The Tom Cobley  

The Tom Cobley Tavern is a charming 16th century village inn reached down country roads just north of the A30 at Whiddon Down.

Beyond the pretty little thatched entrance, the bar is a delightful spot for relaxing with a glass of one of the numerous cask ales always on tap, including their own Tom Cobley brew.

Superb home cooking brings visitors from many miles around. Home-made meat pies and puddings are among the lunchtime favourites, along with fish specials, cauliflower cheese (a wonderful dish, too rarely seen) and platters of home-cooked ham. Typical choices on the evening menu (as well as those super pies) could be smoked haddock and broccoli Wellington, duck with orange sauce, steaks with all the trimmings and brilliant vegetarian dishes such as chestnut, leek and mushroom pie that could easily turn a confirmed carnivore into a happy vegetarian. Booking is recommended at peak times, and definitely for the super Sunday roast lunches.

The inn has four upstairs letting bedrooms, with three more planned, providing a charming base for touring this lovely part of the world. The historic market towns of Crediton and Okehampton both offer plenty to interest the visitor, and the rugged expanses of Dartmoor stretch away to the south; the whole area offers wonderful walks and stunning scenery.

Local history looms large in the photographs and pictures in the bar, including a portrait of Tom Cobley above the fireplace. Legend has it that it was from the village of Spreyton that in 1802 Uncle Tom Cobley set out with Tom Pearce's grey mare, Bill Brewer, Jan Stewer, Peter Gurney, Peter Davy, Dan'l Whidden and Harry Hawk for Widecombe Fair. Up the road from the pub is the churchyard, where a gravestone near the porch records a Thomas Cobley (1762-1844).

There is a real fire and plenty of real ales, some sold via hand pumps and other sold straight from the barrel.

Well worth the journey.

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