Exmoor gastropub gets another trophy for the cabinet

The already many-garlanded Masons Arms in Knowstone, Exmoor, has been named Pub of the Year 2010 in the Michelin Eating Out in Pubs guide.

The 13th century inn, with a thatched roof and beamed bar, was originally three cottages built to house the masons as they constructed the village church of St Peter’s.

Chef-owner Mark Dodson spent 12 years as Michel Roux’s head chef at the three Michelin-starred Waterside Inn, Bray-on-Thames.

When the lure of country life proved too strong, Mark and his wife Sarah – who heads the charming front-of-house team – relocated to Devon with their three daughters; achieving a Michelin star for the pub a year later.

Masons Arms website

Return to home-cooked food at rural Torridge pub

The new chef at the Green Dragon Pub in Langtree, Karen Knight, has brought her speciality home cooked pub food to the menu.

Colin Edworthy, landlord of the Green Dragon, said he is excited by the fresh ideas and high standards she is bringing to his pub.

Karen said: ‘We are working on an exclusive menu which will see daily home cooked specials alongside customer favourites, such as steaks, gammon and fresh fish. In addition there are plans to install a carvery, and also a lunch menu for just £5.95.”

Bookings: 01805 601342.

I visit a Devon pub with a Thai flavour and the Beer Spill Rule (BSR) is ignored

We cycled home on the footpath next to the River Taw in the late-May dusk with bats circling overhead and moths flickering past our ears. What finer way to end an evening of serious journalism than with a straight empty path unfolding before you at speed under the powerful glare of a bicycle headlight in the North Devon countryside?

And the salty estuary breeze drying the spilled beer on your clothes....

A couple of hours earlier, we had arrived at the George Hotel in Braunton, where it had been a pleasant surprise to find half-a-dozen people who were originally from Thailand standing in the airy bar. In fact, it was a pleasant surprise to find a half-a-dozen people standing at a bar in North Devon on a midweek night, full stop, given some of the "Mary Celeste" alehouses I have visited and walked by during my odyssey in recent months.

But the Thais were workers, not customers; in common with a number of public houses, the George, which dominates a corner on the main road through the centre of Braunton, is heavily marketing its food, in this case, from Thailand, and it has clearly decided to do so as authentically as possible.

And this seems to be the trend at the moment: it's either "traditional English grub" or Asian cooking, and quite often a mixture of the two. (A smartypants - don't know any of them! - would here point out that what we call "Indian" food in England is in fact an English version of some types of Indian food which would be unrecognizable to the majority of the millions of people in that nation. Yes, but so what? My belly is still not convinced that real ale and curry are the best of companions, no matter how "authentic" it is).

I do love the spicy complexities, and subtleties, of Thai food and living in one of the least ethnically-diverse corners of the wild westcountry, it is always good to see and meet people from other countries and cultures. Unfortunately, we had already eaten, so did not sample the menu, although I am told by a reliable source it is good and also includes traditional English dishes, or examples of "fayre", as pubs will insist on calling them.

Apart from the Thai kitchen and bar staff, there were only four other punters and because the George is a big pub, it did feel a bit empty. I ordered a pint of the ubiquitous Tribute (very good) and we played a game of pool.

The George, an elegant inn which was built in 1929, has been recently refurbished. There are cushions on leathery sofas, a large screen showing sport, and those large-stems-in-vases things (you know, twigs and stuff) which seem so popular these days.

The bar room at the corner of the pub still has a pleasantly wooden old-fashioned feel, but there is a certain feeling of the place being modernised. I guess the pub is partly in line with the Victorian pub era, when homely chintz was the order of the day. I love those chaotic-looking Victorian pubs, with their collections of moths in frames and pictures of cricket players sporting handlebar moustaches; few of them have survived the corporate onslaught of the pubcos since the 1960s, even if bad facsimiles seem to be on every high street in the queendom. The men's lavs at the George, however, were pleasingly chipped and tatty, and very RED. I am disappointed to say there were plastic windowframes at the rear of the building.

Every now and then one of the Thai kitchen staff would emerge from the back room and anxiously check the football scores on the big screen. My friend sparked up a conversation; the chef didn't seem to speak much English but he knew which team he wanted to win (I'll give you a clue: they're from Manchester and they win everything).

