'Outlander' fans join forces with locals to buy 600-yr-old pub from series after it faced closure
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: There are many cases where fans support their favorite TV series in one way or another. That's what happened to the 600-year-old Red Lion Inn in the village where 'Outlander' was filmed when American fans of the hit Netflix series bought up shares. The pub was on the verge of being sold off, but with the help of some locals in Culross, Scotland, and some American fans, it was saved.
The property's landlord, Mike Brown, who has worked there for more than two decades, was approached about leasing the property if it were purchased by the community. Mike's wife has worked there for decades, as has his daughter, who started there when she was 14. After another pub was converted into a bed and breakfast, significant debts had to be paid, so the lease for the pub specifically stated that the building must always remain a pub.
READ MORE
'We needed to make sure it always remains a pub'
When talking to Daily Mail, Brown said, "When it was decided to do the buyout, I was asked if I would be interested in leasing it as I'd worked there 24 years. We managed to secure the funding and took over on July 4. There's 28 staff and they're all local. We are very busy, there are tour groups coming in four or five times a week. There was another pub that closed and became a B&B so we needed to make sure it always remains a pub. One of the main things was to keep it open for the community. It has been an inn for nearly 600 years. What we pay in rent goes back into the community. We put it back into the village, whether for seniors or for toddlers, if there's things the council won't pay for."
'A lot of shareholders are Americans'
It wasn't a major investor or a bank that saved the iconic inn from turning into a B&B. Instead, it was members of the local community and mega-fans of the series. Brown says, "The Outlander cast are in and out of the village quite a lot. The village itself dates back to 1510 and there's around 400 people living here. We are very busy for tourists - even in December, January, February. A lot of shareholders are Americans, they love Outlander."
"We get a lot of people who want to stand at the bar and take photos. We raised around £6,000 or £7,000 out of £950,000. There's still more to do but we have professional fundraisers on board. At the moment they are looking at creating a hub for people to work from home. We are quite a big success story, I don't know why. People are coming from all over Britain to ask how we have done it. The TV link does help. The tourist interest in Outlander is massive. We get a huge amount of tourists all year round," he continued.
This great deed happened in 2021, when 'Outlander' fans from all over the world learned that the pub of their favorite series was almost sold. They reached into their wallets and helped the community of Culross raise thousands of pounds to save the legendary pub.
