93 Bus Social
There was a cool easterly blowing off the river when about 12 of us gathered at the Dartmouth Pontoon bus stop to catch our first Stagecoach 93 of the day.
Off on time to our first stop in Stoke Fleming and a short walk to the Green Dragon. Here we were joined by more members, including Martin "the Bag" who had arrived from the opposite direction having travelled the 3 and 93 from Plymouth! This took our party to a total of eighteen.
There were three beers for us to try in the Green Dragon, Tribute, Ferryman and Otter Bitter. All were approved of and, hopefully, beer scores duly entered.
Soon it was back to the bus stop for the next 93, this time to the village of Strete and The King's Arms.
The choice here was Jail Ale, Otter Bitter or Bays Devon Dumpling. Again all were sampled and approved of. We had about an hour here, so plenty of opportunity to sample the beers and admire the splendid view across the bay from the rear windows.
Time was soon pressing and it was back to the bus stop and on to Torcross and the Start Bay Inn. This is renown for its fish and chips and, on our arrival, there were plenty of customers sampling them. At least one of our group could not resist the temptation! Here the offerings were two from Otter - Ale and Bitter, Proper Job and Tribute
From here there were two further venues to visit before the last bus homeward. Each was about a twenty minute walk, firstly to Stokeley Barton and the South Hams Brewery Taphouse. This enabled members of the group to choose how long they wished to stay at each venue. Taphouse is a modern building containing both the brewery and the Taphouse under one roof.
A full range of South Hams beers, both cask and keg, are available at the bar. Many of the group chose to have the paddle offer of 4 x 1/3rds to enable them to try more options.
Next another walk to our last pub of the day, The Church House Inn at Stokenham. In this same village was the Tradesman's Arms until a serious fire destroyed both the pub and several cottages in September 2021. The good news is that rebuilding has been going on since and the word is that it may reopen around July - let's hope so!
Beers available at the Church House Inn were Jail, Tribute and Otter Bitter.
All that now remained was to catch the bus back to Dartmouth. I have on occasions had good reason to be critical of the service offered by Stagecoach. However today I must say that not only were all our buses on time, but they had also been cleaned inside and out after weeks of dirty buses you could not see out of. Long may this continue!!
All that remains is to thank the licensees and bar staff who accommodated us and seemed genuinely pleased to see us..........
Our next Mid Week Social will be on Wednesday 17th May and will probably incorporate pubs in Totnes, Ashprington, Tuckenhay and Cornworthy. Details will appear on our Diary page in due course.