While my friend and I were deciding once and for all that test cricket was the best sport because it is the most absurd sport, someone accidentally knocked over my friend's almost-full pint. The spiller apologised, not least for soaking me, but then did not offer to buy a replacement.

Now. I could write you 500 words on the finer details of pub culture and behaviour and the rights and wrongs of beer spillage, apologies, replacement pints and so on, but I always thought it was a given that you at least offer to buy a replacement, even if that offer is graciously refused.

But there was no offer. And that's just not cricket.

The George Hotel, Braunton

Adam's Ales rating: 3 out of 5

Drink this: Tribute

A modern pub for tourists on a busy roundabout inspires me go loco with commas

At the big roundabout, a sort of traffic island, if you will, there stands the public house Cook Island, which is dedicated to holidaymakers and daytrippers, who we love and hate, don't we?, even though how many of us have never been a holidaymaker?, if you will, where the emphasis is on food, like fish pie with lots of cheese, which people like, I saw them eating it, although I think cheese and fish should not be combined in this reality, it's an opinion, we're allowed them still aren't we?, or did I miss a new law, or a question for Bertrand Russell, or maybe Peter Cook, or a cab driver, or a combination of those people, and children are welcomed with a play area, but children, and I should know, like to use play areas as tactical planning rooms for wider assaults on the adult world, and go in those places like millionaire cigar fiends go in velvet-cloaked airport humidors in balmy south American airports, sunglassed eyes seamy with ruinous missions, maybe we should just lighten up, and maybe stop writing in sentences, let's see how it goes, well, like this, oh, yes, let's keep going a bit more, Cook Island, wasn't it?, and where there is an estate of wooden chalets next door, some of which seemed to be on sale for more than £100,000, which is more than I can afford to spend on a home for my family, like many people, I chortled as I 'tucked in' to my burger, it's always 'tucking in' with food journalists isn't it?, does anyone ever 'tuck in' in real life? apart from at bedtime, when it's vital, particularly in a chilly house, where the ice is inside the windows, a cliche, that once happened to me in my life, to almost misquote Morrissey again, which has happened before during this pub odyssey, so I was 'tucking in' and thinking about these wood palace chalets, and chortling, in a chippy sort of way, and thought is it time for a revolution?, maybe, does my son mind?, no he was plotting in the playroom, he likes throwing knives at the moment, tucking them in to passing innocents, like me, which I do not tolerate at home or in public houses, including in Cook Island, where the building is modern, in my view rather plain, not modernist like stream of consciousness writers, who can get tiresome, if they don't use full stops, people get narked, but anyway, sparking my prejudice against modern pubs, where does it come from, this prejudice?, people are more important than windowframes, you lunatic, although the windowframes didn't seem plastic, phew, I found myself staring, somewhat strangely, in both senses of the word, or maybe more, staring at the main road through a picture of the statue of liberty on the window, again a symbol, in one sense, of revolution, and sipping the Exmoor Ale, which was tasty, correct temperature, and the food was acceptable, and the staff who served it were extremely friendly, if friendliness can be extreme, a terrifying thought, and I started thinking about old Cook swinging around the world, stealing islands, that's what he did, wasn't it?, Cook, or Cookie as he soon became in my mind, as I took a stroll around the chalet estate, old brother Cookie who died 10 years before the storming of the Bastille, you're lucky I'm ending this now, I could go on all night, yes the end comma is deliberate, quite deliberate,

Cook Island, Mullacott Cross, near Ilfracombe, North Devon
Adam's Ale rating: 2 out of 5
Drink this: Exmoor Ale

Blaze at historic pub

By Kathryn Smith, North Devon Journal

A MAJOR fire at the historic Hoops Inn at Horns Cross has destroyed part of the 13th century pub.

But owners Dee and Gerry Goodwin say they plan to re-open for business on Monday.

There were 101 firefighters from across three counties fighting the blaze on Monday night.

Chimney sparks had been spotted by a passer by and combined with the high winds, set the thatch alight.

