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.

Dartmoor Pub Delights

In which we explore four cracking pubs in Dartmoor National Park.
Only another 50-or-so to do from my 'Legendary pubs of Dartmoor' book, then.

On a grey Monday morning we set off for the heart of moor, making our way first to Postbridge.

Clapper Bridge

Retired Martin often boasts of the good weather following him on his pub-ticking travels.  The weather follows me too.  Except in my case it's rain, wind and hail.
We'd walked all of 200m from the visitor centre to the Clapper Bridge before the heavens opened.
What else can you do when the weather is against you, than make for the pub for an early lunch...

Warren House Inn (Postbridge, PL20 6TA - web)
This has to be one of the countries greatest settings for a pub.
Unless you like your pubs conveniently sited between the railway station and Greggs, in which case you'll be disappointed.

The Warren House Inn sits high on the moor on the roadside of the B3212, a road which provides drivers with regular sheep hazards as it rolls through spectacular barren scenery.  In the winter the pub is prone to being snowed-in for lengthy spells, whilst in the summer crowds of walkers, cyclists and tourists are liable to descend.

The pub gets my thumbs up on several counts...
👍 Beer mats delivered to the table with our drinks.
👍 A fine pint of Black Tor 'Pride of Dartmoor' ale.
👍 A no-nonsense menu of pub grub designed for folks who've traipsed over the moors rather than rocked up for a gastro experience. 

They also have the fine tale of the pub fire that has reputedly been burning since 1845 - we checked...it was still going strong on our visit.

There is a light fire that never goes out

Located at 1,425 meters feet above sea level, on a finer day we'd be tempted by the picnic tables across the road from the pub with some lovely views...

Moving on from the Warren House Inn, we traveled eastward, making our way to the village of Hennock.
There's a reasonable road route into Hennock, but we managed to find another way via the little white lanes that Devon is famous for.  The type where your bones are shaken by the rugged surface, the hedges scrape the sides of the car, and you pray you're not going to turn a corner and meet a tractor coming the other way.

But we made it, pulling up outside the pub.

Palk Arms (Church Road, Hennock, TQ13 9QB - web)
Through the front door is a cosy bar with a wood burner in a grand fireplace and bench seating in front of the window where one local, the sole customer, sat chatting to the barman.
On the hand-pumps was a fine local trio of Dartmoor 'Legend', Bays 'Devon Dumpling' and Teignworthy 'Gun Dog'.

On recommendation from our host, we took our drinks through the back room (pool table, juke box, Motley Crȕe poster) and into the extension where the tables are set up for dining.  It may not have the charm of the front bar, but it has views.

The local CAMRA magazine which I picked up in the pub features the Palk Arms on it's cover and proclaims this the best pub view in Devon.
Perched high above the Teign Valley, it's certainly a stunning location, spoiled only by the rain clouds catching up with us and everything going dark and wet (again).

Let me leap forward one day, when you'd find us in the same vicinity and on our way to the stannary town of Chagford...

Chagford is located on the eastern side of Dartmoor, is home to around 1450 souls and to an impressive four pubs.
Our pick of the four, with a listing in the current 2021 Good Beer Guide, was the Globe Inn.

I can't offer sunny, blue sky pub pictures, but instead I can give you a picture of the Globe with added window-cleaning action...

The Globe Inn (9 High Street, Chagford, TQ13 8AJ - web)
The main bar is charming, with some lovely bench seating against the wall and another majestic fireplace.
The beer choice on offer was Otter Ale or Dartmoor Brewery 'Dartmoor IPA'.  Has to be the Dartmoor ale on Dartmoor doesn't it?

Here's the bar...

And here's some mild smut in the Gents WC...

 

The Globe served us some tasty lunch, the beer was in fine condition and the staff and couple of locals friendly and welcoming.

As we were leaving the town we realised too late that Chagford's other GBG entry, the Ring O Bells, was defying it's advertised opening hours and was not closed as all sources said it was.  Next time...

Heading into the Teign Valley, which we were high above the previous day in the Palk Arms, we made our way through worsening weather to Bridford Inn.

Bridford Inn (Bridford, EX6 7HT - web)
Our's was but a short visit, so unfortunately I have little to write about this great village local.  We grabbed a Dartmoor 'Jail Ale' and sat in the sizable bar, whilst the locals congregated in the seats by the giant fireplace. 
If finding enormous fireplaces in pubs was our mission, we were on a roll.

As we went to leave, Mrs PropUptheBar managed to lock us in instead of releasing the catch on the door.  Even the barman was struggling to get it open and it looked for a moment like we might be settling in for the evening.
On reflection, there's worse places to get locked inside.

Four great pubs - despite being scuppered by bad weather and challenging opening hours on a Monday and Tuesday.
But oh so many more to return and visit...
...as usual!