There are some wonderful grandfather clocks scattered through corridors and public spaces, the fires are real log fires and are well used, and the whole effect is welcoming. Nineteen bedrooms are frequently all filled and the location is good for the historic ports of Dartmouth and Brixham and the English Riviera towns of Paington and Torquay.
The key attraction though is the history, and the interiors have been created so as to reinforce this. They are evocative of Raleigh and Drake, Cromwell, William of Orange, English settlers for America, Agatha Christie, Reg Lissamer: the list is long. The sea in front of the hotel may no longer be full of the grey ships as the navy has melted to invisibility, but pirates do not yet hold sway in the Channel.
If pirates were to return then one can imagine it is from here that Drakes Drum will start its rattle, calling the ghosts of the past to join with the men of today to once more defend Wessex.
Words and Pictures ŠPatrick Goff May 2010