Dee said: “We are absolutely devastated. This is not just our business, it is our home. It may take a while, but we plan for it to be even better.” Gerry added: “Words cannot describe it.”

A handful of guests and staff were evacuated when the fire started around 5pm on Monday. No one was hurt and Gerry said the fire drill worked perfectly. He added: “Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service did a wonderful, awe inspiring, mind blowing job. I have never seen anything like it. They were so professional, and so organised.

“We had spent a lot of the winter refurbishing and spent a lot of money on the pub, particularly in the room that was destroyed. But our basic plan is to open the restaurant and bars and 80% of the bedrooms on Monday.”

Between 40 to 50 bookings had to be cancelled on Tuesday morning, and guests due to stay Monday night had been transferred elsewhere. Gerry said: “We have had amazing support from the guests, staff and neighbours.”

The couple have owned the Hoops Inn, which is listed in the 2009 Michelin Guide to Eating Out in Pubs, for the past five years.

Fourteen fire engines from Devon, Somerset and Cornwall were at the scene, including foam units from Exmouth and Porlock which use a specialist technique to fight thatch fires. It was exactly three months ago that many of those crews were fighting to save the thatched George Hotel in Hatherleigh which was destroyed in a blaze two days before Christmas.

Bideford group commander Pete Newman was leading the Hoops Inn operation. He said: “When we arrived there was a well-developed fire in the thatched roof about a quarter of the way down the roof. We created a fire break halfway down and worked back towards the burning thatch to prevent it spreading. There were also crews inside and we managed to limit the fire damage to 25% of the roof.

“We also managed to move most of the contents out of the rooms to prevent further damage and some valuable furniture was saved.

“About 50% of the main thatched area was untouched, as was most of the pub downstairs. “We were cutting through the thatch, pulling it down and dropping it on the main road or to the back of the building which is quite labour intensive work.”

Mr Newman added: “I was very pleased with the way the operation went. The crews worked very well together and there was good liaison with other services. The initial actions of the fire break saved the rest of the building and thatch.”

While crews battled the Hoops Inn blaze, another 15 pumps were sent to a fire at the former Ambrosia factory in Lapford. Although resources in the area were said to be very stretched, it did not impact on the Hoops Inn operation.

I find myself wrestling with the age old battle of love and hate, and contradictory passions in one pub

An ill wind was wailing through the world economy, through all our bones and the future bones of all our future generations for ever, as we made our way through half-deserted streets to one of the most popular pubs in North Devon and Torridge.

I was feeling a bit depressed about the future for our pubs because I had recently met a North Devon pub landlord who was about to declare himself bankrupt and close his business. He said he was being squeezed from all sides; by the pub company, the smoking ban, and by cheap supermarket booze of all types and horrors. But despite all that he could have made a go of it, maybe, if only he had had more of one vital business ingredient: customers.

Sometimes it is good to acknowledge the blindingly bloody obvious. Pubs are closing because customers are not using them, and other pubs are still busy and profitable, because customers are still using them. So how about a case study? One of the most popular pubs in North Devon is the Wetherspoon's outlet The Panniers, in Barnstaple. It will never close. It will survive the recession. It would survive a nuclear war. And on a dank Thursday evening this month, the place was so ramjam pack-a-doodled that when I arrived with my friend we took the only two remaining chairs.

I was still chewing over all the stinking doom in the news. Pub doom. My own eyes weren't helping. Walking to the Panniers through the glistering Barnstaple town centre streets, all but deserted, we passed empty pub after empty pub.

But not the Panniers. There can only be two reasons why the Panniers is such a success; good beer and cheap prices. Because the place has atmosphere the way big brand keg lagers have taste, the way Gordon Brown has a radiant smile, the way David Cameron has sincerity, the way house prices are clever, the way plastic window frames are acceptable in a public house context (no PVC frames at the Panniers by the way, fellow window freaks).

In fact, if you have ever been in a Wetherspoon's pub anywhere in the queendom you will know what the Panniers is like. They are all the same.

Same hotel lobby decor, same food, same prices. The only thing to tell you you are not in Nottingham or Norwich is the local accents of the many punters.

