AN historic Exmoor public house run by three brothers Edward, Freddie, and Alexander Greenall has been shortlisted for a top national award after being named best in the South West.

The Exmoor Forest Inn, in Simonsbath, which was bought by the brothers in 2021, won the South West’s pub of the year in the 2023 Countryside Alliance Awards.

It now goes forward to the national finals, with the winners to be announced at an event in the House of Lords in mid-May.

West Somerset MP Ian Liddell-Grainger praised the pub for ‘flying the flag for Exmoor’.

The competition was devised by the Countryside Alliance as a way of celebrating rural communities, skills, and produce, and this year attracted more than 40,000 votes from the public.

Mr Liddell-Grainger said the Exmoor Forest Inn had achieved an outstanding success in becoming a national finalist.

He said: “Few areas suffered more than Exmoor from the pandemic’s impact on the tourism sector - and I know that quite a few businesses simply could not survive.”

“But to see the Exmoor Forest Inn coming through it all to fly the flag for Exmoor in a national competition is genuinely heart-warming.

“It is also an indication of the levels of customer satisfaction that it provides.

“This competition takes into account solely the views of the public, and for the public to deliver an accolade such as this, placing it above all other pubs in the region, speaks volumes about the way the business is run.”

Edward Geenall told the Free Press: “We are very grateful to all the customers who have voted and supported us since we opened two, turbulent years ago.

“We are excited to be helping establish Exmoor as a destination for great food and farming produce and our chef, Ben Ogden’s menu is a great reflection.

“We source all our ingredients from small local, independent farms and suppliers, including our own organic hill farm in Simonsbath, and this recognition and ongoing support really does make a difference to this remote and wild corner of Exmoor.”