The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Worry over Local Hero pub future
A pub which had a key role in popular Scottish movie Local Hero faces disappearing as a hostelry.
Plans have been lodged to convert the Ship Inn at Banff to flats in a project which would see its famous boatshaped bar dismantled.
The Ship featured in several scenes of the 1983 film, although the Pennan Inn along the coast was used for exterior shots. Owner George Wood is now asking Aberdeenshire Council for permission to convert it into two flats.
Several locals have voiced objections, and there has been talk of attempting to revive the venue as a community-owned pub.
Local Hero director Bill Forsyth visited the pub in 2008 for the film’s 25th anniversary.
Banff residents are fighting to save a pub featured in legendary Scottish film Local Hero from being turned into flats.
The Ship Inn was used for several scenes in the heartwarming 1983 movie, while the nearby Pennan Inn was more famously shown in exterior shots.
It’s a connection the C-listed pub remained proud of for decades.
Director Bill Forsyth returned there to mark the movie’s 25th anniversary, being interviewed by BBC film critic Mark Kermode in the wood-panelled bar.
But the inn has grown quiet in recent years, and it is understood it has never reopened under eased Covid guidelines.
Owner George Wood is now asking Aberdeenshire Council for permission to convert it into two flats.
Under the blueprints, the inn’s famous boat-shaped bar would be dismantled to make room for a hallway.
The lounge bar would be replaced with one flat, with its toilets transformed into a bedroom while another gents would become a kitchen.
The late 18th Century building was listed in 1972.
Banff residents are urging the local authority to knock back the application, arguing that the piece of cinema history should be preserved.
Antique shop owner Rachel Kennedy is a member of the Banffshire Business Forum and would like to see it revived as a community-owned pub.
She said: “I feel very strongly that its closure would be a huge loss to the town, especially with its association with the movie Local Hero.
“I know that the current owners have had success contacting the actors involved in the film through social media, and this has resulted in Banff becoming famous for its association.
“I refer also to the scenes filmed inside the pub with its boat-shaped bar – to lose this structure in itself would be an awful loss.
“I believe that there has been a pub on this site for at least 50 years.
“I am aware that there are parties interested in investing in local businesses and even considering taking the Ship on as a community-run pub.”
Fellow Banff resident, Jay Wilson, argued that there was local demand for a “well-run pub”.
She also stressed “the obvious tourist attraction of the pub as a film location”.
George Howie, pub campaigns co-ordinator for the Aberdeen, Grampian and Northern Isles branch of the Campaign for Real Ale group, is also objecting.
He said: “Conversion to flats would mean a loss of heritage for the future.
“It’s part of the local community, and its conversion would mean the loss of opportunities to socialise and connect.
“The pub has been a thriving business in the past, and there’s no reason to think it could not be so again in future.”
Insch resident Matthew Mace added: “The building is listed and historically important.
“As a public house, it would retain that heritage for the future. Once converted, it would be lost forever.”
Local Hero is about a small coastal community that faces being wiped out to make way for an oil refinery.
The American oil company representative sent to purchase the village soon falls in love with the picturesque spot and its colourful characters.
The Ship Inn played the role of the interior of the film’s MacAskill Arms.
The production company completely renovated the inside of the pub ahead of filming.
The inn has played host to many Local Hero fans over the years, desperate to recreate their favourite scenes and have a go behind the bar.
Speaking in 2019, Mr Wood’s partner, Margaretann Johnston, said: “They want to quote the ‘I’d make a good Gordon, Gordon’ line and get their photo taken behind the bar, which of course we let them do.”
Mr Wood and Ms Johnston both declined to comment on the proposals.