Tweedsmuir Community Company works to rescue community life and heritage

About the Group & The Crook Inn

Tweedsmuir Community Company was established in 2007 in response to the closure of the historic Crook Inn, a Category C listed building that had been a centre for employment, and for social and cultural life in Tweedsmuir for over 400 years.  

The Crook Inn was one of Scotland’s first public houses licenced in 1604, but the community was at risk of seeing this historic building, its heritage and amenity lost, which would have been a deeply sad loss for the rural village.  The plan was to demolish the Crook Inn and replace the space with housing.

Community Spirit 

The community rallied to fight plans for the proposed demolishment of the Crook Inn and raised £160,000 towards the purchase of the Inn.  Further support from the Scottish Land Fund and a range of other wind farm community benefit funds assisted in the community purchasing the building and putting plans in place to develop the site.  

Community Consultation

Community consultation shaped long term aspirations for the site, with plans to develop a bunkhouse, camping pods, caravan/camper van hook-up points, redevelopment of the Inn itself, and redevelopment of the old steading into a community café and community hub. While keen to see the Crook returned to its former glory, the volunteers leading the company have recognised that attempting to redevelop the site in full, and all at once, represented a challenging financial, and operational undertaking for a small rural community.  The group therefore approached the work in a phased manner. 

Planning & Grantmaking

In 2014, TCC applied for its first grant from the Ventient Energy Glenkerie Wind Farm Community Fund, for £4,650 for a topographical and survey work to be undertaken.  Between 2014 and 2017, four grants were awarded totalling £37,000.  The funding was to support with asbestos removal, purchase of adjacent land, slate roof replacement and architectural/planning fees in readiness for the major building re-development.  A grant of £10,000 in 2020 was made towards costs of phase 1a (the Crook Inn Café and Community Hub), including building works, professional fees and initial salary costs for the café manager.

In June of 2021 the Glenkerie Community Fund Panel awarded a further £62,500 to TCC, just slightly more than 10% of the full £600,000 needed, for phase 1a capital works.  While unusual for the Glenkerie Panel, the application was considered and approved outside of the normal cycle of applications to ensure work could continue to be delivered in line with TCC’s original timeframes. Works included demolition of an unsafe section of the building to ensure the remaining building was wind and water-tight and converting the two existing listed outbuildings into the café and community hub.  The story was picked up by BBC News in July 2021.  

Hazel Mason, who has lived in the village her whole life, highlighted the Inn’s importance:

Growing up here – it was a lovely place to grow up – but we definitely missed having a social area for people to meet.  All members of the community really missed out on having somewhere that they could come and meet friends from afar or even just gather as a community.

 Wee Crook

The ’Wee Crook’ initially opened for community and private events, before opening to the general public in summer 2023.  The Café has seating for up to 40 people and the space can be used for a range of community activities and private functions, as well as operating as commercial café.   

Hazel Mason was employed as the Café manager:

We are right on a main road [the A701, about half-way between Dumfries & Edinburgh] and we always have people stopping asking when we are next opening.  So I think it is going to be a great place to stop by on people's way to Edinburgh for their lunch or a cup of tea.

The opening of the Café was reported by many local sources and again featured on BBC News.  

Challenges along the way

Upon reflection of the project, TCC members were clear that the work had not been without its challenges, with a global shortage of microchips leading to delays in both heating and electric installation.  However, they were very excited about completing this first stage.  

Reflection upon the Fund

TCC members are confident that this initial project will act as a catalyst for the regeneration of the remaining parts of the site.  

Reflecting upon the impact of the funding from the Glenkerie panel, a member said:

When we were just 10% short of the sum needed to enable us to appoint the contractor, the efficient and timely response to our application was much appreciated, as it enabled us to progress with the construction works without further delay.  We now have a brand-new Community Café which will be instrumental in the long-term sustainability and social wellbeing of our community.

The Glenkerie Fund has been alongside the community throughout the Crook Inn’s redevelopment, supporting with various projects to ensure that the Crook Inn continued to gain momentum and move forward.

What’s next

Following the award to support the café, TCC received its most recent grant of £6,000 to fund groundworks to support the installation of four camping pods, toilet facilities and storage at the Crook Inn Community Hub site.  This will further enhance their offering to visitors, complementing TCC’s work to develop and advertise local walking routes.

Community projects and benefits

The project, and the Glenkerie Community Fund’s contribution to it, reflect a range of good practice points relating to community projects and community benefit funding.  The determination of residents, strong community consultation and support, the formation of TCC and the development of the  2017-2022 Community Action Plan to contextualise the relative priority of Crook Inn redevelopment alongside other community development aspirations, all contributed to strong planning and prolonged commitment to see phased implementation through. The area’s new Community Action Plan, 2023-2028, confirms the importance of further Crook Inn development.  

The Ventient Energy Glenkerie Wind Farm Community Fund, involving community Panel decision-making and Foundation Scotland’s assessment of grant requests, demonstrated the importance of funding flexibilities to support different stages of the overall project ranging from feasibility and essential preservation works through to professional fees and capital works, complementing and leveraging funding from wider sources into the community, building on initial resident fundraising.  Being able to provide grants over nearly a decade reflects the value of longer-term funding which community benefit funds can offer.  

The Panel and Foundation Scotland’s ability to respond to TCC’s timeframes and adjustments driven by other funding demonstrated further flexibility based on in-depth understanding of the project and relationships built with TCC over time.