Back in Devon, this time pretty much slap-bang in the middle of the county in the small town of North Tawton.
I was aiming for a Beer Guide pub and a rural brewery tap with very elusive opening hours.
This was Saturday 9th September (I'm behind) - the hottest day of the year in that remarkable week when summer finally got started then made way for autumn six days later.
I was aiming for a Beer Guide pub and a rural brewery tap with very elusive opening hours.
This was Saturday 9th September (I'm behind) - the hottest day of the year in that remarkable week when summer finally got started then made way for autumn six days later.
The North Tawton Beer Guide regular is about a mile south of the town, situated next to the one-time railway station.
Trains began arriving here in 1865, then stopped 103-years later in 1968. The Exeter to Okehampton line, on which this lies, has recently reopened, but the trains now race past North Tawton.
I'm surprised many people find the pub. Along with the old station, it's located up a potholed track, hidden from the A3124 by farm buildings, the pub sign long gone.
An unassuming building, the picnic benches in front were empty and the lights were off.
I feared a closed pub.
Trains began arriving here in 1865, then stopped 103-years later in 1968. The Exeter to Okehampton line, on which this lies, has recently reopened, but the trains now race past North Tawton.
I'm surprised many people find the pub. Along with the old station, it's located up a potholed track, hidden from the A3124 by farm buildings, the pub sign long gone.
An unassuming building, the picnic benches in front were empty and the lights were off.
I feared a closed pub.
Railway Inn (Whiddon Down Road, North Tawton, EX20 2BE)
Timidly entering through the front door, I realised the lights were off in a lounge to the side whilst the bar was at the back of the pub with the sound of chatter and laughter emanating from it.
The locals propping up the bar promised the landlord would be back soon, but eventually took pity on my long wait and went to find him.
Turned out he'd been sat in the other room musing over a card the postman had delivered saying there was a letter that required £2.50 excess postage paying. A yellow letter, apparently.
"Well you wouldn't it to be a brown letter - never anything good comes in a brown envelope.
"Or a red one - that'd be a final demand".
"It don't matter if it's red, white, brown or pink - he's not expecting nothing so he don't want to be paying £2.50 for it."
It was that kind of pub where you didn't need a TV or music - just sitting and listening to the next debate about supermarket self-checkouts was all the entertainment you needed.
"Well you wouldn't it to be a brown letter - never anything good comes in a brown envelope.
"Or a red one - that'd be a final demand".
"It don't matter if it's red, white, brown or pink - he's not expecting nothing so he don't want to be paying £2.50 for it."
It was that kind of pub where you didn't need a TV or music - just sitting and listening to the next debate about supermarket self-checkouts was all the entertainment you needed.
It's also a pleasing, basic and comfortable bar, with some good decorations and pictures of the railway station in its heyday hung on the walls.
Two cask ales available: Teignworthy 'Reel Ale' and Exeter 'Avocet'.
I've had a few very average pints of Avocet but this was gorgeous - a NBSS 4 recorded on the CAMRA beer scoring thing.
A wonderful pub.
Which also provided something a bit different for the mild smut collection.
Two cask ales available: Teignworthy 'Reel Ale' and Exeter 'Avocet'.
I've had a few very average pints of Avocet but this was gorgeous - a NBSS 4 recorded on the CAMRA beer scoring thing.
A wonderful pub.
Which also provided something a bit different for the mild smut collection.
Ah, that'll be the pub sign that was missing at the turn-off from the road.
I headed back into North Tawton itself - a pleasantly peaceful place that's home to some 2,200 people who get to enjoy three pubs, a chip shop, and a cheese factory. Probably some other stuff as well, but beer, cheese and chips are things that stick in my mind.
The market square is the focal point, the parked cars and scaffolding around the clock tower scuppering the picture.
So I snapped a photo of a characterful old building instead...
I headed back into North Tawton itself - a pleasantly peaceful place that's home to some 2,200 people who get to enjoy three pubs, a chip shop, and a cheese factory. Probably some other stuff as well, but beer, cheese and chips are things that stick in my mind.
The market square is the focal point, the parked cars and scaffolding around the clock tower scuppering the picture.
So I snapped a photo of a characterful old building instead...
And St Peter's church with its witches hat of a spire...
.jpg "St Peter's Church North Tawton")
So good I considered just ticking ice cream flavours for the rest of the afternoon instead of visiting pubs and breweries.
This was the Turkish Delight flavour. Stunning...
This was a pub experience. Inside was a cornucopia of bric-a-brac and odd decorations.
The room in front of the bar looked like someone's front room from a bygone era: big brown leather sofas around a coffee table - a TV in a cabinet, tuned into the rugby World Cup, busy bookshelves, retro wallpaper, glass display cabinets full of mysterious oddities.
The landlord was sat with a Guinness watching the rugby, the only other customer a lady settled into the sofa with her Peroni and pint of water. If it weren't for the bar I'd have thought I'd just managed to walk into somebody's house by mistake.
The pub dog enthusiastically jumped up my leg whilst I ordered a Holsworthy 'Sun Shine', brewed not too far away on the Devon/Cornwall border.
An above average golden ale, which went down very well.
The landlord chatted local beer and September heatwaves, taking his food temperature probe outside to settle our guesswork about how hot it was. Spared the rugby talk, I had a fine discussion about football covering everything from the Saudi League to Macclesfield Town.
I could have , and maybe should have, stayed all afternoon.
But someone spoiled the moment by chewing the strap of my rucksack and making quite a mess of it.
Not him...
An above average golden ale, which went down very well.
The landlord chatted local beer and September heatwaves, taking his food temperature probe outside to settle our guesswork about how hot it was. Spared the rugby talk, I had a fine discussion about football covering everything from the Saudi League to Macclesfield Town.
I could have , and maybe should have, stayed all afternoon.
But someone spoiled the moment by chewing the strap of my rucksack and making quite a mess of it.
Not him...
And to be honest, they were probably wondering who this weird bloke was who'd sat with them for half an hour, waxing lyrical about non-league football and trying to take a picture of the dog.
They waved me farewell and checked I'd got water for the trip to the brewery on this hot day. What a nice place.
Taw Valley Brewery is just over a mile out of town in the middle of nowhere.
They waved me farewell and checked I'd got water for the trip to the brewery on this hot day. What a nice place.
Taw Valley Brewery is just over a mile out of town in the middle of nowhere.
Making the most of some historic outbuildings at Westacott farm...
The tap room is located in the barn which is set on a significant downhill slope, making the level benches and tables a feat of furniture engineering.
One big round table was located at the bottom, occupied by the brewer and his buddy, the beer barrels propped on a rickety table against the far wall..
Just the one ale was available - 'Copper Best' - a no-nonsense brown bitter than was exactly what I wanted at the time.
I took my pint to the characterful makeshift tables under the cover of the building at the top of yard where you get to balance your beer on pallets and sit on hay bales. Much as I like a hay bale, it was stiflingly hot, whilst the barn was a cool refuge from the mini-heatwave.
I weighed my bag down with a few takeaway bottles and departed from Taw Valley Brewery.
I've no idea how many people make it here. It's not signposted or widely advertised, although there were a few cyclists in, and the round table was getting full of the brewers local acquaintances by the time I left.
Well worth a visit - although you'll have to wait until next summer now.
I've no idea how many people make it here. It's not signposted or widely advertised, although there were a few cyclists in, and the round table was getting full of the brewers local acquaintances by the time I left.
Well worth a visit - although you'll have to wait until next summer now.
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