Tuckers Grave Inn, Radstock

Ably described by Jon below, this is a fantastic, unspoilt country pub and should definitely be on the “must do” list for any pub aficionado. It consists of three rooms, none of which are particularly spacious, and a pleasant and good-sized garden with plenty of picnic benches and well-tended flower beds. Although the building itself is much older, it’s use as a pub apparently dates from 1827. Access from the rear is via a rather narrow corridor that curves around the turret housing the spiral staircase. To the left is the “tap room” which was empty on our visit and had a somewhat musty smell. This includes an old fire-place and a table-top game of some sort, possibly skittles, although it was covered up and I did not investigate. Around to the right is the bar area which consists of a few barrels stacked up in the bay window with all drinks served from gravity. The cooling equipment consist of window shutters with even the bottles of soft drinks being on an open shelf. Opposite this is a narrow room with a long bench table, plenty of hanging jugs on the ceiling and an old tiled fire-place at the far end. Beyond this is a larger room with exposed stone walling. As might be expected, food is limited to picked eggs and such like, although I also spotted an old barbecue in the garden. A booklet documenting the history of the building made an interesting read, including both the origin of it’s name as mentioned by Jon, various architectural features and the fact that the pub closed in 2011 as it could not be sold by the elderly owners. Unfortunately it did not document how it’s re-opening came about. The beer choice was perhaps a little more limited than might be expected with just Butcombe and the seasonal Butcombe Yeti. The solitary cider was Thatcher’s Cheddar Valley. All in all an exceptional pub, and well worth making a detour to visit.