End of an era on Speyside

Joe’s first job was a cooper.
Joe’s first job was a cooper.

TRIBUTES have been paid from around the world after one of Scotland’s longest-serving barmen passed away late last month at the age of 88.

Joe Brandie spent 58 years behind the bar of the Fiddichside Inn in Craigellachie, which had been owned by his wife Dorothy’s family since 1919.

A cooper to trade,  Joe worked at The Macallan distillery for seven years before taking a job as a ghillie on the River Spey, which he held for 27 years; it was during this time he started working at the Fiddichside in the evenings with Dorothy, whom he had married in 1959.

After Dorothy passed away in 2009, Joe ran the pub single-handedly.

A true raconteur, Joe was renowned for his warm welcome and mischievous sense of humour.

“I love talking to different people,” he told SLTN earlier this year.

Here’s to you, Joe.

For so many people, a trip to Speyside won’t be the same without you.