Short answer: The Plume of Feathers has books and board games, which on a wet Dartmoor afternoon is worth more than a play area. It is closed Mondays. The London Inn is dog friendly with good value burgers and live bands at weekends.
Books and board games, which is the single most useful thing a pub on the edge of Dartmoor can offer. When the weather comes down off the high moor and the afternoon is written off, a board game and a long lunch is the day. There is also a huge cider range for whoever is not driving. Closed Mondays.
Dog friendly, good value burgers, and live bands at weekends. Burgers are the reliable children's order and the value here is better than the tourist towns. The bands are an evening thing, so lunchtime is calm.
The best food in town by common agreement, but Thursday to Saturday only and you need to book. In practice that makes it an adults' evening rather than a family lunch — worth arranging if you can get a babysitter or if the children are old enough to sit through it.
Okehampton Castle has free parking and is the largest castle ruin in Devon. A ruin to climb around beats a pub garden with most children, and the path up is steep enough to tire them out. Bellever Forest, with its £5 all-day parking and river, does the same job in summer.
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