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.

East Devon Pubs

Back to Devon for this post, and a handful of pubs on the 157 bus route and just beyond.
The single-decker 157 takes you between Exmouth and Sidmouth on some narrow lanes, just so long as you don't want to travel too late or get anywhere very fast.

So, let's begin in Exmouth and a pub that I think could find its way into a future Good Beer Guide.  There are a few regular deserved entries for the town, but scope for flexibility on the last couple of places, as we discovered passing the bouncers on our way to The Strand in 2023. 

On this occasion, I wandered to the marina, to the point that you can go no further..

With great views across the estuary in front of it and the marina to the side, you'll find the blue-painted Beach sitting on a corner in the sunshine...

The Beach (Victoria Road, Exmouth, EX8 1DR)
This looks like it has had a recent makeover, with the open-plan ground floor space looking smart and modern.  There were a fair few table reservations, fresh flowers, and pastel shades.  All things I'd usually grumble about, yet I liked the Beach.  I wonder if my opinion was swayed by the beer.

Four ales on offer.  Three very regularly seen in Devon: Otter, Tribute, and Dartmoor Legend; one that you have to search a little bit harder for.

It's thanks again to the Wickingman's Bass list, a glance at which made me realise I didn't need to travel to Cullompton to get a pint of Staffordshire's finest in East Devon.

And on great form it was too. Look at the delightful contours of that head!

Hop aboard the Sidmouth bus on Exmouth Parade and you'll find yourself in East Budleigh roughly 27 minutes later.

East Budleigh has a population of 868 folk, no doubt attracted by the quiet village streets, thatched roofs, and historical links to famous Elizabethan explorers.  The local pub is named after Sir Walter Raleigh, born nearby, and commemorated by statue.

Sir Walter was one of the first people to popularise tobacco in England, hence the British American Tobacco Company footing the bill for erecting the statue in East Budleigh in 2007.  Ironically, in the same week that the smoking ban came into force.

The Sir Walter Raleigh Inn (22 High Street, East Budleigh, EX9 7ED)
This is a great-looking Grade II listed 16th century thatched village inn with a superb painted pub sign above the entrance. Inside there are two halves: the bar to the left, tables set up for dining on the right.  All with traditional furniture, wooden beams, and checked carpet.
It's a community run pub, the villagers having taken up an offer by the previous owner to buy the place themselves.

Real ale on offer was all local: Exeter 'Ferryman', Branscombe 'Branoc', Salcombe 'Gold', and - my pick - a well-kept Teignworthy 'Gundog', a 4.3% bronze ale made with Goldings hops.
A steady flow of customers made their way in and I began to feel a bit guilty that I may have nabbed a regulars favourite table in the corner by the bar counter. 

3.2 miles from East Budleigh is my next port of call: Newton Poppleford.
Which contains one of only three pubs that I've played skittles in and been thoroughly beaten by the local ladies of the Women's Institute.

The Cannon Inn (High Street, Newton Poppleford, EX10 0DW)
Despite having visited a few times, I've never set foot in the right hand bar, which I'm guessing is the locals room.  I really should have been adventurous on this occasion, but I know you get a view of the barrels of beer on stillage in the bar to the left, so that's where I gravitated to.

Butcombe 'Original' or Sharps 'Sea Fury' were the two barrels on this occasion.  A bit of a disappointing choice, as I know there is often something a bit more exciting.
Never mind, the Butcombe was on decent form, supped alongside a filling plate of home-cooked pub grub.

From Newton Pop, there are more buses (at least there should be - I spent an age waiting for a number 9) to the Regency seaside town of Sidmouth.

The Swan and the Anchor are the pubs that tend to take it in turns for a spot in the Good Beer Guide. But, as a regular visitor here, I often find every table given over to foodie custom and the drinker forced outside in both those pubs.
So I headed up to the Radway, which is always a good option for anyone who likes a down-to-earth boozer, dogs, Otter ale, and footy on a big screen.

