11/10/22 - Torbay - Good Beer Guide Pubs (and others)

Off course the Good Beer Guide 2022 was checked before heading off to Torbay.

Torquay and Brixham get one each.  Paignton gets three but a mistake was made. I stopped reading once I got to the entry for the Conservative Members Club.  Miss-Truss abounds.

Knowing this woudn't be enough to last three nights, I went back through previous archives. Punts were taken on random pubs of interest spotted in the field.

Paignton - within minutes of working out that the Ringo parking app now requires you to activate on entry and exit, we are fighting the tourists down a slightly shabby street of tat shops, on the lookout for Henry's Bar.

The Decal had a look of a JDW

A quirky interior, that goes back a long way.  

Inside Henry's

Lots of good beer guide advertising, so they are committed to keeping the high standards that got them recommended in the first place.  Certainly nothing wrong with my 11:30am Dartmoor Jail Ale, that must have been the first pour of the day.  Not everyone is on holiday.

Also a good place to get food between midnight and 9pm.

And make sure you sit down!

Torquay surprised us by having just the one current entry.  But don't go on a Monday.  The Buccaneer is closed, despite the hours detailed on Google and Whatspub. Mrs M says a businesses FB page is the best source of information.

Torquay is where we are based, and I had to get imaginative. The council helped out. Off the main drag by the marina is a brown tourist sign simply saying "Inns".

Here you will find a former GBG entry - The Hole in the Wall and its rougher brother, the Devon's Arms.  Both laying claim to being the oldest in town.

Hole in the Wall

Low Ceilings

Quirky Interior - including indoor shed

The Hole proved to be a typical seaside pub - full of quirky knick knacks and a comprehensive menu.  Timothy Taylor was on - and I shared a smile with the landlady who had demands for a top up from a elderly gent, only to watch him spill his bonus booze all over the flagged floor, as he wobbled back to his table.  A pyrrhic victory, if I ever saw one.

The Devon's Arms looked slightly intimidating from the outside and the only way I could convince Mrs M to come in was by referring her to previous patrons.

A Roll Call..... 

... of people who may have attended just the harbour

It was rough.  If you gauge roughness by middle aged couples who cannot have been married eating each other's faces off.  Difficult to know where to look, when they are sat at the bar and all tables face the bar.

Two ales on - Banks and Bays Brewery Topsail.  I didn't hold out much hope but you've guessed it - the Topsail was easily pint of the week.  A perfectly kept and delicious session bitter.

And help is at hand for pub tourists looking for the facilities.

I had a look.  It wasn't a toilet

Brixham provided a fine community pub for those prepared to do a bit of mountaineering from where the bus drops you off.

Oxygen required to reach the Queens Arms but well worth it.

Inside the Queens Arms

And will be handsome outside too..

The beer was good - I found a never seen before, out of production (according to Untappd) St Austell Belgian IPA named "Hybrid".  The cider was also worth experimentation - with at least 6 different ones available.

A snake-bite GBG Tick.  With sound advice from the beer garden.

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