Another venture into new blogging territory, this time to the South West of England, or Plymouth and Truro to be more precise. And once again it was football that led us to visit this part of the world, providing an event around which to base a weekend away. Here's what happened....
Before this season's National League fixtures were due to be released in July, one of the most eagerly-awaited fixtures, well by me anyway, was Truro City away. In a tight finish in last season's National League South, the Tinners had emerged as Champions on the final day of the season, which meant the Cornish side would become the first-ever side from the county to reach the National League. And as I had never been to Cornwall in my life, I was hoping the fixture list would afford me opportunity to both visit the county and tick off another new ground. The fixtures duly came out: Truro City v FC Halifax Town, Saturday October 18th. A pretty good date; the summer holiday season gone so theoretically not as busy but still well away from the cold winter months.
In the end, only three of our group decided to go there, but when we met at Halifax Railway Station on the Friday morning there were several other Town fans making the trip, but instead of the train they were flying down from Manchester to Newquay. With our train to Exeter not leaving till 1430, we had time to have a beer or two in Manchester, so it was the Victoria Tap, then a pint of Sonoma at Port Street Beer House, and finally a Boddingtons at the Piccadilly Tap before our long trip south began. All was going well but then there were suggestions of delays to the service beyond Birmingham. Then Cross Country announced the train would be terminating at New Street and we would have to change trains, whilst this particular train would instead be heading off to Edinburgh! You can't tell me that wasn't planned. We then had to leg it over to Platform 11B where we just managed to squeeze on to an already full train that was going to Plymouth. We had seats booked, but that was on the train now heading northwards, so we had to stand with all the others let down by Cross Country. Fortunately a kindly Morris dancer insisted on giving up his seat for me, but things did ease up after Bristol Temple Meads and the earlier incident that had occurred near Taunton had been dealt with. We headed on, passing vast tracts of emptiness through Somerset and into Devon, stopping at Tiverton Parkway, Exeter St David's, Newton Abbot, and Totnes, before finally arriving into Plymouth at nearly half-past eight.
We were staying at a Travelodge around 10 minutes walk away, and we walked down the hill from the station along boarded-off broad boulevards in search of where it was. We turned left along here, right along there, and back round again before finally reaching our destination after about 25 minutes, checking in, and dropping our bags off. Turned out my mate had had his Maps set to car mode, rather than walking mode, but hey-ho, we were here and by now more than ready for a restorative beer.
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| The Dolphin, Plymouth |
We wandered down to the Barbican, a lively street of pubs, bars, and eating places, which we found quite easily in comparison, about 10 minutes walk away from the hotel. Here we came to the Dolphin, a Good Beer Guide-listed pub, where there was a lively crowd being entertained by a band playing classic predominantly 70's and 80's stuff. I was confused by the two doors into the pub. I went in one, squeezed past a couple of people, apologised, couldn't see the lads so I assumed they must have gone in through the other door to another room, squeezed back, apologised, went out again, went in through the other door and back into the same room! Spotting Gary's head, I squeezed past the same people again, apologised for the third time, and arrived at the bar where the beers were being ordered. A few minutes later we were stood with a pint of St Austell Proper Job served direct from the barrel in a room behind the bar, happy. The beer was spot on, clean-tasting, clear, and in excellent condition, definitely a 4 on the National Beer Scoring System scale. The pub had a great atmosphere, a mixed crowd of all ages enjoying themselves, whilst behind the bar friendly and efficient staff kept the drinks flowing. The pub itself is something of a local institution that is steeped in history, allegedly having links with the Tolpuddle Martyrs, and is Grade ll-listed. A serial award-winner for the quality of its ale, up to 8 cask beers are served, all on gravity direct from the barrel, although with it being so busy I didn't pick up what else was on. I recognised the artistic style of some of the pictures on the walls, and it turns out they were by Beryl Cook, who lived locally, and based some of the characters in her pictures on the regulars she encountered in the Dolphin. A great pub to start the visit to this part of the world.