The Radway Inn (1 Radway Place, Sidmouth, EX10 8PY)
This street corner pub faces the Radway cinema and (one-time dubious GBG entry) the Conservative Club.  Head through the door on the corner and the bar is L-shaped, dart board at one end, pool table at the other.  
I settled on a dumpy stool by the window, where I could watch football on the screen and crack a grin every now and again from the banter between the locals.  The locals being everyone else there apart from me.

 

A decent, fresh, pint of Otter 'Bitter' on this visit, with boxed scrumpy cider always being a back-up if the Otter or Doom Bar cask wasn't up to scratch.

A day later, I made the trip a couple more miles up the Jurassic Coast to the village of Branscombe.  Sidmouth attracts coachloads of holidaymakers year round, but you're really in peak East Devon tourist territory when you venture down the lanes beyond the donkey sanctuary to Branscombe.  There's a rocky beach, National Trust buildings, hilly footpaths, and two pubs.

Firstly I called into The Masons Arms (Branscombe, EX12 3DJ), simply because it has generous opening hours.  
Picture postcard pub perfection in the sunshine...

The only problem with the Mason's is that it is geared very much toward booking a table for food, or booking yourself into one of the rooms for an overnight stay.  Not a traditional boozer then, and you'll find the gentlefolk are prone to form a small queue and peer closely at the pump clips, taking forever to make up their minds whether they want the Branscombe 'Summa This' or St Austell 'Anthem'.  Then ending up with a Carlsberg.
'Summa That' for me - a good, strong, peachy pale ale. 

Branscombe is supposed to be the longest village in the UK - something that seems believable when you walk from one pub to the other.  The Fountain Head is 1.1 miles uphill from the Masons, nestled between grassy slopes on either side.

The Fountain Head (Branscombe, EX12 3BG)
It's one of my Devon highlights.
A proper rural inn that serves food but hasn't become at all foody.  Wood panelled rooms to the back, a run of tables on the cobbles out front, and a great flagstone floored front bar.
I grabbed the big chunky wooden table in the corner of the front room, with the fire burning despite it being warm enough outside for me to be in short sleeves.

I guess the thick stone walls of this old building probably don't get let much of the summer heat inside, not that we've had much of that yet this year.
The two ales were both from the very local Branscombe Brewery : 'Branoc' or 'Golden Fiddle'.

And that's where I'll leave this East Devon post.
Content on one of the best tables in the pub, with a local bitter, the dog waiting expectantly for someone to come and serve him.

Next up: a random trawl through some Dartmoor inns.

Oxford Goes Punk Rock!

A local post as I loiter around the bottom of Cowley Road in East Oxford for a couple of noisy gigs book-ending the first weekend of June.
Don't worry - the usual exotic locations will resume shortly.  Well...Bicester and Staines, anyway.

First up, a pre-gig pint of Young's 'Special' in the Angel & Greyhound on St Clement's.

Angel and Greyhound (30 St Clement's Street, Oxford, OX4 1AB)
This may not be the most obvious place to start the evening before a bill of frantically noisy guitar rock.  But, it was actually a punk hangout at the end of the 70's, as evidenced by a handful of pictures of folk out front under the sign with its original name...

Things are a bit different now.  The Angel and Greyhound is decked out in trad style with lots of hues of brown, a couple of armchairs by the fireplace, seating stretching round the corner beyond the bar to a secluded back garden.  Or you can sit out front and watch a traffic jam, if preferred.
It was a little bit too quiet for a Friday evening - a handful of gentlefolk within, not a punk in sight.

Cask ale offerings were the expected 'Original' and 'Special' from Young's, plus two local options: Shotover 'Prospect' and Loose Cannon 'Abingdon Bridge'.
I tend to find the 'Special' doesn't really live up to its name, but it was in good condition, a decent malty bitter to start the evening.

