Vintage port
A version of this feature appeared in Mediaclash's magazine Exeter Life in December 2017
IF YOU think you’ve done nautical places, wait till you see Dartmouth. The town, perched on the lip of the Dart Estuary, has claims to being Britain’s most seafaring place. Steeped in maritime history, the town is dotted with ship’s chandlers, fishermen's cottages, and marine workshops. Along narrow laneways, dimly-lit, half-timbered inns seem designed especially with clandestine assignations in mind.
The Cherub Inn — an intoxicating place for 500 years
On Higher Street, the Cherub Inn has been hosting leglessness, in all its senses, for 500 years, aye Jim lad; nearby, the Dartmouth Arms boasts what could be the world’s greatest view from a beer garden: a lagoon-like estuary leads onto meadows and woodland on the far bank while all manner of boaty things going on in the foreground.
Interspersed among these old inns and nautical victuallers are boutique bistros and restaurants, plus the odd muscular fortification.
Bayard's Cove Fort was built in the early 16th century to protect vessels seeking safe anchorage in the estuary; the bastion was completed early in Henry VIII’s reign. So it's entirely possible that the old monarch strolled down Harbourside, doubtless humming Greensleeves to himself, and – seamless link coming up – passing by the very place where we were to stay for two nights.
At the very centre of Dartmouth’s ancient quarter, the boutiqueful Bayard’s Cove Inn is exactly what an old hostelry should be about: comfortable, cosy and creaky.
Staying here, you secretly hope a gale might howl up the channel; wind howling, horizontal rain lashing the windows type of thing. There can scarcely be a better place to hunker down and ride out any meteorological extreme. Home-made cakes, coffee, wine, local craft beer will fortify you in bar, snug and inviting alcove.
As the isobars tighten up in all sea areas for Fastnet to Land’s End, bag a leather sofa in front of the wood burner, and once you’ve finished your book (reading it or writing it) contemplate dinner. Bayard’s is renowned for its elevated cuisine — two Gold Taste of the West awards, if you please.
There’s style to spare for the bedrooms. Ours, The Raleigh, overlooking the old fort, was exactly what Sir Walt would have wanted for us. Huge bed, original beams, en suite bathroom, all tecky stuff (free wifi, freeview telly, digital this and digital that), and the dog can come along too.
Breakfast is included in the price: local bacon and sausages, free range eggs, mushrooms and vine tomatoes, waffles and breakfast baps. Also smoked fish and local cheeses, fresh fruits, juices, yoghurts and cereals. You could, if you wished, have muesli wrapped in smoked salmon.
A stay at Bayard’s Cove Inn is a well-fed one.
Bayard’s Cove Inn
27 Lower Street, Dartmouth, Devon, TQ6 9AN
01803 832800
Double rooms from around £70
The history lesson
OK, stop singing sea shanties for a moment, and read this.
Four hundred years ago just below Bayard’s Cove Fort, The Mayflower anchored up on the first leg of their journey to the New World. In fact they moored just below our room, although the Pilgrim Fathers weren’t necessarily to know that.
The Mayflower’s sister ship, Speedwell, a 60-ton pinnace, also stopped for repairs. These evidently left something to be desired. The not terribly well named Speedwell had to be abandoned a few miles down the coast, and the pilgrims disembarked at Plymouth rather than America. These non-pilgrims possibly peregrinated back to Dartmouth to sort the repairman out. Sadly, no record of this meeting exists. Never mind. The town is steeped in other swashbuckling tales. Privateers, buccaneers, smugglers and general ne’er-do-wells congregated in the town from mediaeval times. Sailors and soldiers bade poignant farewells here — the port was involved in many a skirmish, including the Hundred Years War. Young sailors strode down the cobbled streets to the waiting ships shouting, “Bye, Mum! I’m off to the Hundred Years War. . . . ” Probably.
The town can claim involvement in many expeditions: knights heading off to the Crusades, the defeat of the Spanish Armada, the D-Day Landings. Even Geoffrey Chaucer gave the town a name check (although not a spellcheck) in his Canterbury Tales. “A schipman was ther, wonyng fer by weste; For ought I wost, he was of Dertemouthe.”
The excursion
I'm not a great one for the meme “if you only read one book this year, make it this one” or whatever. We say — if you only read one book this year, then read a few more you lazy gobdaw. However, if solo selectivity is what you’re about, and you only board one 1920s train a year, make it the Dartmouth Steam Railway. In a combined boat and rail tour you’ll chug past Kingswear and Dartmouth Castles, = Dittisham Village, Sir Walter Raleigh's Boathouse, Greenway Quay, Agatha Christie’s house and the beach huts of Tor Bay. All the while steam billows above your 1920s carriage. It costs around £17 — time travel never came cheaper.
The Restaurant
Rockfish
Rockfish, smack bang on the seafront, is like a traditional chippy, albeit one with an exemplary selection of wines and beers.
Mitch Tonks, chef and owner of Rockfish, has a simple philosophy: do as little as possible to the freshest of ingredients.
Now, three quarters of all seafood eaten in Britain is cod, haddock, salmon, tuna and prawns. The Mitch Mission is to broaden this scope — at Rockfish, the just-hauled-out-of-the-water catch features herring, mackerel, sea bream, plaice and sea bass. Not only does this give grand variety to the menu, it also helps sustainability.
The day’s specials pointed out and described in some detail by friendly wait-staff, drinks are served and you’re left to your own devices. You can draw on the paper tablecloths – if the pix are good enough they’re featured on an early version of Instagram, that is, up on the wall of the café.
Unlike most fish and chip shops, you can take your time choosing what you want. You can even go for a second opinion — we asked the couple beside us what they were having. They were happy to expound. Shillying, and a spot of shallying, is actively encouraged.
Once the fishy decisions are made, you can sit back, sip your wine, and admire the display of all things nautical dotted round the restaurant.
The food is perfect. We had crisp fried tempura vegetable (asparagus, broccoli spears, onions, carrot) to accompany our Jersey rock oyster starters.
Main courses were battered brill and chips, and grilled hake and chips. The portions were gargantuan — piled high like a Dandy comic book meal for Desperate Dan. Even Henry VIII would have found it sufficient for his trencherman appetite.
But the quality was superb. The important thing about fish and chips is that if the fish is done properly, it isn’t fried. Get the batter consistency just right and cook it at the correct temperature; this seals the fish inside, and it is effectively poached. Precisely how my brill was presented — pearly white flesh, beautifully light, moist and full of flavour.
Rockfish is a fine, laidback café-restaurant, the staff are charming, they serve first class food, and you don't have to pay through the gills for it.
Rockfish
8 South Embankment, Dartmouth, Devon TQ6 9BH
01803 832800