Today’s the day for the newest restoration of Edinburgh’s oldest pub. After all the dry runs and a celebratory party on Thursday evening, it’s business as usual from today at the Sheep Heid Inn, Duddingston’s most famous landmark.
Bill Brown has been the Sheep Heid Inn’s most loyal customer, not least because it really is his local. He is the pub’s nearest neighbour, having lived for many years in the cottage attached to the building in Edinburgh’s historic Duddingston village. Bill, who is now retired from his duties at The University of Edinburgh, was first in to greet new manager, David Jardine, and receive a celebratory pint, pulled from the restored bar. The verdict from the man next door? “Very neighbourly”. (picture Gary Doak)
It has been around since 1360, but new landlord, David Jardine, is a little younger than that. He’s not ashamed to admit though, that the last month of feverish activity has put a few years on him. “The Sheep Heid is a pub with so much history that we have had to be very sensitive with the restoration”, he said, as he dodged around craftsmen putting the finishing touches to the historic building. “We’ve been working really hard to ensure that we maintain the charm and character that can be found in every nook and cranny”.
Certainly, there’s much that’s familiar in the venerable old village inn. This has been no wholesale makeover, but rather a gentle and much-needed restoration, to bring the Sheep Heid back to something approaching the prominence and importance it deserves. “As well as making changes to the interior to make it an inviting place to enjoy a drink”, said David, “We are also launching a brand new menu featuring a wide range of traditional, fresh cooked dishes – along with a few modern surprises”.
There are no surprises about the traditional elements retained within the pub. There is still a liberal sprinkling of genuine ram’s heads on the freshly decorated walls, and the traditional skittle alley is being restored for the amusement of everyone from novices to aficionados.
More than a few passing customers have been disappointed over the past four weeks, to see signs proclaiming closure for restoration. However, the wait is over. The Sheep Heid Inn, complete with prominent new pub sign, opens today.
It’s always been a welcome discovery, for everyone from walkers through Holyrood Park, to the residents of Duddingston village. Now David Jardine is confident the old inn will see a new lease of life. “Once people have been to visit us we will quickly develop a reputation for not only being one of the best pubs in Edinburgh, but also one of the best dining destinations”.
David is now inviting the pub’s neighbours to get involved with this new chapter in the pub’s lengthy and illustrious history. Visit the website.
I’ve just been to The Sheep’s Heid and it’s going well. Well done to Bill for bringing a new lease of life to the Heid.
For me the biggest regret about the Sheep Heid is the loss of the real ale that used to be brewed on the premises. When I was an Edinburgh undergraduate thirty years ago, back in the mid-1980s, that was the big draw for beer-appreciating students like me, and always worth a trudge through the park to get to it, even, I recall, when the snow was down, which always seemed to be the case in the winter of 1982/3. Sadly, the days of entering the bar after a long walk and ordering “a pint of Sheepie please” are long gone, which is all the more disappointing given that today micro-breweries are generally on the up and much more numerous and the Sheep Heid was actually one of the few brave pioneers. I don’t suppose today’s owners, being a corporate, have any interest in making the Sheip Heid once again a Mecca for those drinkers who seek out unusual local brews, or are they just content to trade on the name, the history and the attractive location?
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