The Drewe Arms, Drewsteignton

Lovely walk today along the Teign starting and finishing in Drewsteignton. It was very cold and a bit misty but it was nice to finish up in the Card Room of the pub, which has more or less remined unchanged in the last 100 years.

Originally known as The Druid Arms, the name was changed in the 1920s when the Drewe family commissioned Sir Edwin Lutyens (1869 - 1944) to design and build Castle Drogo. The Drewe family persuaded the brewery to change the name and offered to buy a new sign, bearing the family coat of arms, which stands outside the pub today. Julius Drewe made his money founding the Home and Colonial Stores.

The pub was taken over by Ernest and Mabel Mudge in 1919 and after Ernest's death, Mabel continued to run The Drewe alone. Mabel eventually retired in 1994 at the age of 99, after seventy five years. She was reputed to be the oldest landlady in the country. Many of her relatives still live in the village today.

For a short spell the pub was run by the villagers.