The Newton Bar in Millport picked up the coveted title, Community Pub of the Year, at this year’s Scottish Bar and Pub Awards. Susan Young caught up with owner Lesley Cunningham to find out more about the pub, which saw hundreds of votes from their local community, as hubby Robert held the fort.
On the day Storm Bram hit the country, I visited Millport and the Newton Bar to catch up with Lesley Cunningham and her husband Robert. As I arrived, she urged me to grab a seat and said she would not be long, as a customer had just left after a Christmas lunch, been blown across the street by the wind and knocked over. Lesley was taking her to the hospital for a quick check-over. She returned 20 minutes later with the news that all was well, apart from a few scrapes and the shock.
To me, this just epitomised what Lesley, her husband and family are all about. The Newton is at the heart of this small island community and, from the comments made when people voted for the pub, they really do go above and beyond.
Lesley is Millport born and bred. Her grandfather moved the family to Millport during the Blitz and opened the local Mapes shop, which led to her mother eventually meeting a local man. Her parents went on to run two electrical shops in Millport and, as a youngster, Lesley was taught a strong work ethic.
Says Lesley, “I worked in the shop as a youngster, to me work was very much part of my upbringing, and I never been fazed by hard work.” Perhaps this is just as well, because she and Robert have now been running The Newton for just over 34 years, having taken it over in 1991.
Lesley did briefly move to Glasgow, where she worked as a hairdresser. That is where she met Robert, and the two of them had just got married when, on a weekend visit to Millport, they saw that The Newton was up for sale.
Says Lesley, “I new Millport would be a good place to bring up my family and I wanted to give them the freedom that I had and although Robert wasn’t born on the island, he used to come down here all the time. “We decided to sell our flat in Glasgow and buy The Newton.”
However, just as they did that, Lesley became ill and ended up having to undergo multiple operations. Robert took on the responsibility of opening the pub and moving them to Millport. Lesley did move briefly to Glasgow and worked as a hairdresser. That is where she met Robert, and the two of them had just got married when, on a weekend visit to Millport, they saw that The Newton was up for sale.
Says Lesley, “I knew Millport would be a good place to bring up my family and I wanted to give them the freedom that I had and although Robert wasn’t born on the island, he used to come down here all the time.
“We sold our flat in Glasgow and came here and bought the pub with the backing of my parents.”
However, just as they did that, Lesley got ill and ended up having to have multiple operations. So Robert took on the responsibility of opening the pub and moving them to Millport.
Lesley explains, “I did what I could too, but I really wasn’t well at the time. Neither of us had worked in hospitality before. Robert worked for a telecoms company and worked as a DJ in the evening.”
When the two bought the pub, the front bar was an “old mans” pub and the rear housed a tiki bar called Typically Tropical, which all the young ones used. Lesley smiles, “It was all wicker seats and low glass tables. There wasn’t a ladies toilet in the front bar, so they had to come through to the back to go to the ladies, even when there was a function on, which was quite embarrassing for them.”
They soon changed Tropical into a family lounge and introduced children’s entertainment and under-18 discos, and Robert put his DJ hat on. Although they do bring “Typically Tropical” back when it’s Retrofest Millport.
Not long afterwards, Lesley came up with the idea of “Scatty Cats”, an act that kept the kids well entertained. She even roped her own kids in to help, dressing them up.
She says, “I think we were ahead of our time. We realised there was nothing for the kids to keep them entertained and it just took off.” Ever since, The Newton has been doing kids’ entertainment, although she did retire Scatty Cats. She does occasionally bring them back for special occasions.
This love of entertaining has stood Lesley, the pub and Millport in very good stead.
Over the years, she has had more costumes than hot dinners, and the amount of charity events that The Newton is involved in, both publicly and behind the scenes, is phenomenal.
For instance, when a local girl was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, they did fundraising to buy art supplies, Lego and games to make her stay in hospital a little easier, and they encouraged the community to support the little girl in her health battle.
One of their ongoing charity events is in memory of a local boy called Stephen Blair, who was young when he died of a cardiac arrest. Just last week, Lesley stepped in and put a costume on when the entertainment for the night was missing a “Spice Boy”. She and one of the others did a wee sketch, which took everyone by surprise. The video is on the pub’s Facebook page and the evening raised £4,500.
