It's far from your local. For Ally Turner and her friend Glynis Mattheisen, it took a three-day trek through one of Scotland's last great wildernesses to reach Britain's remotest pub.
The pair, who live in Dundee, battled driving rain, high winds and midges for a pint at the Old Forge in Inverie, on the western coast of Scotland.
Surrounded by mountains, moors and lochs, there are no roads to Inverie on the Knoydart peninsula. So the only way to reach the village is via boat - or on foot. Over the summer months, just a handful of people a day attempt the 30-mile trek from Glenfinnan to the Old Forge. Ally and Glynis were well-equipped, but warm weather was in short supply.
A Journey Through Wilderness
The journey to Inverie is not for the faint of heart. Ally and Glynis found themselves battling “atrocious” weather on their three-day trek. Thick mud sucked at their boots and they had a blustery night in a tent before finding shelter in a bothy the next evening. But despite the “atrocious” weather, Glynis says it was all worth it for a portion of the community-owned pub's hand-cut chips.
“The journey was miserable,” Glynis told BBC Radio Scotland. “It was in the middle of summer, but we were freezing. It was so wet.”
A Community Effort
The Old Forge isn’t just a pub, it’s a community hub. The pub was taken over by the local community in 2022. About 70 of the community's 130 people are shareholders and many helped to raise £1m in donations and grants to buy and refurbish the pub.
Glynis said: “It's just a nice story, and it's a special community.”
The Old Forge: A Pub Worth the Journey
Scotland has no shortage of spectacular beauty spots by the roadside but some of the most beautiful places are far off the beaten track. Very far off. For the most dedicated of punters, there are just two ways to access the country's most remote pub: by boat on a seven-mile sea crossing or via an 18-mile hike through the Scottish Highlands.
But once you get there, nestled in the village of Inverie on the west coast of Scotland beside a sea loch, you'll find the beloved community-owned Old Forge pub. Punters say it's “one of the last wildernesses” and it's certainly one of the most inaccessible. Mountains teem over the Knoydart peninsula and the sea loch of Loch Nevis carves the village's coastline, where no roads lead. It takes about 15 hours to trek from Glenfinnan to Inverie, but punters who have gone to the trouble of making the journey on foot are glad to have done it. Indeed, the pub's tagline is “worth the journey.”
The friends’ walk was filmed for a BBC Scotland documentary - The Journey to Scotland's Remotest Pub. Some of the locals involved in the community buy-out also feature.
More Than Just a Pint
For Ally and Glynis, who do an annual backpacking trip, the pub's new ownership was an added attraction. The Old Forge is a testament to the power of community. It’s a place where locals come together to enjoy a pint, listen to live music, and celebrate their shared history. It’s also a reminder that some of the most rewarding journeys are those that take us off the beaten path and into the heart of nature.
The Old Forge is more than just a pub. It's a symbol of resilience, community spirit, and the enduring power of a shared love for the Scottish wilderness.