The beer was superb, as good as a good rub down in an ice house by a crackling wood blaze while the huskies keep guard against the glacier pirates. I had a crisply glorious pint of Smoky Joe. My friend had a soothing draft of something dark and powerful. He was satisfied with it and it made him philosophical. As we sat and talked - mostly about babies - I noticed we were surrounded by adults of all ages, most of whom were eating curry from metal pots. If I had been tiresome enough to ask them how often they came here, they might have said: "every week".

If you are interested in good, low priced ale, the Panniers is a perfect hostelry. Cheap grub too. Probably tastes quite nice. And, you know, I hate the place.

I hate it because it is the bland pub universe cousin of a corporate fast food chain outlet. The place has a sort of psychic anti-character impact on the space it contains, with its school dining hall ambiance. There is no sense of community. Good pubs make you feel like you could own them, in some vicarious customer way, if you were a regular.

In terms of character alone, look at a pub I have wrote about before on this blog: The Reform Inn, in Pilton. It doesn't sell cheap curry and it does not welcome children or have a wide variety of the finest beers known to man and beast. But in all its eccentric, even ugly, brilliance, the local boozer offers a rare sanctuary from the blanding-out influence of the boardroom folk. What choice we have left is debatable. But there are still good local pubs who deserve our custom, even if it's just £3 a week.

We drinkers vote with our pint pots and our wine glasses, and the Panniers was as full as can be on Thursday last week. The beancounters will tell you this success was proof of armour against the ill wind blowing through the economy.

I kept thinking of my ideal pub.

Watching The Heavens Unfold In The Pub Section As The Future Looks On

Sometimes a pub visit creates a venn diagram of glee, sensation, and nostalgia.

The circle of glee in the diagram comes from your companions and the beer while the circle of sensations are the slow warmth of the alcohol in your blood and the brace of farmfield air when you step outside.

The final circle, of nostalgia, is the thought of the merry drinkers who are now gone, who argued at your ear or at ears like yours, and the afternoons and evenings you have spent ignoring the stale inhuman defeats of money, mortgages and DIY by tilting your hat at the good life.

The glee, sensation and nostalgia circles intersect at The Pub Section. In the Pub Section I found the Chichester Arms in Bishops Tawton, a pub so determined to thrive that it was born again, nine months after a devastating fire in 2005.

I arrived one midweek evening with my wife and baby just as autumn was starting to blow cool through the North Devon countryside. The Chich, as it is popularly known locally to generations of fans, is a dining pub but it has not destroyed its pub DNA in pursuit of the Hungry Belly Pound. It has kept the cosy chaos of all lovely country pubs without being cloyingly twee or phoney.

Indeed, there was some controlled chaos in the kitchen when we arrived; a key player, the chef, I think, was unexpectedly unavailable. But the barman stayed friendly.

I drank two fine pints of Exmoor Ale, as crisp as the dew forming on the hills and I ate a beefburger, regular readers will be astonished to hear. It was superb beef, and was well-cooked, but needed a bit of seasoning.

I took the last few mouthfuls of my final Exmoor Ale outside to look at the stars and the waxing moon, and to inhale some of the frosty nostalgia.

There were few constellations on show, but I saw Cassiopeia and the north star. Cassiopeia was named after the Greek mythological wife of Cepheus, king of Ethiopia, you know; she was sent to the heavens because she bragged about her beauty, hardly a punishment for any crime, including honesty. I managed to find the moon too, without looking at a book. You could spend an hour in a beer garden in the twilight, thinking of venn diagrams, and how many bits of life fit in circles, and go quietly insane.

I had my baby boy in one arm, his eyes like mirrors inside his woolly hood, while his mother finished her dinner in rare peace inside. An almost mythical experience.

My boy was too young for a sip of my beer, although he was "baptised" with ale in his first week of life, and I didn't want to share the magic stuff anyway. But he was not too green, I hoped, to absorb the sense of the dark countryside just out of sight. I was so fixed in the Pub Section, being watched by the future.

THE CHICHESTER ARMS, BISHOPS TAWTON, NORTH DEVON

ADAM'S ALE RATING: 4 OUT OF 5

DRINK THIS: EXMOOR ALE

A perverse turn of events in Cornwall

You know how it is early in the evening in a trendy Cornish fishing village, streets lined with tempting quality restaurants, when you go with a scratchy-tired baby and arrive at the Shipwright public house instead?

