The Rose & Crown (Eli's), Langport

A 17th Century thatched roadside inn, a freehouse which has been run by the same family for several generations. The layout inside is well described below, especially the taproom which is unusual and very convenient, meaning you feel more like a guest than a customer. The snug with the gas fire, the piano and the plethora of dogs meandering around add further to the homely feel. Ales on this time were Cheddar's Gorge Best, Otter Bright and Teignworthy Reel Ale, all in perfect condition, complemented nicely by a variety of ciders, most local. I really enjoyed it here, both for the warm reception and the excellent ale quality which fully justifies the regular GBG entries. Highly recommended, by me anyway.

One of those classic “must do” pubs, the most unusual feature here is the lack of any bar counter. Instead the drinks are served from a small room at the centre of the pub, with the bar staff simply standing next to the pumps and mingling with the customers. You can’t help but wonder if you’ve somehow strayed in to the “staff only” part of the pub and don’t really know quite where to stand! Besides the central serving room, there are a number of other small rooms all around. Decor wise it’s fairy traditional with either flagstones or slate on the floors and a mixture of exposed stonework and pale lemon plaster on the walls. A snug at the front had a wood burning stove in an old fire-place, and attractive arched windows set in to the stone wall that looked somewhat church like. A few old photos of the locale were on the walls. A larger central room also had a brick fire-place and was full to capacity with diners on our recent mid-week lunchtime visit – something to do with the MG car rally being held in the adjacent field I suspect. A longer room at the rear was more of a public bar, with a quarry tiled floor, pool table, juke box and a couple of fruit machines. We didn’t inspect the menu, but the food looked to be decent and hearty from what we saw coming out. Beers on tap offered slightly less choice than I expected perhaps and on this occasion were Teignworthy Santa’s Tale and Reel Ale along with Hop Back Entire Stout. One pump appeared unused whilst another had it’s clip reversed, so perhaps I caught them on a bad day. There were also a couple of barrels racked up opposite the hand pulls, but as far as I could make out these were purely decorative. Ciders were well represented with Thatcher’s Gold, Thatcher’s Haze, Stowford Press and Burrow Hill Farmhouse. All in all though, a great pub and well worth a visit.

A dozen or so miles east of Taunton in the Somerset countryside is The Rose and Crown, a well known, traditional, thatched roadside inn that has been in the same family ownership for over 150 years now. Known affectionately as Eli’s – a name that still appears on a roadside sign by the entrance to the car park – after the grandfather of the present family, it’s a largely unspoilt rural inn that is a throwback to a much gentler and slower pace of life. Note the unusual church style curved windows at the front of the building. The pub centres on the uneven flagstoned tap room which is the serving area. There’s no proper bar counter, just an unusual arrangement where several handpumps are attached to a shelving unit, including an unusual beer engine with a knife like pump protruding from the shelving. There’s various other rooms either side of the central passageway, the most notable of which is the front room on the right with a flagstoned floor, a large fireplace, half height wood panelling, and several basic rustic benches. In one of the other rooms is a piano and I gather that regular sing songs still feature. A number of interesting old framed photos of the pub add interest. Note also the old Ordnance Survey Map showing Eli’s as the centre of the universe ! Since my last visit, a good number of years ago, an outdoor seating area at the side of the pub has been enlarged and new picnic tables added. A new slate floor seems to have been laid in one of the newer rooms at the back on the left, but it’s still a fine, old fashioned, characterful and welcoming pub. The relatively unspoilt interior, particularly the flagstoned tap room at the very core of the building, earn the pub a listing in CAMRA’s National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors. Outside, beyond the car park, is a field which I understand is also owned by the family and is used for village events. Reflecting the pub’s position at the very centre of community life, a food co-operative meets in the pub on Friday afternoons, enabling local residents to buy food from local suppliers ( farmers etc ) in a convenient and cost effective way. Regulars appear to congregate in the tap room, where there’s no seating and, with there being no bar counter, it’s not immediately obvious to the occasional passing visitor who is staff and who are fellow customers, which can be a bit offputting at first, but, as with most pubs of this ilk, the welcome is warm and genuine. On my recent lunchtime visit, beers on included Teignworthy Reel Ale, Sharps Doom Bar and a beer from Cotleigh. The pub is listed in the CAMRA 2011 Good Beer Guide. Do make a point of calling in if you get the chance