, GMA Architects, tell the council in supporting documents: “The Sheriffmuir Inn is currently vacant and has failed to attract interest as a going concern and our clients are seeking permission to turn it into a private residential property for their occupation. Our clients recognise the historical importance of the property and its setting.
“The guidance provided has been carefully considered and the scope of the proposed alterations has been limited to maintenance of the original building elements, minor internal alterations and selective demolition and alteration of the more recent kitchen extensions located on the north west side of the property.”