Looking back the choice seems perverse, I don't know, maybe even perverted.

We should have fled when we saw the menu. Menus on laminated place mats are rarely an indication of imaginative, careful, dining on the horizon.

But as my travels so far have revealed, the quality of food on offer in a pub is not necessarily on a par with the quality of the beer, and so it proved at the Shipwright where I drank a pleasant pint of Doom Bar.

Doom Bar is one of the best beer names in the world; it also has unintended resonance in certain situations.

The pub, in St Ives, was selling itself as a place to eat with large signs inviting in the unwary, and the perverse, and it had big plastic menus on the tables, so it is only fair to judge it by its food too.

As I looked at my big plastic menu, I was ignored by all staff, whose only task in relation to food, it seemed, was to put numbers in a till and take your money (you could go and bugger off, for all they cared, was the impression I got), I chewed on this question: why is buying a plate of food such a problem in our pubs?

Surely this is a simple enough transaction: I pay you £8 for a burger and chips and you provide that advertised food, and here's the crucial bit, in a form which is undisgusting. Seems simple to me! In fact, I didn't go to chef university, but I serve tasty, cheap-ish food at home most nights of the week. But the cack I have been presented with pubs in the UK I would not serve to my family. They would think I had gone up the pole.

The reason, I suspect, that pubs, like the Shipwright, serve up such dismal grub is because they are far removed from the basics of kitchen life and the pleasures of cooking. The idea for the plastic menus, for instance, and the boring food, was probably farted out by a frownsome middle manager in an office at 3pm one bleak Wednesday, one dreak March day.

So this is the meat of the matter: my burger was tasteless, gristly, cheap and soggy. The bun that contained the flesh was sodden with the water used to wash the tasteless heap of salad by its side. The handful of chips were lifeless, tasteless, and, in fact, virtually pointless. My wife's 'prawn salad' was in fact five battered prawns and a bit of tasteless lettuce and two tasteless factory tomatoes. It was, all told, a disgraceful way to accompany a good pint of beer in a fairly unspoiled public house by a busy little harbour.

So much for that. It's not the end of the bleeding world, I hear you rumble. Indeed not.

But why go on about it? Why whinge? Well, with good reason, my friends, with good reason. Our pubs face terrible peril. They are going bust. I want the good ones to prosper. Some will prosper by selling good food, and if they can't manage that, and it takes effort and money to serve food well, then sticking to good old crisps, nuts and scratchings.

Maybe a sandwich.

Maybe a pickled egg. On festival days.

A fascinating story from the Journal this week...

THREE-quarters of Britain’s pub landlords believe the smoking ban has been bad for a business, according to a new survey.

Figures released by the industry show 74% of licensees surveyed reported the ban was bad for business. Some 47% have laid off staff as a direct result. But when the North Devon Journal asked licensees in North Devon the picture seemed to be mixed.

Caroline McAuley, who works at The Crown in Lynton said: “It hasn’t really affected us as we have quite a good outside area and covered area with heaters. Generally we have been quite lucky — and there are quite a lot of smokers in Lynton — it’s quite a smoky village.”

And at The George and Dragon in Fore Street, Ilfracombe, staff also feel that the ban hasn’t made much of a difference. Staff member Rosie Beecham said: “The same people still come in and we are a food-orientated pub — so maybe people prefer that there is no smoking. I’ve still got my job.”

At the Pack O’ Cards in Combe Martin landlady Debbie Batchelor said: “I can honestly say it hasn’t affected us much. We have a nice smoking area – and sometimes that’s busier than the pub, with more people outside than in here. But the government saying the smoking ban would bring more people out to the pubs is a load of baloney. There are no more people coming out than there ever were before.”

Shaun Musto, landlord of the Earl of Portsmouth in Chawleigh, has seen no effect since the ban came in. He said: “I don’t think smokers avoid coming to the pub because they can’t smoke. I think they’ve all just got used to it. This is a family-run pub so we’ve not had to lay off any staff and it hasn’t affected our profits in any way. I’m a smoker myself and I used to smoke around 15 a day. However, since the ban came in I’ve cut down to about three per night.”

