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The bar at the Swan, a silver swan on a slate wall behind the taps, with green velvet stools in front.
Stirlingshire

The Swan, Banton

A village pub and restaurant at the crossroads in Banton, by Kilsyth, bought by its village in 2017 as the first community-owned pub in Scotland.

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Welcome

The Swan has stood at the crossroads in Banton, a small village just east of Kilsyth, for more than 170 years, and it's a cheerful place to land after a walk.

It has a lovely story, too. When the pub's future was in doubt in 2016, the village came together to save it, and in 2017 People United for Banton bought it with help from the Scottish Land Fund, making it the first community-owned pub in Scotland. It has always drawn people from further afield: Kilsyth was dry from 1920 until 1967, and buses brought people out from the dry towns for a dram at the Swan. Today it's run by The Orangery Group as a village pub and restaurant, with brunch, a main menu, a children's menu and Sunday lunch, and live music and quiz nights in the evenings. Dogs are welcome, it opens at 10am every day, and Colzium-Lennox Estate is just along the road for a stroll first.

A short drive awayThe Buffet BoxA small café in Cumbernauld with big breakfasts, burgers and speciality coffee, from owners with a background in food.10 min by roadSee itBags of coffee beside a lightbox sign reading #TheBuffetBox Cafe.
Before you go

Book a table through its own site, especially for Sunday lunch.

Where
Main Street, Banton, by Kilsyth, G65 0QW.
Open
Every day from 10am to midnight, and until 1am on Friday and Saturday nights (the week below stops at midnight).
Food
Brunch, a main menu, a children's menu and Sunday lunch.
Evenings
Live music and quiz nights.
Dogs
Welcome.
Access
Step-free entrance, seating and toilet, with accessible parking.
Phone
01236 897575

Opening hours

Their website
Monday
10am–midnight
Tuesday
10am–midnight
Wednesday
10am–midnight
Thursday
10am–midnight
Friday
10am–midnight
Saturday
10am–midnight
Sunday
10am–midnight

Eaten here? Tell others what to order and when to go, and the best go on this page with your name.

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Where it is

At the crossroads on Main Street in Banton, a village a mile or so east of Kilsyth, G65 0QW.

Close byKilsyth, Cumbernauld, Falkirk and Stirling.
  1. Colzium House from the air in spring, its grey stone front among lawns, conifers and woods at the east end of Kilsyth.Colzium-Lennox EstateA free country park at the east end of Kilsyth, with a walled garden, an ice house of about 1680, a fifteenth-century tower house and one of the oldest curling ponds in the world.2 miles 6 min by road
  2. Fried eggs on smashed avocado toast with tomatoes on a blue plate.The Fork & MustardA family-run café on Glebe Street in Falkirk, making its comfort food, cakes and baking in its own kitchen.10 miles 17 min by road
  3. The Falkirk WheelThe Falkirk WheelThe world's only rotating boat lift, lifting boats 35 metres between the Forth and Clyde Canal and the Union Canal.10 miles 20 min by road
  4. A tall white flagpole rises from a grass mound encircled by a low stone wall, bare trees lining the path beside it.BannockburnThe field where Robert the Bruce won in 1314, with his bronze statue, the rotunda and a view to Stirling Castle; grounds open daily.11 miles 16 min by road
  5. The KelpiesThe KelpiesAndy Scott's two 30-metre steel horse heads beside the canal at Falkirk, the largest equine sculptures in the world.12 miles 25 min by road
  6. Stirling CastleStirling CastleThe great royal castle on its crag above Stirling, where Mary, Queen of Scots was crowned, with the Great Hall and the Royal Palace.16 miles 21 min by road
Directions
Bags of coffee beside a lightbox sign reading #TheBuffetBox Cafe.CafeThe Buffet Box2.3 miles as the crow flies
A long wooden footbridge on trestles crossing the River Carron, the water running fast over boulders below.WalksCarron Glen6.8 miles
An Inside the Fort information board at Rough Castle, a drawing of the Roman fort above the grass.AttractionsRough Castle Roman Fort7.5 miles
AttractionsRosebank Distillery9.1 miles
The ruined drystone walls of Tappoch Broch on its heathery hilltop in the Tor Wood, Scots pines round it and farmland and hills far off under a blue sky.AttractionsTappoch Broch9.2 miles
Carron Valley Reservoir still and blue under a clear sky, with dark forest along the far shore and Meikle Bin rising behind.AttractionsCarron Valley Reservoir9.3 miles
CafeThe Milk Barn11 miles
A curtain of water falling from a rock overhang in Campsie Glen, seen from the hollow behind it, with the wooded glen beyond.AttractionsCampsie Glen11 miles
The Endrick Water pouring over mossy rock steps at the top of the Loup of Fintry, with the green valley and hills stretching away beyond.AttractionsLoup of Fintry12 miles

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