An Unexpected Pub Tour in Topsham

The last time I visited the Exe estuary was in December: on the western shore, in my winter coat, grey clouds threatening, Omicron running rife.
Now in sunny July, I returned to the opposite side of the river to visit pubs in Topsham and Exmouth.  (Omicron's still running rife, but we've decided we're not bothered about it any more...)

The starting point was a return visit to the Bridge Inn.
My enthusiasm was dampened by seeing the main door firmly closed and service from a stable door.  Guess we won't be sitting in the snug then.

Bridge Inn (Bridge Hill, Topsham, EX3 0QQ)
We placed our order at the hatch: veggie Scotch eggs, Salcombe 'Island Street Porter' and a Branscombe 'Flat Calm' cider.
We took these out to a picnic table next to the muddy banks of the River Clyst, with more tables alongside the edge of the car park and a small marquee at the end.

When the condiments were brought to our table, I timidly asked if they only operated outside at this time of year.  Apparently they keep the two front rooms and indoor bar counter shut in warm weather, so as just to serve from the one spot.
"But feel free to pop in and have a look around before you go", we were told. 
So we did.

The Tap Room

Whilst inside we were fortunate enough to get chatting to the daughter of the current licensee, another generation of the family who've run the Bridge Inn for over a hundred years.
We were given a rundown of the pub history, with it's many old features being pointed out to us.  Forget the recent Jubilee - there is still bunting from the Coronation hanging up in the snug.

The wonderful snug - complete with ancient grandfather clock from 1726.
The hatch was added after WWII to make serving the beer from the cellar easier.

We were taken behind the counter - the inner sanctum - then through the cellar, where beers are served straight from the barrel, and past some remnants of what would once have been the pub's own brewery.

The Malt House Room

The final room is the old malt house, now scattered with homely furniture, a giant pile of logs, and the ledge around the wall housing a crockery collection.

Thank you very much for the tour of the pub!
I left a very happy heritage pub ticker!

From little-altered historic inns, our next destination was originally a 16th century coaching inn, but has been much updated into gastro-territory for Topsham tourists.
This was located in the characterful narrow streets weaving through the town to the quay.
The bright sunshine behind the hotel scuppered my photo....

The Globe Hotel (Fore Street, EX3 0DY - web)
I feared for the worst, expecting a query of whether we would be eating/had a reservation.  But actually the room to the left of the entrance is a reasonably comfy bar with plenty of space for the casual drinker.
From the St Austell line-up on the bar, I picked their lesser-seen 'Anthem', an enjoyable easy-drinking golden ale brewed with all-British ingredients.

The other rooms to the side and rear were fully set-up for dining, although quiet enough for me to take a picture of the globe at the Globe...

  

Leaving Topsham, we headed south on bus 57, disembarking before it reached the bustling heart of Exmouth.
Our destination in the suburbs was the Holly Tree, a bit of a regular in the Beer Guide, which I'd never made it to before.

Holly Tree (161 Withycombe Village Road, Exmouth, EX8 3AN)
Being a mile from central Exmouth and even further from the promenade and sandy beach, it's not surprising that this is every bit the locals pub.  Or that not many of them were in, as we arrived shortly after their 2pm opening time.

Just three tables occupied, all as far apart from each other as possible, and the chap by the pool table scarpered into the garden as soon as we sat near him.

Beers on the bar were St Austell 'Tribute' and 'Proper Job' and my pick of a decent Dartmoor 'Jail Ale'.  We were going to see a lot of all these beers over the coming week.

We hopped aboard a bus into town and made our way to another current GBG entry, this time a club just beyond a car park.
Nice 'Non Members Welcome' banner outside, removing the stress of knowing whether we needed to brandish CAMRA membership cards in order to get served.

GWRSA Railway Club (3-5 Royal Avenue, Exmouth, EX8 1EN - web)
Interesting scout hall hut design.
Inside it's every bit a club, with a stage at one end, bar at the other, typical function room table and chairs inbetween.
Originally it was for employees of the Great Western Railway only, but as the number of these declined over the years anyone can now become a member and go to bingo night, or to see bands with names like the Grumpy Old Gits and Old Skool Rox.

There was a good variety of beers on the bar, with the 5.1% stout, 'Darkness - The Prince of Ales', from Exeter Brewery, being my pick.
And very nice it was too.

Drinking up, we strolled to the water-side, with fine views up and across the estuary.
In the warm weather Mrs PropUptheBar took the chance to paddle her feet.
Cripes, how far is she going...

Looks like she's on her way to tick off the Galleon Inn at Starcross on the other side of the Exe.
Come back!

Exeter Pub Explorations

An afternoon spent in the city of Exeter, in which we visit Brewdog's newest bar, a micro pub and two good beer guide entries.

