This is a repost of a pub review I wrote on my Substack. I review a different pub every week, and you can find them all at Edinburgh Pub Reviews.
The excellent Barney’s brewery was one of the first businesses to open at Summerhall when it first opened as a multi-use community and arts venue in 2012. Once the Dick Vet School, the building was sold by the University of Edinburgh in 2011 to the wealthy McDowell family, who converted it into the cultural hub it is today. Currently, it houses not just Barney’s, but Pickering’s Gin, EHFM’s radio studio, countless artisans, galleries, multiple performance spaces, small business incubators and a cinema.
For now.
Because disastrous news came a month ago, when the McDowells put Summerhall up for sale. One of the family, Robert McDowell, is apparently“fully committed to this ambitious project that he bravely started 13 years ago”. But he claims to have been outvoted by his own family who want to cash in. He told The Guardian: “My brothers haven’t seen the transformative effect of a venue like Summerhall on the psyche of a city, because they don’t live here”.
Robert McDowell hopes any new owners would preserve the vital role the venue plays in Edinburgh. Commercial property consultants Cuthbert White opt to ignore all of this in their sales brochure. Instead, they decide to trumpet the 130,000 sq ft property’s “significant re-development and refurbishment potential” on page one. They then prattle on about possibilities of student housing, offices, serviced apartments or luxury hotels. Subject to planning agreement, of course.
What do the people of Edinburgh, a city famous for its history, culture and world-famous arts festivals really want? A genuine success story of a vital creative centre in the middle of the city? Not according to Cuthbert White’s brochure. No! We want student digs only an oligarch’s offspring could pay for, or more unaffordable housing, or another hotel. We want more vandalism of a criminally underfunded cultural sector already on its knees. Of course we do.
Anyway, back to the pub, while it still stands.
The Royal Dick gives more than a cursory nod to its history. While Barney’s may have been there at Summerhall’s renaissance in the early 2010s, the venue has a much longer history with beer. The site was originally a brewery, all the way back to the 19th century (according to our friends Cuthbert White) or early 18th century (according to Barney’s). It changed hands over the years before making way for the university’s veterinary school.
And it’s the vet school which inspires The Royal Dick’s interior. It still retains that air of a century-old school, with corridors and classrooms turned into seating areas. Additionally, there are animal skulls in display cabinets. Next to them are microscopes, beakers and test tubes. Above are dozens of hats from around the world. A piano sits in a corner. One room is plastered with hundreds of pieces of artwork. It all adds character without being needlessly quirky – and is fully justified given the place’s history.
And the drinks – well, Barney’s knows its beer. A couple of casks and countless kegs from the house brewery and beyond dominate the bar. Try any of them and you will not be disappointed. There’s also Pickering’s Gin (rumour has it there’s a direct line from the distillery to the pub), and decent wine and whisky lists.
Barney’s has another wonderful pub, The Bullfinch, in Leith. I would highly recommend giving that a try too. But if we were to lose its home here in Summerhall – alongside so many other small businesses – that would bring shame on the entire city.
irahmanjones.com 