Historic Scottish Inn Reopens under Community Ownership after Major Regeneration
Kenneth Milligan
The Oakbank Community Inn in Sandbank, near Dunoon, is getting set to open its doors for the first time in almost three years.
One of Scotland’s newest community-owned pub ventures, the venue dates back to the 1860s and has played a key role in the history of Sandbank. It was purchased by the community of Sandbank earlier this year thanks to a substantial grant from the Scottish Land Fund.
A new dawn for the pub contrasts sharply with the recent, potentially devastating announcement that eight Argyll Holidays parks in the area have gone into receivership.
Following months of hard work by the committee and a dedicated team of volunteers resulting in a redesign of the bar area, an opening date of Saturday 20th December has been set with a lively schedule of events planned for the initial months including quiz nights and live music.
“While the work has been going on, we’ve organised a number of car boot sales and played host to a very popular, regular pop-up green grocers’ shop,” explained Sue “as well as providing a location for health-related workshops and charity coffee mornings.
“There have also been some very successful quiz nights and other BYOB (bring your own booze) events that have been well supported by people from Sandbank and beyond. The level of interest in the pub has been very inspiring, as demonstrated by our recent AMM (Annual Members’ Meeting) that attracted an impressive number of shareholders and local residents.
“We are looking forward to opening the pub ‘for proper’ in December in time for Christmas. We will also be open on Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Years Eve with opening times available through our social media platforms and website.
“There have been so many hurdles to jump over and it’s been a big learning curve for us all as we get set to embark on a new chapter for a much loved and cherished community resource.
“We are under no illusions as to the challenges that lie ahead. Like any pub venue, we will need to keep innovating in order to survive. Many community-owned pubs fall by the wayside and we’re determined that that won’t be the case with the Oakbank.
“Our aim has always been to be a vibrant resource for the entire Sandbank community as well as for people and groups from further afield and, so far, we seem to have achieved that but we will have to keep listening to the community and the 200 or so shareholders as well as our key funders whose investment and support has made this project a reality.
“It’s exciting but all just a wee bit scary!” added Sue.
Amongst the planned events are comedy and music open mic nights with budding local musicians and ‘wannabe’ comedians invited to come along and entertain.
“We’ve already got plenty of comedians in these parts!” quipped Sue “but we’d love to showcase up and coming talent and plan to run a stand-up comedy competition in the spring with anyone interested in taking part encouraged to get in touch.”
Development Officer Dawn Petherick, who has played a pivotal role in breathing new life into the venue, added: “We put out a questionnaire to our shareholders and social media followers and received some great ideas and input in terms of how we can revive the pub and make it stand out as a real destination for both local people and visitors to the area.
“The feedback has been fantastic!” added Dawn who has also overseen a ‘tidying up operation’ around the pub with a willing and able team of volunteers over the past few months.
“We have a growing team of volunteers and local companies who have already committed hundreds of ‘man hours’ and we’d like to say a big thank you to each and every one of them.”
The committee is planning to provide food and accommodation in the very near future as well as hosting a permanent display related to the ‘American Years’ when the US Navy made Holy Loch their home from 1961 to 1991. The provision of ‘gallery space’ for the Cowal Open Studios artists’ collective is also being considered.
Sue concluded “We’ve achieved a lot over the past few months but there is so much more still to do. We want to take everyone in Sandbank and the surrounding areas with us on this journey! Watch this space!”
