Iron Bridge, Exeter, pub review: 'an ideal place to dream away a couple of hours'

History? Built in the 19th century, the Iron Bridge is surrounded by it. For starters, it stands next to the gorgeously eponymous Iron Bridge, erected in 1834; while across the road the former brewery St Anne’s Well (equally venerable) stands, its buildings reminiscent of a tiered pagoda. The site of the city’s Roman North Gate is just up the road, and down below in the Longbrook Valley there’s a Victorian mausoleum, which might not be Highgate, but I wouldn’t spend the night there.

As for the pub, it seems to take all of this history in its stride: inside it is laid back, relaxed, low-key in its decor with prints and mirrors on the wall, sanded wooden floor, crème brûlée-brown tones and a piano standing by the front door. French bistro meets classic English pub perhaps? It’s understated in its charm, a bookend to all of that quiet history outside.

On the evening I pop in for a couple, there are islands of people dotted about and the low murmurs of conversation flit through the air, like bats on a summer’s night. A Staffie pulls on its lead as its owner flicks through the newspaper, while on another table old friends greet each other with a clink of wine glasses. It’s a serene soundtrack, good-natured and friendly, an ideal complement to a good glass of beer. 

At the bar, there is plenty to choose from, including beers from local brewery Exeter, Bristol’s Lost & Grounded, Good Chemistry and Bristol Beer Factory, the classic Bohemian lager Budvar and London’s Meantime. I choose the Cali-Pale Ale from the latter, a sunny, pungently hoppy pale ale, dry in the finish, lingering in its bitterness, custodial in the hold it has on my palate.

As I sit there marvelling at the fascination one glass of beer can evoke, a steady flow enters: academics, postgrads and locals, a patchwork of pub people.  If, to paraphrase Stephen Dedalus in Ulysses, history is a nightmare from which we are all trying to awake, then the Iron Bridge and its surroundings didn’t get the memo. Recently reopened after several shuttered years, this is a marvellous pub and an ideal place to dream away a couple of hours. With a beer or two, of course. 

St David’s Hill, Exeter, EX4 3RG