It was a short walk to our second and final pub of the evening. We walked along the Barbican and overlooking a marina down below, with the reflection of lights twinkling in the water, then up some dark and narrow steps, and round a corner and up some steps where we came to the Fisherman's Arms. It was busy, but not like the Dolphin had been, and we got to the bar easily enough. There were three beers on hand pump, and first off I went for Dragon's Breath, a 4.4% ruby beer from Dartmoor Brewery which is based in the village of Princetown and at a height of over 1400ft above sea level, it is the highest brewery in England. The beer is apparently infused with black treacle and liquorice, and it certainly had a rich and multi-layered flavour (NBSS 3). A small cat leapt on to an adjacent buffet, prompting memories of Bristol's Bag O'Nails, although it seemed to be on its own. With there only being three beers on, for our second round here I decided to try a half of the other two beers. Our accents must have caused some confusion for the genial follically-challenged barman as he returned with another half of the Dragon's Breath. We said we'd drink it though, and and after the second time of asking he returned with a half of the other two beers. First up was The Famous Mr Jones, a 4.5% pale ale which is brewed for the pub - named after the pub dog - by Summerskills who are the oldest established brewery in Plymouth. It was clean and refreshing, and most enjoyable (NBSS 3.5). Finally I had a half of Hicks, a premium bitter from St Austell. A delicious 5% tawny beer, with hints of vine fruits within a rich, complex taste profile, it is named after Walter Hicks who founded the Cornish brewery (NBSS 3.5). Another friendly and welcoming pub.
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| The Fisherman's Arms, Plymouth |
After a rather frustrating day, we'd finally dropped lucky with two great pubs at the end. We wandered back down and walked back along the Barbican, where everything that wasn't already closed was in the process of doing so. By now we were hungry and food options were therefore limited, but we came across a kebab place on the way back to the hotel where we all ordered a donner to eat in.
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| The boys delighted that their donner dinner is on the way. |
The following day, we were up early after a good night's sleep, and decided to head up to the station in plenty of time to catch the 10.15 to Truro. An Uber duly arrived, and whisked us round wide dual carriageways to the station. Plymouth, the largest settlement in Devon, is a sprawling city of around 275,000 which, due to its naval and shipbuilding significance, was heavily bombed during the Second World War, and so there are parts of the city that had to be rebuilt resulting in lots of wide boulevards and modern, sometimes Brutalist, buildings.
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| A Brutalist corner of Plymouth |
The train arrived on time and not long after passing through suburban Plymouth we crossed the famous bridge over the River Tamar into Cornwall, first stop just over the bridge at Saltash. For the next hour we passed through some wonderful scenery featuring attractive river views, pretty villages, green fields, deep ravines, and heavily-wooded hills. We stopped at Par with, almost ironically I thought, a golf course close by, and then places like Lostwithiel, and St Austell, eventually arriving into Truro about 11.30.
We walked down the hill from the station into the heart of the city, passing lots of lovely houses with pastel-coloured exteriors, some with palm trees in their garden. As we approached the city centre a Town fan with a dog in tow popped up, like they do and, with pleasantries exchanged, I continued as the other two headed along the narrow streets relentlessly towards the first pub. It was a few minutes to opening time so I suggested a quick walk to look at the spectacular cathedral. Built between 1880 and 1910 in a Gothic-style on the site of an earlier church, it is a dominant feature in this attractive city of around 23,000 residents which lies amongst hills in the spectacular Fal Valley. As the only city in the county it is something of a retail and commercial hub for Cornwall.
Our first pub was minutes away, but the Old Ale House was late opening, and there were several folk stood around waiting outside. The scaffolding on part of the building said maintenance work was taking place, prompting a panic flash wondering if the pub was still open, as one of other the three places listed in the Good Beer Guide had closed down. But a couple of Town fans who'd joined the throng said it was very much open and they'd had a great time the night before!
At around 12.06 keys were turned, bolts shifted, and the doors opened. A friendly girl apologised for opening later, explaining that the person who was supposed to be getting the pub ready for the open had not turned up so she'd arrived half an hour ago and had to do it all herself. By this time there was about a dozen of us and we filed in to a large, dark pub with low beamed ceilings. We were soon joined by yesterday's flying crew, who'd caught the bus over from Newquay, which was also mentioned to me by a local lady who'd got on along the way and was surprised to find the bus half full of Town fans!
There are up to 8 beers on cask here and a further 11 on keg, so plenty to go at! My first pint of the day was from a new brewery to me. Gold is a 4.8% golden pale ale from Bluntrock Brewery who are based in Rock, Cornwall, the same place as Sharps who introduced Doom Bar to the world and are now of course part of Molson Coors. It was a little sweet for my taste and didn't come over as being as strong as advertised (NBSS 3). More to my taste was pint number 2, a West Coast Session IPA from another Cornish brewer, Firebrand. This was a 4.2% golden session pale with hints of citrus fruits and a dry finish (NBSS 3.5). It was a great pub to start the day, and with live music, comedy and quiz nights there is plenty going on here.
