More Pubs on the Moor

A bumper post of Dartmoor Pub Delights, as I make an overdue attempt to try and write-up some of my 2024 Devon pub explorations.

Starting 8-miles north of Plymouth, on the edge of the moor, in Clearbrook.
Don't expect much of a metropolis - I think I've captured most of the buildings that make up the village in the picture below.

Somewhere toward the end of that row of houses is the pub.

The Skylark Inn (Clearbrook, PL20 6JD)
A whitewashed affair, looking out across at the gentle slopes of the moor opposite.

Points added for: Local real ale, warming fire, Dire Straits 'Sultans of Swing' at just the right volume.
Points deducted for: lots of reserved tables, writing on the wooden beams of the "A meal without wine is called breakfast" variety, and a queue being formed to the bar...

When the three chaps moved, I stood in their place alongside the couple who looked horrified that I wasn't waiting behind them.

Real ale options were Dartmoor 'IPA' and 'Jail Ale', or Tavistock Brewery 'Golden Ale'.  This was my first encounter with the Tavistock beer - a light and floral pale ale, which did the job.
Next to the obligatory Dartmoor pub fire place was an intriguing looking old bread oven.  I was willing the couple sitting in front of it to drink up and move on so I could get a closer look.

And there it is... a model village in a bread oven, complete with railway track and flagon of cider...

I returned my empty glass to the bar and left the increasingly busy Skylark Inn, wandering onto the footpaths at the side of the village.
I was determined to get a picture of the Dartmoor ponies for this post...job done...

Now I needed to find a route to the nearby village of Meavy, where my next Good Beer Guide pub lay.  It's only around 1½ miles from Clearbrook to Meavy, but a lack of footpaths going in the right direction meant most of this would be a trudge along the lanes.
And it's dangerous round these parts: "Man with large belly wanted for exposing genitals on Dartmoor" was the headline I got on a Google search looking for a route to the pub.

Meavy is home to just over 200 folk, and is gloriously picturesque in the sunshine.  At the heart of the village is the large oak tree, believed to be 900 years old, planted during the Reign of King John.

Royal Oak (Meavy, PL20 6PJ)
Dating back to the 15th century, the Royal Oak would make for a cracking picture of a proper village pub if only everyone wouldn't insist on parking right in front of it.
Heading through the front door, the bar counter straddles the two rooms - left side for the more polite dining custom, right side for more casual unreserved seating and an enormous inglenook fireplace that took up most of the width of the far wall.

Here's the real ale and cider choice.  

No surprises there, then.
I took my 'Legend' through to the side room where all the best chunky farmhouse benches and tables had been taken, leaving me sitting far too close to the fire.

Let me whisk you round to Peter Tavy, where my luck with the sunshine ended. The village, with a population of 296, is only a few miles from the thrills and spills of Tavistock, and a short way along lanes from the A386.  Yet it felt like I was miles from anywhere.
The Peter Tavy Inn is situated at the end of a single track lane, past sheep dogs dozing on dirty quad bikes and farm buildings full of cows.  A very rural aroma hung in the air.

Peter Tavy Inn (Peter Tavy, PL19 9NN)
The building started life as a farm cottage and blacksmiths shop, becoming an inn by the 19th century when it comprised a bar, kitchen, parlour, three lodging rooms and a stable.
Entrance is through a chunky wooden door with a tricky latch, a right turn taking you into the square bar. 
A second opportunity to try the Tavistock Brewery beer here.  Both the 'Golden' and 'English Ale' were on offer, plus a Dartmoor 'Jail Ale'.

 

One intriguing story in which the Peter Tavy Inn plays a part is that of Frank 'Axeman' Mitchell, the only person to escape from Princetown jail.  Despite being a notoriously violent prisoner who had no chance of parole and had previously made an escape from Broadmoor, Mitchell was somehow allowed out with working parties on the moor.  From which he's said to have nipped off in order to sink a few pints in the Peter Tavy Inn and other local pubs.  Legend has it that the Kray Brothers paid his tab, before assisting in his escape. 

Inevitably, the main seating areas of the Peter Tavy Inn have lost much of their traditional feel.  The wooden beams and slate floors and wood burners are present and correct, but to me it felt a lot like a pub for eating in without a more causal drinkers area.  Great location, but mildly disappointing for not being more rustic and ramshackle.

Moving on from the villages at the edge of Dartmoor, I'm heading onto higher ground.

A bit further down the road from whence the above picture came, is the town of Princetown, home to around 1,450 folk, 500-or-so of them who have no choice in the matter.
Princetown prison, from which Frank the Axeman absconded, is the highest prison in the country.  In fact, the town is the highest settlement within Dartmoor National Park and once boasted the highest railway station in the UK, until it was closed in the 1950's.   
And, at 1,465ft, I do believe it has the highest brewery in the country too.

Dartmoor Brewery, from which I must have drunk an awful lot of pints since starting my trawl around all the Beer Guide pubs of Devon, was set up in 1994.  Originally this was in the back of the Prince of Wales pub, although it has since expanded into larger purpose-built premises nearby.

Prince of Wales (Tavistock Road, Princetown, PL20 6QF)
This is a large open-plan pub, with seating on a couple of different levels.  There were a decent number of locals in when I visited, perhaps helped by this being a day when the other pub in town, the Plume of Feathers, was closed.

Welcoming young staff in their smart Dartmoor Brewery branded black shirts served up 'Legend', 'IPA' and 'Jail Ale', with Hunts 'Wobbler' on offer for the cider fans.
A 'Legend' for me, served in good condition as you'd hope in what's basically the brewery tap...

Here's the stash I accumulated from the brewery shop and National Park visitor centre.
Do I really need Jail Ale socks?  Of course I do!

Just one more Dartmoor pub before I bring the long post to a close.  One that I'd been waiting on with baited breath in the hopes that it would open again...

Drewe Arms (The Square, Drewsteignton, EX6 6QN)
This is a Grade II listed building dating back to the 17th century.  By 1890 it had become a public house named The New Inn, later to become the Druid Arms, before taking its current name.  

Mabel Mudge took over in 1919 and remained in charge of the pub for a whopping 75-years, making her the longest serving landlady in the UK.  Mabel retired in October 1994, aged 99, the pub subsequently managed by various folk on behalf of Whitbread, Ember, and Stonegate.  It closed in 2022 and has since been purchased by local residents who will run the Drewe Arms as a community venture. 

The interior has been little altered over the years.  The community effort to get the beer flowing again (the grand opening was on the 16th March 2024) hasn't affected the layout of this old village inn.  They have given it a spruce up and lick of paint.
Personally, I wouldn't have minding some cracks in the wall, stains, and cobwebs to give it that authentic rural heritage pub feel, but that's just me.

A Hanlon 'Yellow Hammer was my beer choice, from a familiar Devon cask selection including Otter and Dartmoor ales, all served straight from the barrel.  There are characterful rooms to sit in either side of the front door, but you really want the room to the left with long benches, fireplace, and hatch for service.

I was most content sat under the retro City Brewery poster and black & white pictures of the pub from another era.  A great heritage tick to wind up this extended post.

Next up, I'll be waffling on about some pubs on the Devon coast.