'We left Sheffield to buy a pub in the Highlands of Scotland, and love the slower pace of life'
A South Yorkshire couple have left their home near Sheffield - to buy their own pub in the Scottish highlands.
Phillip Tunnard and his wife Janice have sold up their home in Swallownest, and bought a pub in the tiny port of Burghead.
It comes two years after they first decided to sell up and move to the Highlands, and they completed the purchase of The Harbour Inn on February 10.
Philip, born and bred in Swallownest, and Janice, originally from Wybourn, moved up to Scotland with Janice’s grown-up sons, and they are running the pub, which Philip estimates to be an eight hour drive from their old home.
He said they missed their friends and family back in South Yorkshire, but felt it was the right thing to do.
“Me and Janice both have sisters who we miss, and I do also miss my pals from Rother Valley Golf Club,” said Philip. “We still know what’s going on back in South Yorkshire though, because our Sky Glass TV is set up still to pick up the Yorkshire local news channels!
“We were very fortunate in Swallownest that we were only five minutes from Rother Valley, which is beautiful. It was like living next to the countryside.
“But what we have gained is the slower pace of life up here. I used to hear police sirens in Swallownest. But I’ve not heard one since we moved up here. I can’t grumble, I loved Swallownest, but I love it here. It’s not about what we’ve moved from, it’s about what we’ve gained.”
Phillip, who used to work at Northern Foods at Drakehouse, and then at Wilkinson’s at Worksop, before it closed, and Janice, wanted to semi-retire in Scotland having lived in England for their entire lives.
They initially planned on moving to another little Highland village called Tain and had no intention of buying a business.
But a chance meeting with pub owners in the Highlands changed their minds.
Phillip said: “The pub we visited had just been taken over and they didn’t have much experience at all so we just thought that we could actually do something very similar as a family.
“We started having a look around and we fell in love with Burghead straight away.
“We had a look at the pub and some of the views are just absolutely outstanding so we knew that this was the one for us.”
Discussions to buy The Harbour Inn started in 2023 but three failed attempts to purchase the family’s home in Swallownest delayed the takeover.
“We’ve persevered,” Phillip said.
“We were ready to move in this time last year and we had put a lot of our stuff up in storage in Elgin but then the deal collapsed.
“We left a few chairs and things like that down in England but we didn’t have a dining room table and things like that.
“So it’s been a long-drawn-out experience and we’re happy to finally get it done.”
When The Harbour Inn’s previous owners closed the business last year it left Burghead with no pubs after The Station Hotel had already done so in January.
But discussions with residents prior to the takeover revealed a strong desire to reopen a pub in the town.
“They were desperate to have a pub in the town again because obviously they used to have three,” Phillip said.
“I think everybody felt like the heart and soul had kind of been ripped out of the place so we’ve managed to get the pub open.
“We’ve got a nice bunch of regulars who are coming in and then it will get busier with the tourist season as well.
“Hopefully over the next few weeks we’ll start serving food again and then also opening the letting rooms.
“We’ve been listening to what people want because we’ve sunk every single penny we’ve got into this so we’ve got to make it work and be in the heart of the community.”