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ONE PUB ONLY?
Crown and Sceptre
CRAWLING FROM RAILWAY STATION TO THE GROUND?
Don't bother, get into town centre, go to the Hole in the all, the Devon, then up to the ground
SOMETHING A LITTLE DIFFERENT?
Crown and Sceptre
|  |  Buccaneer Inn
43 Babbacombe Downs Rd TQ1 3LN Telephone 01803 312661
G Rob and Bev Borwin
F Traditional home cooked menu 12 to 3, 5 to 7
CP SK BM P D
O 12 to 11 Mon - Sat, 12 to 10.30 Sun
The Buccaneer comes as a welcome entry to this guide. As Torquay is such a great away trip it is great to find a hotel bar with such an excellent reputation for real ale. It is not however, the typical hotel lounge so commonly found in our seaside resorts. It is a genuine pub that does accommodation and has a great location for both tourists and locals to enjoy.
The bar is interesting in itself. It has painted timber panelling on many walls and ceilings. One side is like a café - bar, non - smoking and quite separate from the bar. The main bar has comfortable settees and views across the sun deck to Lyme Bay. The top end has a timbered pool room. There is a nautical theme in the photos around the walls and above the bar those ships appear to be shipwrecked. On my mid - afternoon visit there was a pleasant mix of locals enjoying a regular pint and half term holidaying families sharing a pint and a packet of crisps in the café area. I really liked the atmosphere, very friendly, quite chatty and essentially pub like. It is obviously a place to make the base for a weekend away. There are numerous hotels along the road and walks from here along the coastal headlands in either direction. The pub appears to have benefited from a lot of tender loving care in the last few years, the choice of St Austell beers is a good one especially given the locals’ tendency to stick with Courage as the sole real ale selection
BWV 28.05.06: St. Austell HSD, Tribune
Stedders Guides 2006 - 07
Colston Crawford updates:-
Not exactly a traditional local, with its long bar and wood panelling but friendly enough. There's a sea view, decent food choice and St Austell Beers. Tribute and HSD were both in excellent condition, http://www.staustellbrewery.co.uk/the-buccaneer-inn.html
| |  Crown and Sceptre
2 Pettitor Rd, TQ1 4QA T 01803 328290 W www.thecrownandsceptre.com
G Roy Wheeler
F From 12
It was very rare on my travels to find a pub quite so welcoming and easy going. As Roger O’Gorman says it is due to the landlord and the people and also the beer is fantastic. Home of the Torquay Folk Club this village street local comes highly recommended by fans and ale heads from near and far. Stone walls, open fires, great pub banter of which the boss, Roy is often the butt of the joke. But beware, he gives as good as he gets. He looks like Ken Bates and scares people like Alex Ferguson (Gareth of Torquay). He has mellowed since 1983. Some locals are quite glad that away supporters can’t find it (Ian Bradbury) and who can blame them, this pub is excellent, homely and well worth of being protected. And then there is the great choice of national ales with strengths that cover the full range. Top pub, top guvnor, top locals, a top time was had on my longer than expected visit.
BWV 10.2.05 Greene King Old Speckled Hen, Abbot, Courage Best, Theakston’s Old Peculier, Young’s Special, Courage Directors, Macotten. | |  Devon Arms
Park Lane TQ1 2AU Telephone 01803 292360
G Eric Boots
F Good value traditional pub menu 11 to 11, 11 to 8 if music or quiz evening etc.
MP TV JB P D
O 11 to 12 Mon - Sat, 11 to 11.30 Sun
My visit occurred a few weeks before Eric became the new Landlord. I was able to chat at length with Paul and Becky, the previous owners who were keen to reassure me that the real ale policy will continue and that the essential good qualities of the pub will live on when Eric takes over.