In a change of fortune the weather was well and truly on our side.  Having been January for the past five months, the temperature rose, the sun came out, and folks in t-shirts flocked to the cathedral green and surrounding cafes with outdoor seating.

We made the most of it and enjoyed a short wander around the city centre.

If you look closely at the picture of the Historic Guildhall you can see the football stuck on the first floor ledge.
Possibly the wayward shot from St Jame's Park that cost Exeter City their place in the League 2 play-offs this season.

The Historic Guildhall.
The building next door to the left was once the 700 year old Turks Head, which may yet reopen as a pub.

For our first pub visit, we headed down St Martin's Lane, a passageway between the High Street and Cathedral Green.
Half the lane is taken up by scaffolding as the Royal Clarence Hotel is resurrected following the devastating fire in 2016.
The scaffolding scuppers opportunities to photograph the pub somewhat... 

The Ship (1-3 Martins Lane, EX1 1EY - web)
The Ship dates back to the 15th century, a Tudor inn which claims Sir Francis Drake as a one-time customer.
But forget Francis Drake - the Ship once had Sam the Spaniel, the bar-tending dog, who'd look after visitors around the time of the second world war.

Nothing so exciting for us - I suspect humans are better in most aspects at serving customers in pubs, so we had the usual instructions and sign-in, and were asked if we'd be okay with a table upstairs.
Which was fine, except that we had the first floor to ourselves and nobody else was directed up here during our visit.  Which made me a bit paranoid.

Socially isolated we may have been, but I did enjoyed my Exeter Brewery 'Avocet' in the Ship.

Everyone else was having great fun downstairs

We decided to move on from one of the cities oldest pubs to hipster craft beer at the newly opened Exeter Brewdog.
This has a grand location in the colonnaded building at the edge of the Guildhall shopping centre...

Brewdog Exeter (Guildhall, Exeter, EX4 3LN - web)

Wow!  They've certainly found themselves a pretty impressive space in Exeter.
Suddenly our little Oxford branch (which would fit into this site ten times over) seems a little inadequate.

Lots of things you'd expect from the chain: a bit of neon lighting, distressed concrete, visible ducts and pipework, long bench seating, big billboard beer list, wings Wednesday... 
It seemed to be proving a hit with the Exeter public, with tables quickly filling up whilst we were there.
The beer list offered up all the usual Brewdog suspects, along with a couple of specials and guests.
What to pick?  Unsurprisingly the strongest one: a 'Tonkoatko' imperial oat stout from the always dependable Brew York which was quite superb.

Shark infested walls

Time for another change in style.
We'd done ye olde inn and craft beer - now for a micro...

This was a fair old walk from the city centre, across to the Heavitree area, where the main road is lined with shops, takeaways, a couple of old-school pubs and our destination...

The Pig and Pickle (38a Fore Street, Heavitree, EX1 2QL - fb)
We arrived unfashionably early, loitering around outside as the staff moved chairs around and readied the pub for it's 5pm opening time.
They're probably banished as an authentic micro on account of having an extravagant two WC's, as well as a large bar and serving evil keg beers.  But I really liked it - a comfortable, relaxed place with some great beers.

Previously a post office, by any chance?

A chalk-board on the wall advertised available drinks, with one ale and one cider on cask and a wealth of interesting choices on the taps.
I started with the cask 'Liberation Libation', brewed by Crossed Anchors from nearby Exmouth, before moving on to another local on tap - Utopian 'Comrade Beer N.14', a great smoked Maibock.

We made another 15-minute stroll through side streets to reach the Good Beer Guide listed Bowling Green pub, close to the football ground.

The Bowling Green (29-30 Blackboy Road, Exeter, EX4 6ST - web)

This proved to be a pretty spacious L-shaped pub, with further seating out in the back garden which we didn't explore.  It was nicely rough around the edges, slightly ramshackle and not spoilt by anyone trying to paint it an olive colour and make it trendy.
In line with the look, the menu dished up good value burgers and pizzas.

The pub dog paid us a visit to look yearningly at our pizza and hope we didn't spot the 'please do not feed me' collar.

Wot no Wetherspoons?  Yep, remarkably enough we finished our evening contentedly in the Bowling Green on the Otter 'Amber' and never made it to George's Meeting Place or the Imperial or any of the other pubs that we thought we may try.
I guess the Imperial Stout slowed us down.

Exeter had given us a nice little selection of different venues, several tasty beers and a pizza-coveting Dalmation.  What more can I ask for?

Next up Weston Super Mare.

Exeter Pub Crawl

Weird things you find in pubs

This post finds me on a January day which leapt between rain showers and blue skies, setting about exploring a handful of the drinking spots that the city of Exeter had to offer.

I headed to have a quick look at the cathedral which was handy for the first bar of the afternoon...

