The Anchor Inn, Exeter

This is a fine village pub, located opposite Cockwood’s attractive little tidal harbour and easily reached with a 20 minute walk from Starcross station. The pub retains a very nice, traditional layout, with the front door taking you into a passageway past a dining room to the right, and then turning left to run past the bar area to the far end of the pub. The right-hand room is a compact space with rows of standard tables and chairs under low panelled walls, with a roaring fireplace on the end wall and plenty of traditional decor including a collection of brassware and some old paintings. The bar area has a tile stone floor, with the servery along the rear wall, broken by a couple of chunky pillars, each with drinking ledges around them, leaving just a few small access points with modern timber clad frontage and a matching bar back. All of this stands beneath some evocative old ceiling beams that have been decorated with horse brasses and a sign that reads ‘Height 5’10 ½‘’ Unladen’. Opposite the bar, there are a couple of very nice snugs with hard backed benches to either side and a window at the end looking out across the harbour. These are arguably the best seats in the house, boasting dark wood panelling, a couple of built-in display cases and some old paintings of local scenes. Moving past the bar, the passage continues past an upturned barrel with high stools and another table under the front windows, albeit not in a snug this time, eventually emerging into a split-level room at the fast end of the pub with plenty of additional seating in rows, plus loads of nautical themed decor including diving helmets, ship’s wheels and anchors. Pop music played quietly in the background and despite the fact that most people had clearly come here for lunch, there was still a good atmosphere. A small front seating area offers limited picnic bench seating over the harbour and across the water to what I assume is Exmouth. The harbour itself is a very nice spot, and in the couple of minutes I spent overlooking the harbour wall, I saw a kingfisher land on a beached boat, several avocets wading in the mud and a buzzard circling high overhead. There are four handpulls on the bar, although one of them was out of action when I arrived, leaving a choice between St Austell Tribute, Otter Ale and Exeter Avocet. Given the fact that I’d just spotted some outside the pub, I plumped for the Avocet, which was in excellent condition and went down very easily after a windy walk along the estuary from the train station. This is a bit of an idyllic pub with a fine location, lovely rambling interior and some well-kept local beer, not to mention the food, which I didn’t sample but it certainly looked very appetising. This was a bit of a random addition to my planned crawl around Newton Abbot and Teignmouth, but it’s nice and easy to reach by jumping off at Starcross and I’m very glad that I included it, as it was one of the better finds of the day.

A lovely pub in an idyllic position overlooking the harbour and adjacent train line. Interior is a low-ceilinged dark wood clad warren with a number of snug areas. As is to be expected, there’s plenty of nautical ephemera as well as a number of brasses. Outside the front is an old row boat festooned with flowers. Higher-end food available, with seafood a speciality – beware that a number of tables will likely be reserved so at busy times drinkers may struggle to find a seat. Six pumps, five on (with number six being prepped as we left) - Tintagel Gold (very good), Broadside, 2x Otter and Dartmoor IPA. A bit of a gem and I’d love to go back and stay for a bit longer though I suspect I might get a bit grumpy if it was the evening and I couldn’t find a seat whilst around me sat an empty set of reserved tables.