HALF A DOZEN PUBS IN EVERY GBG COUNTY. No. 38 – SOMERSET

I’m a big fan of Somerset, and so is Baa Baa Toure.

He accompanied me on a never-ending series of campervan adventures in 2021-22 to the South-West, stopping in car parks from Exmoor to the Somerset levels to Cheddar Gorge.

I still don’t think I’ve got the hang of the county, but I did make peace with Wells, a place I’d never appreciated till I approached the cathedral from Vicar’s Close.

Every year brings a host of new entries, both young and old pub, but here’s five for starters;

Your first port of call may detain you longer than a pint…

Bath – The Star

In fact, you’ll have to order a minimum of 3 pints of Bass to get it served in the jug, so take a friend like Nick to help you.

As Nick will attest, this is one of the Top 3 places in the whole wide world to drink Draught Bass. I’ve only just noted this is a Abbey Ales pub, and some folk swear by the Bellringer. Blimey.

So good I bought the T-shirt.

Holman Clavel, Culmhead – The Holman Clavel

Look, you shouldn’t read too much into these silly pub selections. They aren’t necessarily even my favourite places, or the ones with the best beer scores (on a Tuesday afternoon in 2016 when I visited), more an attempt at a representative sample of the county’s attractions and pubs.

I’d visit the Holman Clavel just for the location on the edge in the Blackdown Hills. And that sign;

“Honestly, it looked like one of those rough and ragged Blackdown Hills pubs run by an octogenarian called Doris selling only Brancombe Vale from a jug and pickled eggs (in brine).“

“I was shocked to find something rather smarter, with WiFi, cream teas and young staff.“

Good Otter, too, and you must drink Otter in Somerset. Even if it comes from over the border.

Top smoking shelter, too (don’t smoke, kids).

Portishead – The Ship

Wonder why I picked this…

Actually, not just the immaculate Bass (a theme emerging in these posts), but the wonderful sunset views over the Severn,

the landlord of 50 years, the sense of timeliness…

“Mr Long (he’s wearing shirt and tie so I’d better be formal) tells me his entire history as a publican, which stretches back to the ’60s, taking in Worthing E and numerous stints as a relief barman. Take that, octogenarian Devonian ladies !“

“He also gives me more information on Gwent steelworks than you could ever wish for.“

How on earth did it take so long to make the Beer Guide ?

Lower Godney – The Sheppey Inn

I’m really including this one because the burger was SO good,

but also because it’s incredibly quirky,

had decent beer, and it’s just far enough away from Glastonbury that you wouldn’t hear the sounds of “Glasto” from washed-up heritage acts if you find yourself here in mid-June.

And finally from me;

West Chinnock – Muddled Man

You’ve sussed me ! I’m picking pubs on the basis of cute signs, Draught Bass and gourmet burgers.

You should visit this place in the straggly villages west of Yeovil because it’s great, and frankly because if you don’t it won’t be here if the level of trade I saw on this Sunday is anything to go by.

“The Muddled Man had the courtesy to be open all day on Sunday, but the locals clearly had the discourtesy not to visit the pub, or at least to sod off after the roasts had been eaten at 3pm. Sadly this has been a pattern in many pubs this summer; deserted after Sunday lunch. “No-one’s got any money” I was told by more than one landlord.“

“A warm welcome, a higgledy-piggledy joy of a pub, wonderful drop of Potholer (NBSS 4)”.

Over to you for the 6th. I’m pretty sure the answer is “Tucker’s Grave” but it’s so long since I visited that classic I couldn’t nominate it myself.

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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.

22 thoughts on “HALF A DOZEN PUBS IN EVERY GBG COUNTY. No. 38 – SOMERSET”

  1. Good choices there. The Ship is certainly one of my favourites. Vic is a great guy full of interesting stories. I think the reason it took so long to get in GBG was due to “cask breathers”.
    Minor correction – Star is Abbey Ales not Bath Ales (who are not based in Bath).
    My 6th would be Hunters Lodge at Priddy. Classic old Mendips pub. Roger, the licensee, has been there as long as Vic at the Ship if not longer.

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    1. Cask breathers ? Would never have believed it !

      Thanks for the correction, looked wrong as soon as I wrote Bath.

      I’d be happy with Priddy; popped there in 2015 from Wookey but failed to take photos.

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  2. I have had some lovely welcomes in Somerset pubs over the years. We settled down to watch England v Sweden in the World Cup 2018 at the Stags Head in Dunster. Just before the match the landlady insisted we moved the furniture to get a better view of the TV and then at half time the landlord brought out the sandwiches. Oh, and the beer was superb. Changed hands I think.

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  3. Somerset rivals Derbyshire for quantity of brilliant unspoilt pubs – lots of options but I’d add Seymour Arms at Wityham Friary – although maybe the cider is better than the beer there.

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  5. Agreed that the Star is a Top 10 pub 😀 Somerset also includes two of my favourites – the Black Horse at Clapton-in-Gordano (which I don’t think has been in the GBG recently) and the Crown at Churchill (which is in the current edition).

    A very varied county in terms of landscape and character.

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  7. Just the two, The Ship and The Star (where I drink Bellringer, don’t judge me)
    Honourable mentions:
    Black Horse, Clapton in Gordano
    Old Green Tree, Bath
    Fleur de Lys, Norton St Philip
    Halfway House, Pitney
    Rose and Crown (Eli’s), Huish Episcopi

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  8. Just back from a couple of days in Somerset. I should have waited until next weekend and used the RM half dozen as my guide.
    Another vote from me for the Hunter’s Lodge, visited this lunchtime. The Queen Victoria in Priddy was great too, two real fires, plenty of character, good food and decent Butcombe Original.

    Bill’s list above pretty much sums up all my Somerset picks.
    Gotta learn to get my comments in faster!

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  9. There’s some excellent pubs been mentioned there including
    Star, Bath – last May for a four pint jug with Jon and Tracy,
    Hunters Lodge, Priddy – a favourite of my wife,
    Crown, Churchill,
    Halfway House, Pitney – well deserved former national Pub of Year,
    Rose and Crown, Huish Episcopi.

    It’s the Windmill rather than the Ship we’ve known at Portishead.

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  11. You’ve made me realise that only in Cumbria and Derbyshire have I stayed in more pubs that Somerset where I’ve known six
    Knapp – Rising Sun
    Milborne Port – Queens Head
    Minehead – Duke of Wellington
    North Wootton – Three Elms
    South Petherton – Brewers Arms
    Waterrow – Rock.
    Don’t forget that a pub is for bed, not just beer and breakfast.

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    1. Pub B & B is great in theory but seems very expensive these days, though I recall Susan Nowak’s CAMRA Guide 30 years ago listing £40 rooms and us not thinking that was expensive then, oddly.

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      1. My recollection is of about fifteen to twenty years ago it going up from roughly from £20 to £50 a night.
        Cheapest now must be bed only, such as Preston’s Sun, or one of Humphrey’s, e.g. £60 for a double or twin room in his Sea Horse.

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      1. The funniest thing about automation, computerisation, AI etc is that after 50 years of being told we’ll have no work to do we’re having to work harder than ever to stand still (says he), and that’s in 50 years of relative peace.

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