The Farmers Arms, Bideford

A fairly plain looking pub in a slightly out of the way location, it looks as though it has been recently renovated with attractive whitewashing and a thatched roof. Going inside did nothing to dispel this theory, and in fact it looked so modern internally that I was unsure as to whether it might even be a new build. The friendly barmaid explained that it had been derelict up until about four years ago when the current owners purchased it. Clearly no expense has been spared and it now has quite an upmarket feel to it. Apparently the owners have also renovated the adjacent fish & chip shop and village store and are now working on the manor house, so they obviously have some considerable funding behind them. You enter through the back of the pub (the front door is marked exit only, perhaps in a hang over from Covid rules?) via a pleasant courtyard garden and this part of the pub must surely be a recent addition. It was light and airy with large glass doors along much of the back wall, exposed roof trusses, oak wood strip flooring, a stone fireplace at the rear and fitted banquet seating either side with a rustic old table in the middle and contemporary artwork on the walls. Continuing through here to the front of the pub, this is split in to three rooms with the bar counter shared between two of them. Here it feels a little more traditional, with flagstones on the floor, wooden beams on the ceiling, and a couple of massive stone fireplaces, one with an adjacent recess in the wall that was perhaps a bread oven or something similar at one time. A further lounge was upstairs and this again was an attractive space with more exposed roof trusses, comfy arm chairs and plenty of stuffed animal heads on the walls. Beers on tap were Expedition and Eric’s ESB whilst a further two handpumps appeared unused. To be fair though, we visited on a Monday lunchtime. Perhaps they have more on at the weekend. The solitary cider meanwhile was Wildsider. Overall, whilst not quite as traditional as it could be, they’ve clearly spent a lot of money bringing an old pub back to life and I would happily pop in again if in the area.

Official site of The Farmers Arms - www.woolsery.com

Official site of The Farmers Arms - www.woolsery.com

Not sure what is happening to this pub, we stayed in the village a couple of weeks back and the living quarters of the pub are still occupied and all the furniture and fittings inside the pub itself look to be intact. It seems like an ACV has been applied for but I am not sure if this has been granted. It's a shame that the pub is closed as the village is a good base for exploring North Devon and the village shop and chip shop look were doing a good trade during the few days we were there.