Pete Robertson, landlord of the Clinton Arms in Frithelstock, only has one local who is a smoker. He said: “The ban hasn’t affected us in the slightest as we have always been a country pub that relies heavily on food, which is 75% of our income, to survive. However, a lot of pubs in the area have been affected and have closed down. Some drinking pubs in the area have been killed by the ban. Others are trying to become food pubs, have been employing new chefs and it has cost them. We have not really seen an increase in non-smokers. There have been niggles from a few people about the ban but others have said it is nice to come in.”

Dave Sawyer, landlord of the Black Horse in Torrington, does not feel the smoking ban has affected his trade. He said: “It does make it nicer for non-smokers who come here to eat. Before the ban people would come in and take one sniff and walk out again. About 25% of our regulars are smokers and they just go outside — we haven’t had anyone moaning about it. Our food itself has increased, so that could be more non-smokers coming in. But as far as I can make out we haven’t lost any of our customers because of the ban.”

Lisa Harley, manager of The Corner House in Barnstaple, agreed that the smoking ban had been bad for business. She said: “Most certainly it has affected the pub trade. Anybody would be lying to say it has not.” She said it had also had an impact on team nights because players had to go outside to smoke and it would hold up the game.

Jon Hutchings, landlord of the White Hart Hotel in Holsworthy, said: “It feels like the government is trying to get rid of community pubs. The smoking ban killed a lot of the real drinkers and if you don’t have an outdoor area like us as we are a town centre pub, it causes real problems. This is why we took part in the Proud of Pubs week to raise all these issues with our MP.” Lee Sycamore, landlord of the Olde Market Inn in Holsworthy, said: “Since the smoking ban, pubs have benefited from cleaner air and a healthier atmosphere, however, it has caused more problems than benefits.

“Some 24 pubs a week are closing nationally, and a large proportion of these have been credited to the smoking ban. Many pubs are unable to take necessary measures to accommodate the ruling, leading to no Smoking Areas for their patrons.

“The influx of non-smokers that the government promised has not happened, so most licensed premises have suffered a downturn in business. Saying this a small percentage of pubs have seen an upturn in trade, but this is due to hard work and great expense to try and cater for everyone.

“Good food and good beers at reasonable prices counts for quite a bit, but also outside areas for smoking, drinking and dinning. Social areas for people to meet up and have a quite chat, as well as other usual pub activities."

Lisa Horforth, landlady of The Windsor Arms, Bradiford, said the smoking ban had hit everyone “big time”. In particular they have lost their afternoon trade at the weekend because customers can no longer smoke inside while playing cards. And the new smoke-free atmosphere hasn’t gained them any new customers either.

Lucy Vane, landlady from the Appledore Inn in Bideford, said business has been affected but not dramatically. She said: “We have got a courtyard here that is used, so we are lucky. Most of our regulars are smokers and we have had to cut back on staff, but not by a lot.

“Some people just won’t come into pubs now because of the smoking ban, they just refuse. We don’t have any more non-smokers come into the pub and those who do and go outside and eat tend to moan because everyone in the courtyard is smoking around them. I don’t think it is all the smoking ban though, the credit crunch has also affected business, people are hard up at the moment and the price of beer has gone up and will do again because the breweries have just put their prices up.”

Graham Stone landlord of The Beaver Inn in Appledore believes that only 10% of his customers are smokers, but the ban has still had an effect. He said: “We do quite a bit of food here and that has deflected some of the problems of the smoking ban, but there has been a downturn in bar trade, although this hasn’t necessarily been compensated by the food sales.

“We introduced non-smoking to our restaurant a number of years before the ban came in and although some people moaned we felt the positive outweighed the negatives. We also invested quite heavily in air conditioning and ventilation and the investments were worthwhile at the time, but not required anymore. We haven’t had a noticeable increase in non-smokers coming in, but it is hard to compare with the weather.

