Luppitt, Honiton, Devon
About 4 miles north of Honiton, down steep narrow lanes is Luppitt; centuries old cottages, scattered farmsteads, and perched up on the hill, the parish church. It’s a friendly village with a healthy sense of community – you know, they all get together for regular events in the village hall, quiz nights, big breakfasts and the like. For a while the painter Robert Polhill Bevan (of the Camden Town Group) had a little cottage here and so the beautiful Devon landscape of these parts is immortalised in his pictures.
Otter Beer is brewed here too, on an old farm in the hills, and funnily enough it was the only beer that was sold at the Luppitt Inn - sadly closed in recent years, but what a pub it was. Opening hours largely depended on how the landlady (in her 90’s) was feeling or what she wanted to watch on telly! The Luppitt Inn was on the Campaign For Real Ale’s National Inventory of Public House Interiors as it harked back to the days of parlour pubs, popular in the 19th century. The ‘pub’ consisted of the two front rooms of a working farmhouse, and the loos were across the yard. It was run by the same family for more than 100 years and was such a unique place - how many pubs in the 21st century would serve one type of beer, and no food (maybe peanuts)?
Luppitt is good walking country, with several footpaths leading from the village; it’s a bit of a climb but not far at all to Dumpdon Hill and Luppitt Common, and well worth it for the views.
All information correct at the time of writing.