GOOD CHEER IN PORLOCK WEIR

Well, well, the world is full of misery today, isn’t it ?

So I’m guessing what you want to read about are the joys of a walk in the wonderful North Somerset countryside, where Stella and blackberry matching is de rigueur,

and ending at the pebbled beach at Porlock Weir (the Porth Dinllaen of the south),

and a(nother) pint of Otter in the Ship Inn.

Great conversation underneath the Exmoor parasol with the barmaid;

“Can I have a beer ?” “Yes”

“Can I come in ?” “Yes”

“Can I sit inside ?” “Yes”

I’m not being funny, we should clone that barmaid.

Now, the Ship will confuse young BRAPA, what with there being two identically named Guide entries a mile apart.

It’s confused Bing Maps as well, which determinedly tells me there IS no pub called the Ship at the Weir.

I’m a little wary of going in the entrance marked “Bar” just in case the real GBG entry is the vast whitewashed hulk behind.

And I’m also a little confused, if thrilled, at being allowed INSIDE the Ship, and allowed a beer before noon.

In fact, despite seeming to depend entirely on gentlefolk asking for flat whites (“It’s a white coffee, that OK“), the Ship seems closer to Proper Pub than anything seen on my South-west Saunter this last month.

You don’t get bar staff marking Jane’s divorce on ancient beams in a Brunning & Price, do you ?

The Otter Amber is cool and crisp, an easy NBSS 3+. “This time I know it’s for real (ale)” sings Donna Summer, “Call Me” says Debbie Harry, as pubs return to ’80s synth pop and all is well with world. Well, my world.

No, I didn’t attempt to drive up Porlock Hill to Lynton. That can wait.

Published by retiredmartin

Retired NHS, doing long walks around UK and the world to record the great bits. Focused on Good Beer Guide pubs and live music.

19 thoughts on “GOOD CHEER IN PORLOCK WEIR”

      1. No, again, leaving the best for last:) Staffordshire beyond Leek is little known to me. I find the more we visit the UK though our circle of visitation shrinks to regions in the north. More time spent in less places. I intend to see Staffordshire in more detail. I love the whole swath of land from the West Midlands up to Yorkshire and east to the coast.

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      2. Dave,
        There’s not much of “Staffordshire beyond Leek” for me but I know what you mean !
        You’ve reminded me that there’s always somewhere worth going to for the first time and somewhere worth returning to. Twenty times from 1982 to 1992 a few of us keen on walking and drinking went away for a weekend staying in a rural pub and year by year the list of possible future weekends kept getting longer. ( That of course was long before my knees failed )

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  3. Lovely pics, you make it look almost like…Devon. We went to the other Ship, if I’d known this other Ship was so good looking I’d have risked the marriage for the second time that day and coasted on down for some shingle-kicking.

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  4. Being a strictly black coffee drinker (if the coffee is good, why ruin it?), I finally got up the ambition to look up what a ‘flat white’ is. My day is complete as I learned something new. That’s why I read this blog.

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  6. “where Stella and blackberry matching is de rigueur,”

    Is that how Shandy’s came to be?

    “(the Porth Dinllaen of the south)”

    If you say so.

    And with regards to the OS map below; they really really like the word Porlock don’t they?
    (mind you, that submarine forest looks… intriguing)

    “and a(nother) pint of Otter in the Ship Inn.”

    You could have said ‘and a(notter) pint’ and we’d have figured it out.

    “I’m not being funny, we should clone that barmaid.”

    Already been done. They were called the Stepford Wives. 😉

    “Now, the Ship will confuse young BRAPA, what with there being two identically named Guide entries a mile apart.”

    Perhaps, but they are in two DIFFERENT Porlocks. 🙂

    “at being allowed INSIDE the Ship”

    How does one sit at a table if one can’t cross the yellow line?

    “You don’t get bar staff marking Jane’s divorce on ancient beams in a Brunning & Price, do you ?”

    If you say so. 😉

    “and all is well with world. Well, my world.”

    That’s the only world that counts… for each and every one of us.

    Cheers

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