With it's back door facing onto the cathedral yard, I headed to the Beer Cellar (2 South Street, EX1 1DZ).  This was originally a noodle bar, prior to being converted to corner the Exeter craft beer market in 2013.  It's micro in size, although doesn't fit the official description of a micropub.  There's just three tables and a handful of stools.

Bar at the Beer Cellar, Exeter

On my visit in 2017 I seem to remember they were featuring Irish breweries - this time around there is still plenty left over from a tap takeover by Gibberish Brewing. 
Starting out at the tail-end of 2017 and hailing from Merseyside, this is the venture of Mad Hatter brewer Gareth Matthews.  As Untappd only lists the Beer Cellar and the Gibberish brewpub as places to get the first batch of their beers, this is what I believe they call a 'scoop'. 

I tried the 'Chevalier' on cask, a 4.8% ESB brewed with coffee leafs, then couldn't resist the brightly coloured 'Eton Mess Sour'.  It would have been easy to stay longer and try all the offerings from this new brewery, or yield to temptation and grab the 11.7% barrel aged Cloudwater DIPA. 
But 11.7% in the first pub never bodes well for a pub crawl, so I moved onwards....


I headed westwards through the centre and out to the Imperial (New North Road, EX4 4AH).  I've gone through a bit of a grumpy phase with Wetherspoons pubs of late, but I will concede that I do have a fond spot for this impressive pub.  Built in 1810, it operated as The Imperial Hotel between 1923 to 1994 before the pub chain converted it and opened in 1996.  Inside there are a number of splendid rooms and an wonderful orangery which has a separate bar and is a great place to sit when the sun is shining through the panes of glass.  I picked a pale ale from Peerless Brewery, brewed in the Wirral, 
Local Devon beer sampling not not off to a flying start.

The Imperial, Exeter

Walking downhill from the Imperial brought me to St Davids train station, where I headed across to the Great Western Hotel (St Davids Station, EX4 4NU) which sits on a corner overlooking the station and its car park. 

Many years ago this used to be a regular point of call for me when I used to regularly catch the train from St David's and popped in whenever I had any time to spare before departure. 
So it's a nice change today that I don't have to keep looking at my watch and rushing my beer. 

The bar has had a make-over since the days I remember it - the signage on the front is smarter, the hotel has a proper reception desk, and the bar looks like a proper hotel bar with neat and tidy furniture.  I'm sure it used to pretty scruffy and.....I like scruffy! 

There were 9 hand-pumps along the bar, but only a choice of three beers on this visit.  I picked a Pitchfork Golden Ale - Western-Super-Mare - getting closer! 

Having picked up an Exe Drinker magazine, I'd spotted an advert for the recently reopened Iron Bridge Hotel (St Davids Hill, EX4 3RG), so made this the next stop.  It's been rescued after several years closed, which is great to see.  With a front and back room, this has been nicely and carefully refurbished with lots of mirrors and pictures covering the wall.  Amongst half a dozen hand-pumps  they stock Exeter Brewery's beers, so I'd finally got onto the local ales in the shape of a 5% winter ale, 'Falls Over'.

The Iron Bridge Hotel

Walking along the Iron Bridge that the pub is named after, you can see the buildings to the left that would once have been St Anne's Well Brewery.  I stroll on, back past the Beer Cellar and further down South Street to my second Wetherspoons outlet of the day - Georges Meeting Place (38 South Street, EX1 1ED). 
This was my first visit to this pub and it's one of those amazing Spoons conversions that make me go wow as I walk through the door.  This was an 18th century chapel and retains the pulpit at one end of the bar, stained glass windows and mildly precarious staircases to first floor balconies.  

Interior of Georges Meeting Place, Exeter

Hourglass, picture from their website as
mine didn't work and I figured they
wouldn't mind as I'm full of praise for
the place.   

Further away from the city centre, across a roundabout, I make my way on to The Hourglass (21 Melbourne Street, EX2 4AU), which I'd seen in the Good Beer Guide and on a 'Devon's best pubs' list where it was categorised as "Best for a cosy date with plenty of conversation starters". 
Which was unfortunate, as my date was 150-miles away back in Oxford and would be upset if I was here starting conversations with anyone else.  Besides there was only one gent busy reading his paper and the pub cat which was wholly uninterested in me. 
It was quiet on a Monday evening. 
That didn't detract from the wonderful surroundings - this is a characterful old pub, with a circular bar, the smell of the real fire in the air, dim lighting and barrels and dried hops decorating the bar.  It's a place I'd certainly recommend heading a short distance out the centre to visit and I enjoyed sitting here with my Exeter Brewery 'Avocet' ale.

Monday's suck for the pub-crawler - several places I'd otherwise have headed to on this visit were closed until later in the week.
Which just means I'll have to come back and do it again.
Cheers! 🍻