The Devon is the neighbour to the Hole in the Wall but is very different in both size and outlook. There is one bar that has two separate areas. One half has a pool table; the other is set up in traditional lounge design. The pub is very sports minded and very friendly to all who come to visit. Paul is footie mad and over the years many fans have made this their regular haunt. No doubt the scarves that cover the TV will be gone but hopefully all will be equally welcome in the future. The guest beers are often from the many Archers choices and are known to change within the same session; such is the popularity of the real ale on sale. The locals are an adult crowd with plenty of adult banter to share. The busiest evenings occur when music is on and when the summer brings tourists by the coach load. Music occurs on three nights a week. On matchdays there will be some genuine Gulls in the bar, the locals tend to use the free phone to get a taxi to the ground. The pub is one of the few old - fashioned town boozers left and given its ale traditions is fast becoming something almost non - existent. Let us hope the difference will become its biggest selling point.
BWV 28.5.06: Archers Champagne Charlie, Greene King Spitfire, Otter Bitter
Stedders Guides 2006 - 07 | |  Hole in the Wall
6 Park Lane, TQ1 5AU T 01803 298020 W www.hole-in-the-wall.co.uk
G David Jones
F From 12
This is the quintessential back alley nook and cranny pub and wonderfully popular without being too touristy. It is reputedly Torquay’s oldest pub (16th Century) it has pebbled floors, dark paneled walls yet modern attitudes to food and beer, all making it a great pub for a wide range of customers. My visit was good as the locals soon welcomed me into their conversation of Torquay life and beer appreciation. It is a place that when you find it you resolve to visit again the next day, you get a perfect welcome and good food as well as ale. I also enjoyed the obvious setting of standards with the mind your language notice, quite right too. This is really the only must not miss real ale pub in Torquay town centre. Torquay may have been relegated but at least it opens up the possibility of more glorious away day weekends for me and my new found mates on the Riviera, the HITW being a focal point.
BWV 10.2.05,Sharps Doom Bar, Shepherd Neame Spitfire, Charles Wells Bombardier, Greene King IPA, Abbot, Courage Best.
Colston Crawford visited Jan 23 2010
BWV 23.10.10. Two from Bays Brewery in Paignton (I tried their Best, a tasty 3.7 bitter), Butcombe Bitter, Otter Ale. Sharps Doombar, Shepheard Neame Spitfire. | |  Union
127 St. Marychurch Rd, TQ1 3HW T 01803 328290
G Geoff and Sue Brett
F Home cooked bar snacks
What only one real ale? Yep but good Courage Best, really, honest. This is a great old fashioned honest pub with easy access to local food and the ground around the corner. Courage Best takes me back to my very early drinking days and Geoff would have been well in the know about what makes it good to serve at times. There are occasional guests but my visit was great because the place was buzzing on a wet Thursday night as the lounge became a skittles alley. The bar is draped with away team pennants, Geoff is a true loyal fan of his club (Simply the best, not Torquay) and welcomes all in the true spirit of footie. He talks with pride of the Torquay players, past and present who have used the pub and has equal fondness of the visiting away fans who know how to behave when a guest in someone else's local. It is a great find being literally at the end of the street to the ground but in true visitor style don’t expect the local police to let you get in their for a quickie just before the match. It is a really friendly place.
BWV 10.2.05 Courage Best, | | | S DEVON CAMRA | | 
PLAINMOOR
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LOCAL BREWERY
Bays Brewery Ltd
Aspen Way
Paignton
Devon
TQ4 7QR
Tel: 01803 555 004
www.baysbrewery.co.uk
| | WETHERSPOONS
The Green Ginger Lower Ground Floor, Winter Garden Fleet Walk Torquay TQ2 5DZ Opening Times: Mon/Tue 9am-midnight; Wed/Thu 9am-1am; Fri/Sat 9am-3am; Sun 9am-1am
The London Inn 15-16 The Strand Torquay TQ1 2AA Opening Times: Sun-Thu 9am-midnight; Fri/Sat 9am-1am
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