The Muddled Man, Crewkerne

A village pub which appears to be a throwback to a 1950s soap opera. It’s a 19th Century hamstone building, has no parking of its own and has a small garden at the back and a smaller pleasant garden at the front. The single bar is dated and ready for a refit and replacement of the worn carpet, though there is an impressive stone fireplace at one end which does give it some character. That aside it was homely and welcoming, to a point. Sadly the beams, which were supposed to do the same I imagine, are fake. The clientele are mostly elderly - especially the annoying yappy terrier who was getting closer to death than the humans but didn’t realise it - presumably because their beer prices are 10 – 15% higher than other pubs in the area, so the younger village population travels elsewhere. The staff were rather inefficient, but not in a quaint way despite their age – it is easy to see after whom the pub is named. Food was home cooked, traditional pub grub, reasonably priced and it came on a plate – a nice change around here where bits of scrap timber are often used instead. The ales on were Otter, Reel Ale and Hop Circle, plus Burrow Hill cider. The beers weren’t great – certainly not good enough to justify their continued GBG entry. It’s a decent village pub, OK if you happen to be in the village already but I wouldn’t go too far out of my way to come here. 6