We run Britain's most remote pub on island with just 60 inhabitants

A couple runs Britain's most remote pub on an island with just 60 inhabitants and no roads - with people travelling thousands of miles just for a pint there.  

Rachel Devine, 46, and wife Jhennia Leipert, 44, took over The Puffer Bar on Easdale, the smallest permanently inhabited island of the Inner Hebrides in Scotland.

A new study recently stated the business is the most remote pub in the whole of the UK.

The pair decided to leave their life behind in London and embark on a life-changing journey after lockdown, purchasing The Puffer from its previous owners who had it for 10 years.

Mrs Devine said: 'We have to take everything over on a small boat and then we have to use wheel barrels to go around the island.

'It is a really kind and friendly community.

'It is quite empty in the winter because of the boats - a lot of people don't want to come over when the weather it is a bit rougher.

'We are kind of left to ourselves so it is a nice time to chill and for the locals and to use the pub - of course, during the summer it gets crazy busy with tourists.' 

She added: 'Everybody does know each other quite well. The pub is a real meeting place and everybody feels a bit of ownership of the pub who does come in.'

The Puffer Bar is a pub and restaurant that serves up an array of fresh food and drink.

While the restaurant is currently closed, the pub is open from 6pm between Thursday and Saturday.

Last year the establishment underwent a makeover carried out by interior designer Banjo Beale for the BBC series Designing The Hebrides.

Mrs Devine admitted they were 'very worried' about how the islanders were going to react to the redesign of their beloved pub.

She said: '[The pub] had originally been styled like an old puffer boat - they were like black and red, they were dark and looked like a designed of a boat.

'Banjo came in and we lightened it up - he kept the boat motif with the bar.. It looks very different than it did a year ago but the islanders were great.

'Some of them were a wee bit sad that we were doing it but I think most people have really taken to.

'It brings a new life into the pub and it reset it for us as new owners.'

Visitors travel from all over the globe every year to enjoy a pint or some food in the pub.

Mrs Devine said they used to have a great collection of money where tourists would pin a note to the ceiling from wherever their home country currency was.

She added: 'There is money from Thailand, America, Brazil, Nigeria, Australia.

'I think for a lot of people is a really fun thing to do to visit us and being on a carless island that makes it feel remote because we are so used to vehicles all the time.'

Every September the pub gets busy for the World Stone Skimming Championships - an event where entrants are challenged to skim a stone as far as they can across a flooded quarry.

Mrs Devine said: 'We are the only cafe and restaurant in the island and suddenly visitors go from 100 to 200 a day to 1500 to 2000 on a very busy stone skimming.

'The pub gets packed and there's people in every corner queuing for beer.'

She explained how on new year's eve the last boat stops at 7 o'clock in the evening - and then there is no way to get off the island for two days.

Mrs Devine said: 'The pub just started come into life for Hogmanay and then everybody on new year's day goes to play this massive game of football on the green side next to the pub.

'Then they all go for a cold water dip into the sea and then the next stop is the pub for whisky just to get warm and to dry off after the dip.'

Despite not regretting their decision to take over the business, Mrs Devine reflected on how 'challenging' it can be at times.

She said: 'Sometimes we definitely say to each other 'what on earth were we thinking' but on the whole we have loved most every moment of it.

'It is really hard - it is much more work then we realised and we thought it was going to be a lot of work. But it is remote in the sense of just even trying to get food and drink to do the pub and takes a lot of effort.

'During Stone Skimming we had to drive 200 miles just to pick up some scallops and drive back again.'