A landlord who lives in 'Britain's strangest pub' with a cat called Hitler says he is trying to drink his cellar dry before the booze goes out of date.
Steve Cotten is spending lockdown at 17th century pub The Poltimore Arms along with his ginger cat - called Frederick Albert Hitler.
He bought the building in South Molton, North Devon, in 2013 to save it from being pulled down, and claims he has made more money in five weeks of lockdown than ever before.
Steve claims that Devon and Cornwall Police turned up by land and air and took him outside for a serious talking-to to investigate allegations that he had been illegally selling beer during the lockdown.
He told DevonLive : "The very nice people from Devon and Cornwall Police have visited me in their helicopter and police cars, taken me inside for a chat about supposedly selling beer as normal. No further action is being taken as I wasn't doing anything and there was no one here.
"But they drive past most days and never stop to get a takeaway ... which is legal."
The pub is famous for its unusual booze. There are only one or two beers on tap at the Poltimore, but it does boast a secret weapon in the form of The Bottle Shop, an incredible emporium in a back room of the bar boasting dozens of craft ales, ciders, gins, rums and other unique refreshments.
Now Steve is left alone he's attempting to drink The Bottle Shop and cellars dry: "I have been kept busy trying to drink all the beer before it goes out of date. I'm now getting a bit worried as there's only about three or four years of beer left to drink."
Steve had been busy making a film about himself for a new YouTube channel called Presenting SteveTube just before the coronavirus pandemic hit.
This is Steve's message from lockdown: "So what's happened to the pub since Boris told us all to shut in March? Well after Devon Live wrote about the Poltimore Arms in February, and getting my ugly mug and pub and Frederick Albert Hitler in most publications around the world, the pub was about to fly, and then, bang nothing.
"But I have made more money in five weeks of being shut than when I was open for the last seven years."
Famously he calls his customers rude names, but they love him for it (even celebrities like Prince Harry, Damien Hirst and Formula 1 racing drivers who have been known to drop by).
Steve's rule is: "When you come in the pub, everyone is the same - I don't care who you are.
"Prince Harry used to come here before he got married when he went shooting. Damien Hirst and his ex-wife Maia were regulars at one point, and we have everyone from farmers to Formula 1 stars and billionaires.
"But when they walk in that door they will all be treated the same - with disrespect and disdain. And they love it, they love the fact I will ridicule them and talk to them like a piece of crap because no one else does."
Now those dis-respected locals are proving how much they love Steve by looking after him during isolation. Steve's eyesight means he's not allowed to drive so deliveries have been turning up, unasked, every day.
One person has even brought daily cooked food (although Steve says whoever's doing it can't cook and he's begging them to stop).
"The people of the pub have all been fantastic, bringing me food, fags, logs etc. To the very, very kind person who leaves me a cooked meal outside the pub everyday - please stop it, at least until you've learnt to cook."
Steve may play up to his mad reputation - but he does have a very sensible side and the pub is having a makeover during lockdown. It's being repainted inside and out.
Steve said: "Things are being fixed in preparation for opening time - whenever that is.
"Fred the pub cat has gone stir crazy, and has taken to doing the cooking and listening to The Archers everyday. But in general everything's good and I look forward to seeing all those miserable b******s called customers once I open again."
The pub's got top environmental credentials and Steve believes it may be the greenest pub in the UK. He said: "There's no mains electricity, water or gas. I don't use any electricity for at least 18 hours a day."
During normal times they use a generator and a few car batteries for electricity and he's having solar panels fitted soon. At the moment locals are delivering logs in case it gets cold alone at night.
So what does the future hold for a rurally isolated, traditional country pub like the Poltimore Arms?
Steve said: "I've been having a chat with my landlord today about how we're going to save the pub going forward, and touch wood I've got some cunning plans.
"The reason it is like it is is because it's been in the same family forever and there are limitations to what you can do with the place. It's an awesome place and it's a little piece of history and it must be saved for the future.
"But the amount of tourists that come in here and say 'wow, isn't this fantastic' - even when we're looking at each other thinking it's dark and cold. It is that way, but people like it.
"When tourists come in I will instantly interrogate them and within 30 seconds I'll have introduced them to everybody.
"I made a Chinese visitor work behind the bar for the night and she recently sent me a postcard from Beijing saying it was the best day of her entire tour of Europe, which is fantastic."
