The Pubs of Exwick
Here is some information about the three pubs in Exwick. There is only one pub which I would describe as being truly in Exwick, and that's the Village Inn. The Thatched House is actually in Foxhayes (although I doubt if anyone recognises that as an area of Exeter anymore) and I would say that the Barley Mow is in Redhills, although they are all in Exwick ward. Back in the nineteenth century there used to be another pub in Exwick called the Buller's Arms Inn, which was on the eastern side of St Andrews Road approximately where the entrance to Exwick Close is now, but it closed over 100 years ago.
The Village Inn
The Village Inn
This is the Village Inn - as far as I am concerned, the only pub which is truly in Exwick. It was called The Lamb Inn until 1987 and at one time the landlord was apparently (according to an article in the 'Express & Echo') the former Exeter City FC captain John Delve. It's a nice friendly pub which is well known for live music from local bands (every Friday and Saturday). At the back there is a large area which is used as a stage for the musicians and has a pool table, and at the front there is a (very popular) golf machine and a dartboard so the actual seating space is quite small. For smokers there is a huge sheltered covered area out the back.
'The Village' is an increasing rarity these days in that it does not serve food (apart from the usual snacks like crisps and Rocket Ron's pickles). They always have at least one real ale available and sometimes two (always very well kept). Recently the choice has been Wells Bombardier and the delicious Dartmoor Jail Ale. It has a website or you can see what the contributors to beerintheevening think about it here.
The Thatched House
The Thatched House
This is the Thatched House, known locally, probably like almost every pub of a similar name, as 'The Thatch'. It's about 15 minutes walk south of the Village Inn along Exwick Road. The Thatch is shown as 'Foxhayes Farm' on old maps and was a farmhouse until 1937 when it was converted into a pub. When you go inside it can be plainly seen that it was once at least two properties (which is why there are two front doors!). Old maps show that up to the 1930's Exwick Road used to go straight to the farmhouse (following the line of the houses on the eastern side of the road) and then kink around it before carrying on towards Exwick. The farmhouse was originally bigger than it is now, but part of it was demolished when Exwick Road was straightened some years ago.
The Thatch is a Greene King pub with Abbot, IPA and a varying guest ale with a strength usually somewhere between the two. There is a darts board and pool table, and for smokers and outdoor drinkers there is a large covered heated area at the front of the pub. In the winter there are two real log fires indoors to give a nice cosy atmosphere.
Paul the chef is excellent and does some very nice meals. On certain days of the week there are special 'meal deals' which are good value and there are also daily pensioners' lunch deals. They have a website and you can see what the contributors to beerintheevening think about it here (which, in the Thatch's case, seems to be mainly me).
The Barley Mow
The Barley Mow
This is the Barley Mow. Most Exwick residents would say that it's in Redhills rather than Exwick, but it's actually (just) within Exwick Ward so I've included some information about it here. It's a large modern 'estate' pub built in the 1960's and has very active football, darts and pool teams in the local leagues. According to Hazel Harvey in 'Discovering Exeter 6 - West of the River' it was built with bricks selected to match the neighbouring houses. When I last walked past I particularly looked out for this, but to my layman's eyes the surrounding buildings have bricks of such a variety of colours and textures that the only similarity which I could see was that they appeared to be about the same size.
I've only been inside the Barley Mow once, a few years ago - it's a good 20 minute walk from the part of Exwick where I live - so I can't give any real impression of the pub, but when I did try it there was a good selection of beer, the pint I tried was fine and it was very busy.