But it’s not just charity events. The Newton is always at the centre when there is a community crisis, such as the four-day power cut during Storm Éowyn. They provided food to elderly residents on the island and, although Millport now has a resilience crew which they work with, in days gone by The Newton was the resilience crew.
Lesley recalls the bad Boxing Day gale in 1993. “We had only been a couple of years in the pub and Robert was already at work, and he called to say come the back road because the water was right over the front and trees were down. I was on foot, so I ran like the clappers. And when I got there, a coastguard came in to tell me my car had been flattened by a tree, by then we had lost most of the tiles on the roof too.
“I can remember the police going along the front with a tannoy telling everyone to stay where they were and not to leave. So everybody was sitting in the pub and then there was a blackout. So we got the candles out, and I thought, okay, we can’t sell you alcohol, but you’re here anyway. So I put on a pot of soup and stovies and a water for tea. Everyone was laughing and having a good time. I think we were like that until about 2am.
“One of the reasons we could do this was because we have a generator in the basement, because we have an underground spring, and if the power goes off we have to be able to pump out the water.”
She also recalls when the Garrison next door burned down in 2001, catering for the firemen all through the night. She explains, “When the fire began, the police and firemen were using the pub. They were working in shifts, so I got my sleeping bag and brought it down and grabbed an hour or so sleep between the shifts, so when they were ready to eat, the food was ready. They also said that they might have to evacuate people and asked to use the back lounge. We said of course. In the end, that wasn’t needed.”
The last time the community went into action was the January storm. Says Lesley, “We now have definite organisations that come together and they will step in when there is a power cut or anything like that. In the past, The Newton has been the base because we had the generator. There is no gas on the island at all. And because we have done it so often, we know what we need to do, from getting the lights sorted to getting the hot water on. The Resilience team now also has a generator at the Church, which is great.
“But last January, when the electricity went out for three days, The Newton became the central hub for the island, providing hot water, hot water bottles and food for those that needed it, including the elderly. The Resilience team used it as their hub too.”
Lesley says, “On the first day, everybody came together and helped. Some of the food came from the SWI because they couldn’t have their Burn Supper. So they said to me, Lesley, we’ve got potatoes and turnip, and I had tins of haggis, so we did up food boxes and the volunteers helped get it out.
“The next day, we were more geared up for it because we knew by then the power cut was going to last a couple of days, and anyone that could come for food and heat did. Thankfully, North Ayrshire also sent over some sandwiches, bread and other food too.
“We didn’t charge for the food. We never do when it comes to emergencies. Even the guy from the energy company said to me, “You must be out a fortune.” But I told him, “That’s what we do. I don’t ask for any money. We don’t ask for anything back.” However, the company did give us new hot water bottles.”
If anyone needs help, The Newton is often their first point of call. If a regular did not turn up for a few days, Lesley would notice. She says, “People don’t like it when they see me standing outside a flat. It is not a good sign.
“Sometimes customers come because they can no longer cook for themselves and we take food around to them. There’s also people that come to us through the local forum. For instance, if someone has just come out of hospital, the forum contact me and I do food for them.”
Although the two obviously love what they do, it’s not easy running a pub on an island, and they have faced challenges such as Covid. During the time the pub was closed, they gave the whole place a paint, coming in most, if not every day. When they could re-open, they did, serving food from the side door and drinks too.
She says, “We were at a bit of a disadvantage because we don’t have a beer garden. We are not even allowed to put tables and chairs on the pavement. We have asked so many times.” Since then, they have been working non-stop, but it is obvious the two of them thrive on it.
The events that they put on draw in the crowds, from their tapas nights to their curry nights, live entertainment, discos, Halloween and the list goes on and on, while Robert gets involved in organising all the local festivals. “People here won’t come out every week, so if you are full once a month that is good, and it is a big place to fill.” She concludes, “Millport gives, and it gives very well, you know, and when you ask, they give. And that’s the beautiful bit.
“The Newton is definitely the hub of the town and I don’t care what anybody says. People will come and say, could you help me? And we always will.” One of their customers, when voting for the pub as Community Pub of the Year, said, “Robert and Lesley keep the town’s heart beating with their warm and welcoming pub.”
The appreciation is returned: Lesley, Robert, and the entire Newton team describe winning this award as one of the most memorable nights of their lives. They were truly touched by the overwhelming support from their customers and deeply appreciated everyone who got behind them.