I always like to finish a Good Beer Guide chapter, with a pint of something brown, bitter and boring in an Old Man’s backstreet boozer. But you can’t always finish with Doom Bar in Wetherspoons, and Devon fell in a modernish brewery tap-cum-burger bar on the road out of Exeter (hard to find, tucked away… Continue reading DEVON KNOWS I’M NOT MISERABLE NOW (I’VE FINISHED THEIR GBG CHAPTER)
QUEUE JUMPING IN HENNOCK
And here’s another one from Dartmoor in July, a penultimate Devonian tick. Can you guess the last one ? Hennock is hard to hard to place, “Teign Valley, up the hill between Bovey Tracey and Chudleigh“, I guess. Till, you realise that you’re the only person in Sheffield who could place Exeter on a map,… Continue reading QUEUE JUMPING IN HENNOCK
“Hello my lover !” – Chagford cheers.
It was inevitable that completing Devon would mean a trip or two into the wilds of Dartmoor. Well, two, precisely. US Dave had noted the presence of Chagford’s estimable Globe on my Final 100 ticks. It would have made a good last tick, too, classic rural pub with cheery landlord in bucolic li ‘ol English… Continue reading “Hello my lover !” – Chagford cheers.
GORGING ON LYDFORD
Closing in on Devon now, and some glorious Dartmoor countryside that had I spent any time exploring I’d be sharing with you now. I’d walked the eponymous gorge a couple of times, most recently in 2020 when Covid restrictions (didn’t know gorges could catch Covid) meant Mrs RM only had to walk a third of… Continue reading GORGING ON LYDFORD
ASHPRINGTON REMEMBERS 1999 – THE YEAR STANDISH HAD 11 GBG ENTRIES
Nearly missed one, having made a draft past nearly three (3) months ago. Ashprington’s Durant Arms is your archetypal remote destination Devonian dining pub. The guys in the BMW rather spoilt my shot but prove how posh it was. I know some of you assume I think any pub without blokes in Hi-Vis drinking Carling… Continue reading ASHPRINGTON REMEMBERS 1999 – THE YEAR STANDISH HAD 11 GBG ENTRIES
ARRIVING IN SANDFORD A WEEK EARLY FOR THE FERRET RACING
On the home strait (sp ?) in Devon now, possibly for the last time if I bin the GBG when it arrives (imminently). Perhaps just as well, as the accommodation costs were crippling, and councils have been clamping down on us folk parking our campervans overnight as locals brand pitchforks and shout “Get off our… Continue reading ARRIVING IN SANDFORD A WEEK EARLY FOR THE FERRET RACING
“No, you CAN’T just come in & use the loo !”
Reader “Dave” asks what places I’m looking forward to revisiting in the UK, without the pressure of completing the Guide. Well, North Devon for a start, and a first trip to Lundy Island, whose pub might even make the GBG (says Ed). The end of July saw a return to Ilfracombe for an elusive tick… Continue reading “No, you CAN’T just come in & use the loo !”
LIKE WHITE LIGHTNING, WINKLEIGH IS LICKED
Some time this week, the 2023 GBG will “drop” (ugh) on the doorstep of the Privilege Club members and for tickers this will signify a period of mourning as they realise their 98%/52% completion is now 89%/49% (sorry Si). Will I care ? Ask me when the good book arrives, and I see new names… Continue reading LIKE WHITE LIGHTNING, WINKLEIGH IS LICKED
PLANT POTS AND TRACTORS
Blimey, those North Devon pubs are remote. If BRAPA walks from Eggesford station to the Lymington Arms he should fortify himself with the breakfast at the Crossing Cafe. Technically in Wembworthy, but really in Lama Cross (a garage and a pub), in the middle of nowhere, the Lymington was deadly quiet when I arrived, bar… Continue reading PLANT POTS AND TRACTORS
MUCH TO CHERISH IN CHERITON FITZPAINE
I always knew Devon would be the toughest English county to complete. I was tempted to skip a few pubs on the Devonian slog, but I realise some of you love pics of lil ol’ England and it gives me even more places to add to the Blog Map. A string of tiny village pubs… Continue reading MUCH TO CHERISH IN CHERITON FITZPAINE
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