Just a couple of minutes down the road brings me to the Plain.  Strikingly located on the peninsula between Cowley Road and Iffley Road is the Cape of Good Hope.  I was about to say this one is easier to navigate around than its namesake on the tip of Africa, but have you tried tackling this roundabout in rush hour?

Cape of Good Hope (Ifley Road, The Plain, Oxford, OX4 1EA)
This is a pub I don't get to very often, although it usually appears to be busy.  On this occasion there was a wide mix of clientele: sports fans watching some sort of rugby fixture on the big screens, a birthday party, youngsters crawling the bars of Cowley Road, and students in black tie and dinner jackets.
Plus some real scruffy waifs and strays attracted by the punk night on the first floor - that'd be us!!!
Several 'craft' options on offer from Camden and Deya - a real cider option - and Purity 'Ubu' or 'Mad Goose'.  Not cheap, although nowhere in central Oxford is, and I reckon I lost a few penneth worth of beer with that hefty head...

There's been a bit of a lack of loud bands playing the city recently.  Oxford really doesn't have a great live music scene, not helped when the music venues (the Wheatsheaf and Cellar Bar most recently) keep getting closed down.
So it's great to see someone spot an opportunity and put on a Punk Night at the Cape.  And great to see a reasonable crowd of punters gathered on the first floor.

 

The first floor of this pub used to be a popular club and live music venue called The Point some twenty-and-a-bit years ago.  As well as lots of local bands, Catatonia, Coldplay, and The Strokes all graced the stage here.
Okay, so I don't expect any of this evenings four acts will be added to that list, but a tenner for 4 loud bands is good value for money in my book.  And I do declare that Newport (the Wales one) band Pizzatramp were fantastically good fun and really nice chaps to chat to afterward.

Fast forward to Monday 4th.
At teatime, you'd have found me in The Star on Rectory Road, probably my favourite East Oxford pub at the moment.

The Star (21 Rectory Road, Oxford, OX4 1BU)
It's always been a bit of a cracking pub - a traditional boozer attracting students and locals; a decent playlist on the stereo; lovely garden out back; decent beers on offer.
And on this visit, they had this stuff...

 

Crikey, Bass is getting everywhere now.  Finding it in Oxfordshire was unthinkable a couple of years back, but this year it's cropped up in several places.
On good enough form for me to return and get a second pint - priced under a fiver, and a most enjoyable start to proceedings.
The cask range varies, as does the keg which is decent too - Delirium Tremens on tap, Deya 'Steady Rolling Man', and a 6% IPA by local brewer BMan...

I popped from the Star into the city centre to grab a pizza in the White Rabbit and a pint in the Grapes, before heading back to Cowley Road for the Monday evening music.

The Bullingdon (162 Cowley Road, Oxford, OX4 1UE)

Not to be confused with the Oxford Uni private all-male dining club where some esteemed leaders of the country have disgraced themselves, this is the city's smaller gig venue to big brother the O2 up the road.
There's a smart bar to the front which specialises in cocktails and (not so crafty) craft beers.  Head down the corridor to the side and you're in the scuzzy venue, black paint, dodgy beer in plastic cups, and some truly horrendous toilets.

On this occasion I was there for New Jersey hardcore band, Gel. 

Singer Sami Kaiser is described by local music rag Nightshift as sounding like 'hell vomiting up its dinner, when dinner was a cauldron of lava".  Add that to the Kerrang! review of 2023 debut full-length LP 'Only Constant' as a "masterclass in chucking sonic Molotov cocktails, then basking in their searing heat", and this sounds like my cup of tea. 
When they say 'full-length LP', we're talking 10-songs in 16 minutes.  Which meant the show was over predictably quickly.  A furious burst of energy and noise.  Home in time for the 10pm news.

That barely gave me time to finish my rather odd, and fairly expensive, pint of Hydes 'Grand Central IPA'.  I'd actually tried to order the Camden stout, but the bar staff couldn't hear me and my pointing skills must need working on.

All-in-all, a good weekend of raucous music in Oxford.  More of this sort of thing, please!