The Royal George was shut on our last visit. I'm fairly sure that we were the first visitors on this day. It took us about ten minutes to get served and then the only ale went off. So it was pints of Liquid Sunshine (3.9%) and Poundhouse cider (6%) for £7.20 before the bus back to Bideford.
The Kings Arms appeared to be the only pub still trading along Bideford's Quay. We had two nice pints of Atlantic (4.2%) and Devon Dympsy (4%) for a reasonable £5.80. This was easily the best beer of the whole day. Then it was over the Torridge to the old railway station and off along the Tarka Trail. This is the old railway line, now tarmacked over and shared with cyclists. We headed back down the estuary.
We passed Appledore Shipyard and after we came through Instow Station, turned off the track and headed along the front.
The Bar had been advertising itself along the path as a quayside pub, so we felt obliged to go in. Pints of Doom Bar (4%) and Atlantic (4.2%) for £6.90 were quaffed, but we were still undecided whether it is a bar/restuarant or a pub.
The Instow Arms is just a few hundred yards further on. We had pints of Silver Stallion (4.3%) and Clearwater's Honey Beer (3.7%) for £7.20 in what also felt like an eatery.
Soon we were walking along the road beside the nice looking beach at Instow. This gave way to some dunes before the path skirted around the splendid cricket ground. We then followed the river before returning to the Tarka Trail. The next few miles are flat, straight and relatively boring. On reaching the outskirts of Barnstaple, the usual big town confusion meant that we followed the acorn sign over the new bridge. Once across the river, the signs pointed in both directions along the Taw. We followed them back to the town centre and the bus to South Molton.
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