There's a village there, called Inverie, not connected to the rest of the world by roads. The population was 120 when last recorded. The pub was very important in the life of this village. But in the 2010s, the owner started closing it down for 6 months every winter. Bad!
As a local explained, "When it's dark and windy and horrible, you need somewhere you can go and relax, meet up with your friends, celebrate stuff together."
Business kept getting worse. When the Old Forge was finally put on sale in February 2021, someone got the idea that the community could buy it. They raised over £320,000 with the help of crowdfunding, the Scottish Land Fund, and the Community Ownership Fund. The pub now has 90 shareholders - about 75% of the local population!
This is what I like: people with skin in the game who own their own business, not rich investors trying to squeeze money out of something until it dies.
For more read this:
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/mar/29/locals-secure-buyout-mainland-britain-most-remote-pub-old-forge-inverie
By the way, I said most mammals in the world are constantly on the brink of starvation, but that's not true because nowadays most mammals are people and farm animals. I meant most mammals throughout the course of history. But even there I don't know if what I said is true. Sure they had to worry about eating, but maybe for some the food sources are so reliable they can focus attention on other things - reproduction of course, but also social dominance games.
I want to know how hungry, on average, various species of mammals tend to be!
(2/2)
