Devon pubs reach Great British Pub Awards finals

Devon Pubs have strong showing at the Great British Pub Awards.

Six pubs from across Devon made the finals of the national awards celebrating an exceptional quality.

In an award ceremony tonight hosted by the Inbetweeners’ Greg Davies, over 100 pubs from across Britain will be vying for awards in 17 categories.

The categories are made up of some traditional and some not so traditional aspects of what makes a pub great, including an award for best smoking area.

The awards also stress the importance of good food and drink in making a great pub, with devon representives in the best wine, spirit and food categories.

Rowena Whiteman from best wine pub finalist, The Harris Arms in Portgate said: “Wine is our thing. Well, wine and good food.

“We’ve got a fantastic wine list that we source ourselves from all over the world and is affordable.”

“At the moment I’m really enjoying a wine called Intimo which is a blend of a Cabernet Merlot and a Malbec from Argentina.”

The Harris Arms is already the South West regional winner of the Best Wine Pub Award

Also experts in drink are The NoBody Inn in Doddiscombsleigh, a pub which serves 262 different types of whiskey as well as other speciality spirits.

Owner Sue Burdge said: “it is wonderful to be recognised In a truly national competition up against some of the best pubs in the UK.

“Obviously if we become the outright winners it would be a great tribute to the team at The NoBody, however to get this far is a fantastic achievement."

One of the less traditional awards in the ceremony may be going to Torquay’s Apple and Parrot for best entertainment pub.

The pub is well known for its support of live music and local artists.

Owner James Eyre explains; “Every quarter we have a music festival of local talent and if we have a good meeting of minds we help them grow with our Parrot academy.

“This gives them support in promoting their music or producing an album or getting their brand better known so they can go somewhere.

“We don’t charge anything for this as it's about having a passion for live music.”

The pubs and their award categories are: