On The Road to the Bell at Chittlehampton

The road being the A377, which winds its way from Exeter to Barnstaple.  Along this route I called in a several towns and villages, all coincidentally beginning with 'C'.
And featuring vintage fruit machines, finials on thatched roofs, and collections of Good Beer Guides on staircases.

First stop: Crediton
An historic market town built around the wool trade and supposedly the birthplace of Saint Boniface.  I always figure it's quite a similar place to Honiton in east Devon, but more consistent with Beer Guide entries and without a bypass to save the central street from being constantly clogged with traffic.
I'd mainly come to admire the Derby County approved door knockers...  

And to visit the Duke of York which has been the sole Beer Guide entry for the past couple of years.

Duke of York (74 High Street, Crediton, EX17 3JX)
Built in the early 19th century, the Duke of York has a pleasingly simple frontage with coaching arch to one side.  Entry is via the archway into a single room surrounding the bar.
Dart board at the rear, sport on TV, locals on the stools at the bar, an old boy doing the crossword and scowling at me every now and again.  Or perhaps he's just looking into space and trying to conjure up the answers...who can tell.

Just the one ale on offer when I visited which made picking the Dartmoor 'IPA' very easy.
You drink a lot of Dartmoor IPA and Jail Ale when exploring Devon pubs.
But I do have to commend the Duke of York on their beer as it was on really good form here.

I figured I'd pop into the Crediton Inn which seems to be the go-to real ale pub in the town despite having disappeared from the Guide for a while.

Crediton Inn (28 Mill Street, Crediton, EX17 1EZ)
I liked the Crediton Inn - a good no-nonsense wet-led pub - but the locals weren't out in force when I called in.  Just two other punters in besides myself.

So credit to the music selection which provided something to occupy myself with, Shazaming tracks whilst sinking into a sofa with my 'Thirsty Blonde'.

A quick check shows we were listening to Midival Punditz and Roy Ayers Ubiquity, which certainly isn't your average pub soundtrack..

17 miles North-West of Crediton is the Saxon hilltop market town of Chulmleigh.  Home to just over 1,000 folks, none of whom were anywhere to be seen when we rocked up to eerily quite mid-afternoon streets.
At least there were a few people in the pub.

The Old Court House (South Moulton Street, Chulmleigh, EX18 7BW - web)
"Afternoon!  How's your day going?" was the cheery welcome we received from the chap behind the bar.
"Oi.  You never ask me that", complained one of the locals.
"That's because he can tell by the miserable face you always walk in with - he don't need to ask!" came the retort from his drinking buddy.

"Are you on holiday, or are you lost?" the barman asked us.
It did occur the two are very definitely not mutually exclusive.

Having mumbled something about getting around as many Devon beer guide pubs as possible, I had the choice of a Butcombe 'Original' or Dartmoor 'IPA'.
More Dartmoor for me, not bad, but not as good as I remember that pint in Crediton being. 

You don't get any of those hi-tech complicated fruit machines with too many flashing lights here.  The one-armed bandit may possibly date back to when Charles 1 stayed in Chulmleigh in 1634 and gave the pub its name.  

Retro gaming

Six miles further north we found ourselves in the small village of Chittlehamholt.
Wiki tells me it has a population of 169 people, 26 listed buildings, 2 bridges, and 1 pub.

The Exeter Inn (Chittlehamholt, EX37 9NS - web)
This old 16th century coaching inn was looking good on a sunny afternoon.  I'm no expert on thatched roofs but even those pesky animals that have clambered on top of this one can't spoil how immaculate it looks.

The Exeter Inn was a place with plenty of character: hops hanging from the ceiling, old pictures of the village on the walls and a couple of great seats that folks had beaten me to next to the fireplace with an old bread oven.
But most of the indoor tables were ready for diners and I'd have been worried about messing the place settings by commandeering one for a drink only.  So we headed onto the terrace outside where every passing car seemed to slow down and wave to someone they knew.

Retro cash registering

Nuttycombe 'Doonicans', brewed up in Taunton, was the lesser seen cask option on the bar, with other hand pumps serving up Otter and St Austell.
A nice beer, enjoyed in the sunshine, before I popped inside and discovered another vintage fruit machine.

Just 3 more miles up the road was Chittlehampton which sits on a high ridge, St Hieritha's church standing out spectacularly as you make your approach from the south.  Wikipedia tells us that there is something special about the church bells which campanologists come from far and wide to ring.
But I suspect that's just an excuse for them to visit the Bell Inn...

The Bell Inn (The Square, Chittlehampton, EX37 9QL - web)
This is a pub I loved from the moment I stepped through the door.  The lobby has a tiled floor, there are old pump clips stuck to the walls, and there's a collection of Good Beer Guides randomly stacked on the staircase.

 

The village local has been run by the same family since 1975 and has been adorned with various awards from North Devon CAMRA whilst appearing in the beer guide continuously since 1997.
It's wonderful inside: spacious with several different areas, although all attention is initially diverted to the animal heads protruding from the wall above the bar.

Available cask ales were Butcombe 'Original', Otter 'Bitter', and Exmoor 'Ale'.  We weren't far from Exmoor, so that was my choice, although the boxed cider options were mighty tempting too.
As well as the seating in the front of the pub there is a games room on a lower level and a rear extension with plenty of interesting decorations.

And beyond this a splendidly situated garden where the views were good enough to make me forgive the astro-turf.

With those pubs in Crediton, Chulmleigh and the Chittles ticked, I'd made a nice bit of mid-Devon progress with the Beer Guide chapter.  Although I have to concede that I'm going to run out of time and fail my mission to complete it this summer.
Never mind - that won't stop me heading to Ilfracombe, which I'll write about in the next post.