Heritage Bar: end of era at landmark Kirkcaldy pub as owners plan retirement

It’s a place where, to borrow the old Cheers’ maxim, everybody knows your name … and you’re always glad you came.”

The pub has been part of Kirkcaldy for generations and, for the last 19 years, owned and run by Bill and Dixie Forbes - but now it is up for sale as the couple have decided to retire.

It’s still business as usual as the pub, a free house, is put on the open market, but a change of ownership will lead to the end of an era for a bar that has outlasted so many established boozers across the Lang Toun.

The Heritage was run for two decades by Ronnie Husband before the Forbes took it on, serving their first pints on August 2, 1994.

It wasn’t their first foray into the licensed trade - they have been running bars and hotels since the late 1980s - but it has been their second home for almost two decades.

The couple were friends with Ronnie before becoming mine hosts after previously running the Greenside Hotel in Leslie for nine and a half years, and, before that, the Brig Tavern in Methil.

Bill said: “We were on holiday when it went up for sale. The deal then fell through, we came down for lunch, shook hands and that was it done.”

They set about making changes - a pool table sat where the bar now is, while drinks were served at the other side of the room - but only after getting to know their regulars.

Dixie said: “We closed for one day to do the work - we had regulars sitting with a beer mat over their pints to avoid the dust, and they were sitting figuring out which seat they’d have once it was all done.

“But they felt part or it - they were involved all the way through. It was still their pub.”

And that approach has run through the Forbes time at the Heritage as well as their previous establishments.

“The minute you think it’s your pub, it’s wrong,” said Bill. “There’s nothing worse than someone coming in and knocking the place to bits, People have been coming to it for years before you.”

When they took over, a Chinese restaurant occupied the upper floor - “folk would come in for a drink and they’d shout down when their table was ready!” - while the pub was a go to place for functions as well as having its own social club.

Over the years there have been trips abroad and to many UK destinations as well as days at the races with regulars becoming lifelong friends; a tradition found in very few pubs these days.

Bill recalled: “When we ran the Brig we had Christmas Day on July 25, and people loved it - it was fun. Kids would go home and tell their folks they’d seen Santa going along the street!”

The Heritage was one of the first to capture the karaoke market when it hit town, and the songs are still belted out every week.

Added Bill: “We did it at the Brig and got bar staff to sing - we did our bit too. It was never about being the best singer, it was about having fun.”None of the kit came cheap, so they bought their own in London and established a night out that still goes strong to this day.

“You can’t get the mic off some folk once they get started!” said Daisy. “If someone is a bit of a chanter, they come here because the system and speakers are good. Even bands come in to use the gear.”

And if they didn’t get you up singing, then fancy dress parties made sure everyone got involved.

“People sometimes would say they wouldn’t get dressed up, so we kept extra costumes and I’d get them ready.

“If you’re dressed up you are part of it and have more fun. At the last event I think we got eight folk dressed up and they had a thoroughly brilliant night.”

It’s a sense of community that spans their career in the trade. Bill and Dixie bought the Brig which sat next to a garage where he bought cars as an area manager for Goodyear.

They drank in the pub too - a link that stood them in good stead.

“We knew what we were buying,” said Bill. “It was a good move. Some people move into a pub as stranger,s but you need to get to know the people.”

With a first great-grandchild now part of their family, it’s time for them to step back from the pub.

Barry McNeil, director of Cornerstone, which is marketing the Heritage, said: “I am sure Bill and Dixie won’t mind me commenting that they are both beyond standard pension age but enjoy running the business far too much.”

They hope that whoever takes over feels the same as they do about the business.

It means a new owner will eventually step through its familiar grey doors - just the third since the 1970s which has to make it unique in the trade.

“We’ll miss it,” said Bill. “It holds a lot of memories. The people here feel like family. Every place we have had has felt like that.”

Cornerstone is marketing the freehold with a guide price of £195,000.