Imagine a place where you can drink a beer, learn another language, take up painting and sing a song whilst playing the guitar.

Well it's all happening thanks to The Brook Inn, Plympton - and the locals couldn't be happier.

The boozer has become a magnet for creative types who want to learn something new and drink and eat in a safe atmosphere.

It's got everything going on - but it's also a place of peace for people who want to stop by and relax.

The pub's hard work is paying off, having been nominated for an award.

Publican John Govier is loving life at The Brook Inn
Publican John Govier is loving life at The Brook Inn

The venue is up against five other pubs in a Ei Group contest to see which has made the biggest contributions to society.

But we're keen for more people to find out about this great pub.

Which is why we've asked its landlord, John Govier,a few quick fire questions that may encourage you to give it a try.

"I can tell you about a group of ladies, and they come in and they just meet up and have a coffee and a chat together. The conversations you hear from them are quite enlightening. The one that strikes me... I was sat at the end of the bar and I overheard them talking about Strictly Come Dancing.

"One very seriously was talking to the others that; "did you know that the men on Strictly are taught which way to dress?" and the others went, "what do you mean?"

"She said, "well if you look at them, on the first week, they are all over the place, but on the second week, they all dance to the left because they have to hold the ladies on the right.

"Now if that's not informative I don't know what is!"

"This pub needed a bit of TLC when we came in. That was an understatement. But one of the nicest things for me was walking into the bar one day, and looking around the group of customers that were there and seeing an elderly lady having lunch, on her own, and feeling totally comfortable, in a pub that had developed a bit of a reputation... that made it all worthwhile for me."

"We do a lot with local musicians. We have a great reputation for live music and it's one of those places where musicians can come and play and they know they will play to an appreciative audience as well."

"When people ask me what we do, I go through a whole list of things. So there's tai chi, line dancing, there's French classes, there's computer classes, there's water colour art classes, guitar lessons, acoustic nights, open mic nights, live music and then at the end I say, we do food and drink as well... because you just have to diversify so much."

"We have got some very regular customers, and we do have very popular murder mystery nights... and we ask people to dress for the occasion. But we did have one where there were no requests for anyone to dress up and two of our regulars turned up in a sort of Hammer-Horror type costume with blood running down their faces, and they were the only two (dressed up) in the pub out of about 100 people."

"Stick to your guns, people will tell you what you are doing is wrong. But if you have got a vision, and you think it's right, then stick to it.

"Come in with lots of ideas and be prepared to forfeit two or three of them to make sure the rest of them work well.

"And don't expect to go on holiday for quite some time!"

Download the Plymouth Live app





  • To download the iOS app click here.
  • To download the Android app click here.

Find out more about the app here.