"Although we haven’t had to get rid of staff yet, we are concerned for the winter. People have also been affected by the economy and with the silly prices the supermarket sell alcohol for. Some smokers are not going to come out on a wet day. Personally as a non-smoker I thought it wasn’t right to enforce this on public houses. I haven’t noticed any improvements in the atmosphere because of it, but perhaps there are health benefits to my staff and costumers.”

Paul Breese, landlord of the Tiverton Inn, South Molton, has also noticed a difference since the ban came in to force in 2007. He said it was now down to landlords to think on their feet. “The Wetherspoons chain is the best example of this. It’s gone from being the biggest wet sales pub in the country to increasing its food sales. Only a third of its business is drink now, whereas 12 to 18 months ago it was 75% of the business.” Mr Breese is also the landlord of the Snare and Gin Trap at Bishops Nympton and the Castle Inn at George Nympton. Although he was concerned for both, he said they have weathered the effects of the ban well. He said: “There’s no smoking shelter at the Snare and Gin Trap. People who want to smoke have to go outside with a brolly.”

This had led to him selling electronic cigarettes so people can get their nicotine hits that way. In the last three weeks he has sold 10 at the Tiverton Inn. Barbara Butcher, landlady of the Mitre Hotel in Witheridge, has definitely noticed a change behind the bar. She said: “Some people just don’t come to the pub anymore. We don’t have a covered area for smokers to shelter under so when they go out for a cigarette, come rain and wind, they have to brave the elements. I think it’s a combination of factors as well as the smoking ban. The weather hasn’t helped and what with the rising cost of alcohol and people having less money in their pockets, people just aren’t venturing out as much. Our bar takings are definitely down and if we didn’t have our food and bed and breakfast trade to rely on, we’d certainly be in trouble.”

Jane Morton, at the Coaching Inn, South Molton, said she could not decide if the smoking ban was a bad thing. She said trade at the pub and hotel has been stable although the clientele has changed. “We’ve had an increase in non-smokers using it. But we’ve been affected in other ways. We’re very much a food-led pub. Where people would stay for a cigarette and a dessert, they’re now going home so they can smoke. It’s a shorter dining experience. An after dinner coffee would often lead to another drink or two.”

But Ms Morton, who is in the process of buying the pub with her sister, said blaming the smoking ban on a lack of trade was perhaps too simplistic. “Our regular smokers, who might have come out on a Saturday night, are more likely to stay away. But cheap alcohol from supermarkets is also having a huge effect. In our case the core trade is holding firm.”

Ady Taylor, landlord of the Tally Ho! in Hatherleigh, said: “At the moment we are doing fine. We found it difficult in January/February time as although it usually goes quiet at that time of year, it was worse than usual — maybe because it was the first winter after the ban. But, strangely enough, we have done well throughout the summer and there has been no major drop in trade.

“We have a very smart smoking shelter at the back of the pub which we installed and it has made a difference. If we didn’t have it, we would not have half the people in the pub that we do. There are tough times ahead for everyone and the smoking ban has not helped. There is also the duty on beer and the rise in electricity which all contributes, but I am optimistic. We are lucky as we are quite stable and our food is doing well.”

I see joy at the Williams Arms

The boy is enjoying the first stage of a possibly-extreme love of swings. Other park fancies do not elicit even a glint of recognition, but tuck him into a swing and his eight-month-old being radiates with unparalleled joy. A pub with a good swing - even a bad swing - is good news in any right-minded citizen's mind.

So, we - grandparents, parents, boy, and dog - arrived as an early autumn sun was dying over Braunton; a sublime, crystal evening.

Yes, I drank a pint of Doom Bar (a popular Cornish ale, so apologies for this: I always think it can seem a bit thin, despite its lustrous, ruby-looking, depths).

Yes, I ate a pie containing beef AND sausages (don't ask).

Yes, I admired, Fred Dibnah-style, the neat thatch work.

Yes, the barman did seem a little melancholic.

But all that - beer, pie, sky, grumpy barman - was zilch compared to the boy's glowing delight on the swing in the glorious dusk.

Children improve public houses: discuss.

WILLIAMS ARMS, BRAUNTON, NORTH DEVON

ADAM'S ALE RATING: 7 OUT OF 10

DRINK THIS BEER: DOOM BAR, 4 PER CENT