We moved on to the second place which was a few minutes' walk away, and clearly took a wrong turn as we had to leg it across a busy dual carriageway and then head down a coned-off slip road to into an industrial estate to get there. But Tapyard Riverside was worth the effort. It is the brewery taproom for long-established Cornish brewers, Skinners, who were formed in 1997 and subsequently acquired in 2023 by Cornish craft ale brewers Goodh. The doodly artwork on the outside of the brewery reminded me of the old Magic Rock brewery in Huddersfield. There was a covered seating area outside with a food servery, and then we walked into a fairly cosy, rustic bar with a number of wooden seating booths. There were a number of Skinners beers on hand pump such as Betty Stogs and Cornish Knocker, as we all as keg beers from both Skinners and Goodh, but we all opted for a pint of Lushingtons, a self-styled Sunshine IPA. This was a 4.2% session pale brewed with Citra, Belma, Willamette, and Chinook hops, and was very refreshing with a fruity nose and strawberry and grapefruit in the taste profile - a delicious beer (NBSS 4). The place was very friendly and when we said we were going to the football, we received advice about which taxi firm to use and where to get the park and ride bus to the ground from bar staff and customers alike. Another top place.
Truro City's ground is situated over 3 miles out of the centre in a sports hub that is being developed in the Cornish countryside. There is plenty of parking and room to expand around the ground, which consists of a number of low pre-fabricated stands and a series of Portakabins around a rather exposed and open playing area. The rain started to come down and a sharp wind was blowing. Truro had not won a game at home this season, whilst Town came into the match on the back of a 6 game winning run. All the recipes then for the upset which duly came. Town never got into their stride and they took the lead against the run of play, only for a better-organised and workmanlike Truro side to hit back with two late goals having already forced our keeper to pull off a number of outstanding saves. It finished Truro City 2, FC Halifax Town 1, which was disappointing but a fair result. Despite the result, I had enjoyed my visit to Truro. A couple of decent places for a drink and lots of friendly, welcoming people, even in the somewhat grim and noisy Railway Tavern next to the station where we nursed a half of keg Doom Bar/Cornish Rattler as we waited for the train back to Plymouth.
We arrived back in Plymouth just after 7, and got a taxi straight away to the first pub, the flatiron-shaped Artillery Arms situated close to the Grade-1 listed Royal William Yard and the Royal Marines training college in the Stonehouse district of the city. This is a fine backstreet local with a welcoming log burner and naval paintings and plaques hanging on the walls. Two of the three hand pumps were in operation, one selling Dartmoor Legend, the other Draught Bass. We opted for a pint of the Legend, a 4.4% classic bitter, golden amber in colour with the aroma of baked bread and hint of spice in the taste. It was in fine condition (NBSS 3.5). We got chatting to the friendly lady behind the bar who runs the pub with her sister. When we said we were in the area for football she said she was originally from Stoke and a fan of Stoke City, and she used to love going to watch them away. We got another pint, me switching this time to the Bass, which was similarly on great form (NBSS 3.5). An excellent pub once again.
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| The Artillery Arms, Plymouth |
We left and that's where the evening started to go downhill. There was some uncertainty whether the nearby Lord High Admiral was in the Good Beer Guide (it is), but we gave it a miss and instead walked on to the Duchy of Cornwall around a mile away. This was disappointing to put it mildly. Brightly lit like a takeaway from the outside and white walls and bright lights inside gave it a stark and cold feel. The only hand pump was pouring Firebrand Mandarina Madness, an appropriate name for a beer brewed with one of the most characterless hops around. Mad to brew it, and maddening for us to drink a beer which had vague hints of very weak orange squash and very little else (NBSS 2.5). We decided to get an Uber to the next pub, but when we got to Bread & Roses there was a guy on the door asking for a fiver to get in as there was a band on. We went into tight Yorkshiremen mode and said no, a shame in retrospect as looking at the Guide entry it sounds like my type of pub. Something to go back for next time. The evening picked up though with a decent curry near to the Barbican, and then we were off to the Dolphin for a pint of Proper Job to end the evening on a high.
And then the following morning we were on our way back up North after breakfast at the Union Rooms, a large Wetherspoons close to the Travelodge. It had been a long way to travel in such a short space of time but there is plenty to tempt me to come back down again to this part of the world and stay a little bit longer....
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