Think of a typical English village, and the grassy green, the church, village hall and the pub come to mind. The Gloucestershire village of Dymock has all of these in a tight cluster at its centre.
That the pub is still trading is due to the forward thinking of the Parish Council, who bought the pub in 1997 following the retirement of the long serving landlady. No buyers were found to buy and run the pub. The other pub in the village, the Crown, had shut 5 years earlier, so Dymock was faced with the prospect of no pub. The Council stepped in and arranged a 20 year loan. Once this was confirmed, a management company was appointed to arrange tenants so the pub became community owned via the Council, and has since 2003 been further supported by The Friends of the Beauchamp Arms, who coordinate volunteer efforts and fund raising. The loan was finally paid off in 2017.
Things fared well until the Covid pandemic, which coincided with the retirement of a long standing licensee. When life returned to normal, there was a long period of closure until the pub restarted trading with new licensees.
Enter through the small porch in the whitewashed exterior next to some parking spaces to the front. Immediately in front on your left is the bar area with an open fireplace and free-standing tables. To the right is a separate seating/dining area with bench and chair seating.
The bar area is festooned with hops, and maps, historic photos and paintings line the walls. Through an arch to the right hand end of the bar is a bright more formally laid out dining room. Recently finished renovations include the area to the left of the bar, accessed through swing doors, which has expanded and opened the area next to the small cosy snug bar seating area. It now has a pool table, darts board and large screen tv. One unique feature is a wall covered in overlapping vintage vinyl LPs with their colourful labels prominent, providing nostalgic fun to see if you can spot a personal favourite.
Back in the bar, there are usually two cask ales served on hand pull. Beauchamp beer is a light amber beer brewed for the pub by Marstons. Another guest ale is usually available, from small regional or local breweries. Butcombe Rare Breed or Ledbury Gold were on good form during a couple of recent visits. Unusually, Hobgoblin Stout is on keg rather than other well-known dark beers. International lagers are on keg and various local ciders in bottle or keg. Low alcohol beers are offered in bottle. There is a wide selection of gins.
Food – bar meals are offered at lunchtimes, with a more extensive a la carte menu in the evenings. Burgers are substantial with all the trimmings. There are vegetarian, vegan, and gluten free options. Sunday lunch has several choices. Bacon or sausage baps are available on Friday 10.00 to 12.00, and full cooked breakfasts are served on Saturdays 10.00 to 12.00. External Pop-up food nights, Thai for example, and tapas nights are advertised at the bar. Takeaways are offered Wednesday to Sunday.
As befits a community oriented pub, it fills in some of the gaps that many villages have experienced in terms of lost local services. Post Office facilities are available on Fridays between 10.00 to 12.30, and a pop-up shop on Fridays and Saturdays, 10.00 to 14.00 has fresh veg fruit and veg, free range eggs and bread and pastries.
The small grassy garden area to the rear is a suntrap in the afternoons.
Open Tuesday to Sundays. The Village, Dymock, GL18 2AQ. The 232/Daffodil line bus stops nearly outside the front door. Phone: 01531 590005.
