Old Barn Bar, Cross, Isle of Lewis
Now here it was, the kind of pub I’d been looking for from my first day on Lewis and Harris. In my imagination, I’d have arrived on a tempestuous evening, my silhouette casting my shadow through the door as lightning sliced through the night sky behind me. Sadly, I’d managed to come to the island on a warm weekend, and the waning sun was still licking the walls of the Old Barn Bar as I arrived.
The place didn’t disappoint in other regards, though. Located in the village of Cross, home to only 100 people and about 25 miles from the nearest town (Stornoway, which is itself tiny), this is the kind of pub that wouldn’t look out of place in The Wicker Man or Hot Fuzz.
Hidden behind a quiet bed and breakfast, the bar is almost too perfectly rustic: a historic crofters’ barn converted into a miniature pub, probably capable of holding 20 people – absolute maximum.
A suspicious black labrador eyed me curiously as I stepped out of my newfangled electric car and strode across the gravel. The door opened with a loud creak, and three local men turned to glower at me, faces dark with distrust. Eyebrows were raised as I ordered a lemonade (I was driving – don’t judge me) and retired to the corner of the bar.
Once I was safely out of the way, their conversation continued. They muttered in hushed tones about Timothy, the village man who’d killed someone. How, I wondered, and why? And, more importantly, did I need to get out of here before I found out?
Pints of Tennent’s and Harviestoun were ordered, the smiling bartender offering her thoughts, fidgeting with her fuzzy jumper and eyeing me curiously as I bought a brownie to take home.
Alas, I never discovered the answer to the Timothy mystery; nor why the black dog outside mysteriously vanished as I left. But the cinephile in me caught a whiff of The Slaughtered Lamb (from An American Werewolf in London) about the Old Barn, and I loved every moment of it. A local pub for local people, sure – but certainly worth a look if you’re passing through.
Jack Rear
Cross Inn, Cross, Isle of Lewis, Scotland HS2 0SN; 01851 810687; crossinn.com