The Fortescue, Mutley, Plymouth

Frequently in the good beer guide. A long, thin trad pub, with the casks split over two bars. I missed half the offering at first but tried a couple. Probably the lack of sparkler but both pints (consumed over a bit of time, as its impossible to keep up with my brother) both went flat and lifeless. A struggle to get through them. One was a Picthfork Golden Ale, the other from Tintagel brewery. Five nations was on - and it is a sports pub on a main drag - so very lively.

Impressive looking exterior though the GK signage made me nervous, despite the GBG’23 listing. Pleasantly surprised though. The interior, whilst clearly gutted at some point, has at least been given a traditional feel - cream and dark brown with some wood and glass dividers. A laid-back vibe (in contrast with the Spoons a few doors up) with some classic 50s/60s female vocalists on the stereo. A mature all-female serving team who were friendly and knew customers by name. I was asked, unprompted, if I was a CAMRA and got a discount applied. Nine pumps spread over two banks either side of a pillar - just the one GK brew with five guests on offer. My Salcombe Gold was rather good, clean and crisp (NBSS 4) whilst the Summerskill Stout was solid if unspectacular (3) – it was a pretty warm day. Dart board being used and a couple of dozing dogs spotted. I liked it here and would make the effort to pop in again.

The Fortescue is a long and thin pub with a dartboard on the left wall before the long bar counter that runs up to the rear facing seating under the windows along the right hand wall. On the rear wall is a television that was airing muted Commonwealth Games whilst some background music played. The bar counter is split in two by a supporting pillar and there is a bank of five handpumps in each bar section. Four of the front five handpumps were unused and the Prescot Podium Finish was off. Greene King IPA and London Glory were available from the second bank alongside more interesting Five Points Brewing XPA and Exeter Brewery’s County Best and Ferryman. A premium selection of keg was also available. On the midweek day of my visit the friendly barman informed me that the pub was closing at 19:00 due to staffing issues. This gave me about ten minutes to finish my well poured half of Ferryman. I like this pub and it certainly stands out amongst its peers along this stretch of Plymouth.

Corner pub, bare floor boards, bar in typical pub dark wood and one long room, well worn benches, very nice ale house feel. Very friendly. There is a book exchange as well. 8 real ales & also some real ciders, the beer is slightly warm but fine

Official site of Fortescue - www.johnbarras.com

Official site of Fortescue - www.johnbarras.com

Gosh, what a good find this pub was. Over 20 years ago I lived less than 200 yards away, but have only the dimmest memory of it having been exceedingly drab and awful. What a transformation. A medium sized town corner pub. Entering via the main door on the corner you see the main area with the bar on the left. Some steps down to the rear take you to another small, comfortable seating area, and more steps lead either down to the cellar bar, which has music events, open mic nights etc, or up to the beer garden, which is basically a yard on the roof of the cellar bar. The are ten hand pumps, of which seven sported interesting West country ales, with OSH and London Pride and, the tenth had the cloudy Westons Scrumpy. I enjoyed an O'Hanlon's Yellow Hammer followed by Plymouth City Roller Girls' Skullcrusher (brewed by Summerskills, in appreciation of the young ladies), both delicious and at £2.65 each. Since the landlord decided to specialise in real ales they guarantee no less than 8 will be on at any time, and it has been Plymouth CAMRA's Pub Of The Year the last 3 years running. It hasn't got at all 'up itself' though as some do, and is a friendly, welcoming place where all sorts can drink and meet, and has some quirky little community services such as the book swapping service hosted on the shelf on the right as you go in. It also has a motto, Nihil Prudens. Several of the pubs on Mutley Plain are now dives pandering to student hordes. I have a feeling if I was doing a crawl locally, I would be crawling repeatedly in and out of this gem. I shall come back here whenever I can.