Kingsbridge, South Hams, Devon. First of all, Kingsbridge is a lovely town (population approximately 6,000) located at the head of the Kingsbridge estuary in South Devon (we are fortunate to be staying here for two weeks). The pub is located in the town centre and is a meeting place for locals, especially the local workmen. On the day of our arrival I accompany our host to the pub where he was to pay a local painter. Of course it immediately felt like everybody knows everybody here - a true country style pub. No one knows much about the history of the pub, but I did find out that in the early days it was known as the Three Cottages and was made up of two rooms joined together. It seems that it is not named after Frederick the King of Russia but for a smuggler/entrepreneur from Cornwall named John Carter who was so impressed by Frederick's military exploits in Europe that he called himself the "King of Prussia". Due to its German name it was known as The King George during the first and second world wars.

So I bought a couple of pints of Rev James Original from Brains brewery in Wales (my favorite there) and we settled down to begin a nice conversation with a gentleman who is a retired solicitor from London who still does some legal work for the locals. And then things took a turn. A fellow plopped down at the table and after hearing I am an American wanted to talk politics. Now my general rule is to not talk politics or religion in a pub. But with the current situation in the US many folks want to hear what I think about what's going on. After sharing a few of my thoughts he launched into his diatribe. I immediately discovered he is a member of the Reform UK party (check out www.reformparty.uk if you don't know of them). Needless to say this is not a street I wanted to go down. After trying to state some facts to him, which of course he claims are all lies (sound familiar?), I decided that our perception of fact and fiction are so far apart that there is no need to continue.

A couple of other things I discovered from talking to the locals. During WWI the pub was used as a mortuary since there was no room left in the local morgue. And while looking at a photo of a WWII aircraft on the wall (signed by the crew), I learned that the bombardier was a local lad named Peter Morgan who had frequented the pub.

A wonderful little pub, I will definitely return while I am here - but not on Mondays, when my "friend" from the Reform UK party comes into town to do his laundry!

On my next visit it was nice to see Bass Ale on tap!