I was driving through Dalrymple earlier this month, thinking I’d stop in at the Kirkton Inn for a bite to eat as I usually do when I’m in that area. Have been going there for years; proper decent grub, friendly staff, and that gorgeous old building full of character. But as I pulled up, something felt wrong. The car park was deserted, which is never the case, and there was this pathetic little sign on the door.
“Temporarily closed.” Yeah, right. Anyone who has lived in Scotland for any period of time will be familiar with the way “temporarily closed” frequently translates as “closed for good, but we’re not ready to admit it yet.”
Turns out I was right to be suspicious. The Kirkton Inn Dalrymple closure became official just days later, and it’s left a proper hole in the community.
What Actually Happened
So here’s the really long tale, and it’s a whopper if I say so myself. The inn’s been serving locals and visitors for the last 150 years; think about that for a minute. That’s six generations of folk who have passed through those doors. But on Monday, April 28th, 2025, the doors were locked for good.
It was not the inn that was the problem. The Kirkton Inn has been a popular spot for people in the village of Dalrymple and visitors for the last 150 years, but now its future seems in doubt after being shut down without warning last Monday. It turns out the problem was really with the parent company, Eurotrade Windows. The inn’s parent company, Eurotrade Windows, launched insolvency proceedings earlier in the month after the company’s financial woes increased.
John and Heather Keenan, who owned both the windows business and the inn, had been putting their hearts and souls into fixing the place up. John & Heather Keenan purchased the Kirkton Inn from Eurotrade Windows & Kitchens in April 2018, and since then, the building has undergone extensive refurbishment. Seven years of tough labour, and then their windows business goes belly-up and takes the inn with it.
The Renovation Dreams That Turned Into Nightmares
I recall speaking to John about five years ago when they were up to their knees in renovating. He was excited for what they would do: the new kitchen, updated rooms, and the modern conveniences that would still keep all of the old-world charm. You could see how much they loved that place.
They’d spent an obscene amount of money on the renovations. New roof, rewired the whole building, and all the new plumbing. The sort of work that is outrageously expensive but was necessary to bring a 150-year-old building up to contemporary standards. The restaurant was receiving great reviews as well, with 4.3 of 5 on TripAdvisor, with 126 reviews. That’s not easy to achieve in a small village.
But here’s the cruel irony: all that investment in the inn likely helped create the financial stress that ultimately drowned the whole thing. The windows business was in trouble, and with no opportunity to sell the inn and pay debts, both businesses went down together.
The Community Reaction Was Heartbreaking
The way everyone on social media was reacting was getting to me. Regulars from The Kirkton Inn and people from beyond the area have expressed their sadness on social media. Bernie Rooney said, “Must be heartbreaking for John and Heather. Spent a fortune renovating the Kirkton and the family-run Eurotra.
That sums it up perfectly. This wasn’t just a business closing; it was a family losing its life’s work and a community losing its heart. The Kirkton was where locals would take their parents for Sunday lunch, visitors stayed when they came to see Burns Country, and couples dined on their wedding anniversaries.
My mate Graham from Ayr was gutted. “That was where we had our engagement meal,” he said to me. “Twenty-three years ago, but I can still remember that steak pie being brilliant.” These are the connections that drive these closures so deep.
Other Businesses Stepping Up
Credit where credit’s due, and The Hollybush Inn has now come forward to offer to provide some assistance by being able to try to accommodate certain events booked at the Kirkton. It’s nice to see local businesses taking care of each other, though it doesn’t replace what’s been lost.
The village is trying to plod on, but it’s not the village it was. Dalrymple’s hardly heaving with dining options anyway, so the loss of Kirkton is felt in no small way. Particularly for tourists walking around the Burns trail, the inn was a proper draw for people visiting the area.
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Why This Keeps Happening to Scottish Villages
Just remember, the Kirkton Inn Dalrymple closure isn’t occurring in isolation. I’ve seen half of the pubs in rural Scotland disappear over the past decade. It’s becoming a bloody epidemic.
My father regales me with tales of when there was a hotel and at least two pubs in every village. Now? You’re lucky if there’s one place left standing. The costs are mental – energy bills through the roof, staff wages up (rightly), and food costs ludicrous. Plus, there’s all the regulation and paperwork that comes with a hospitality business these days.
But this is what really gnaws at me about this case. The inn was thriving, in fact. People loved going there. It didn’t fail because no one wanted what they were selling. It failed because some other unrelated business failed, and it was dragged down with it.
That’s the kind of thing that makes you want to throw your phone at the wall. All those villages are losing their heart because of corporate structures and financial complications that have nothing to do with whether people actually want to eat there or not.
What makes this case particularly galling is that the inn itself was successful. Good reviews, steady trade,and proper investment in the facilities. But because it was tied up with a failing Windows business, it got dragged down too. That’s just bad luck combined with business structures that don’t protect profitable parts of the operation.
What Happens Next
Honestly? Nobody seems to know. The website for The Kirkton Inn has been taken down, and its social media pages have not been active for several weeks. That’s usually a bad sign; it suggests there’s no plan for reopening.
The building’s still there, obviously, and it’s in good nick thanks to all those renovations. Someone with deep pockets and a passion for hospitality could potentially bring it back to life. But it would take serious investment and a lot of faith in the future of rural tourism.
The liquidators are probably trying to sell it as a going concern, but that’s easier said than done in the current climate. Commercial property in small Scottish villages isn’t exactly flying off the market these days.
My Final Thoughts
Driving past the empty Kirkton Inn now feels properly depressing. All those years of history, all that recent investment and hard work, just sitting there gathering dust. John and Heather deserved better after everything they put into the place.
The saddest part is how preventable this feels. If the inn had been a separate business entity, it might have survived the collapse of Eurotrade Windows. Instead, one failed business took down a successful one, and a community lost something irreplaceable.
Maybe someone with vision and cash will step in and bring the Kirkton back to life. I really hope so, because Dalrymple isn’t the same without it. But for now, it’s just another empty building in another Scottish village, and that breaks my heart every time I drive past.