In Between The Lines - A Big Bluff and Some Green Stuff

The pub in A Big Bluff and Some Green Stuff, The Smuggler’s Retreat, is at the epicentre of plenty of bloodthirsty activity. It’s also the first place that hero Jake Rodwell visits with PC Len Murphy on his mysterious and seemingly pointless first visit to Bluff Cove.

When writing this, I had one pub in mind, a pub I had visited myself in 2003 when a friend and former colleague of mine moved down there from London to run the place.

Fast forward to 2025 and I’m glad to say that said friend and his family are still running this popular public house – the Grove Inn in King’s Nympton.

Unlike in the story, the pub is in the heart of North Devon, not Cornwall. It’s not close to the coast either, unlike in A Big Bluff. And as far as I remember there’s no town square or high street or shop selling beach tat opposite.

Interiorwise, I can’t remember much about the layout of the place, but I’m pretty certain there’s no hotel accommodation on the upper floors of the pub, and no pirate skeletons have been found in the cellar.  Just as no zombies have been seen stalking the lanes of King’s Nympton – that would have surely made the national news - and no aliens have landed on the beach (mainly because there is no beach).

My sister has visited the pub in more recent times, at first not realising I knew the proprietors, so it’s good to see the pub remains popular, and of course I recommend paying a visit whether you’ve read my Jake Rodwell zombie series or not.