Paignton and Teignmouth Pub Explorations

Please do not touch the landlady's Jugs!

In which we explore several beer guide entries in the Devon coastal towns of Paignton and Teignmouth.
It's July, the sun is out, we're heading to the seaside, and PropUptheBar is one of the last people in long trousers, stubbornly refusing to succumb to shorts.

Paignton was our starting point, where we walked along the main drag toward the beach.
We briefly called into the sticky-tabled chaotic mess which was the Talk of the Town Wetherspoon, but were put off by the general hecticness and long orderly queue that had formed to the bar.

"We can do better than this" said Mrs PropUptheBar (who had made it back to shore after her epic Exe estuary paddle).
And she was right - Henry's Bar, just up the road, proved a bit of a winner. 

Henry's Bar (53 Torbay Road, Paignton, TQ4 6AJ - web)
The bar is located amongst cafes, waffle houses, slot machine emporiums and shops selling seaside tat along Torbay Road.

Outdoor tables under the canopy looked good for people-watching.  Inside was a long single room stretching back some way, locals sat at the end of the bar greeting familiar faces, tattooed Torbay holidaymakers settling in for lunch 'n' lager.

From the beer choice I opted for the South Hams Brewery 'Stumble Bee', with the alternatives being Rev James, Doom Bar (which was important enough to feature on two hand pumps) and a Sam's cask cider.
'Take My Breath Away' was playing in the background, followed by 'Don't Stop Believin'', then it was all downhill, musically, from that point on.

Henry's provided us with a good value, decent plate of home-cooked food, which we attempted to walk off with a stroll along the sea front and down to the end of the pier.

I spent my obligatory stash of 2p coins in the amusement arcade and failed to win a penny back.  Very disappointing.
The pier was packed to bursting with junk entertainment, with the chance to prove your basketball or shooting skills, bounce on a trampoline, and eat donuts (not all at the same time).

I tried to decide whether to pose for a picture next to a Marvel superhero or Star Wars character.  Star Wars won...

From left to right: Pub Blogger, Wookie

Having done the seaside bit, we headed inland, Google maps guiding us over the steam railway line crossing, then down gravel tracks past garages between the houses.
We emerged by the second of our beer guide ticks...

A fair way inland this may be, but when it was built in the 1600's
this pub was on the waterfront

Torbay Inn (34 Fisher Street, TQ4 5ER)

With a choice of two doors, we initially stepped into the lounge, a good trad pub room, but completely empty.  So we tried the second door instead, where the more down-to-earth bar at least contained a handful of locals and a small dog that barked at us.

Cornish fare on the hand pumps - Sharp's and St Austell.
I picked the Sharp's 'Sea Fury' (better than Doom Bar?) which was in good condition and went down well.
Journey's 'Don't Stop Believin'' got an airing in a second consecutive pub.

I didn't originally plan to call into the Conservative Club, but having visited two out of three beer guide pubs, I figured we may as well do the third for the sake of completion. 

Someone else trying to pluck up the courage to ring the buzzer for entry

Paignton Conservative Club (34 Palace Avenue, Paignton, TQ3 3HB)
We were confronted with a 'ring buzzer for entry' sign and a further notice that this was strictly a members club.  Which meant I entered quite nervously.
"Can I help you?" - argggh, the greeting which indicates you're out of place.
Waving my CAMRA card around allowed us to stay, at which point the lady at the bar apologised for only having two beers on instead of the four they often serve.
That was quite okay - my Salcombe 'Gold' was most enjoyable (the other option being 'Jail Ale').

Disappointing lack of Tory leadership contest arguments 

A strictly 60's playlist ensured that we weren't going to get 'Don't Stop Believin' three times in a row today.
I'm a little sorry that we sat in one place at the end of the first room, as reading up on the club later, I learnt that it's 'Tardis-like' with further areas and snooker tables upstairs.

Proclaiming that we'd 'done' Paignton, we hopped aboard the next train and made the 25-minute trip to Teignmouth.

We had time for a quick look at the sea and a tub of ice cream, before we went searching for the town's solitary Good Beer Guide entry.
But before we got there, we stumbled across the New Quay Inn...

The New Quay Inn (New Quay Street, Teignmouth, TQ14 8DA)
What a stunning location!
The pub sits alongside a little beach where a band were in full swing, set up under the shade of a couple of umbrellas, with an audience on picnic tables on the sand, and sat along the quay.
This looked too good to pass by, so I popped inside and procured an Exeter Brewery 'Ferryman'.

It was bare bones inside, airy high-ceiling open-plan rooms with stone floors.  Just a handful of folks had stayed within, hooked on the sport on TV.   We took our drinks outside and sat with feet dangling over the water, enjoying the good quality Fleetwood Mac/Dire Straits mash-up that the band were knocking out.

Once they'd finished, we headed through the pleasant streets of Teignmouth to the Blue Anchor.

Blue Anchor Inn (Teign Street, Teignmouth, TQ14 8EG)
Another great looking pub.  The pleasant outdoor patio to the side was packed full, so we headed into the quieter and cooler interior.
What Pub tells me it's the 'town's premier real ale pub' and it lived up to that billing with a run of hand pumps offering a variety of ales, mainly from SW micro breweries.
A tasty Nuttycombe 'Sovereign' session bitter for me.

Having done the music of the  60's, 70's and 80's at previous pubs, we were almost up-to-date here with a 00's mix featuring Hard-Fi, Bloc Party and Supergrass.

This had proved a great day out - a fine variety of pubs and bars, a mixed bag of beers, lots of blue sky and sunshine, and two piers in one day.
Our next destination was Plymouth, which I'll be waffling on about in the next post soon.

Cheers! 🍺