Sometimes you just need a place to go where everybody knows your name.
Peter Manfield had a place like that, but it was set to be sold to the highest bidder, so he remortgaged his home to make sure his favorite pub stayed open for business.
The 73-year-old couldn’t bear the thought of losing his village pub, which had been the heart of this community in Devon, England for 100 years.
Recently known as The Dog and Donkey, the roomy pub was erected in 1926 as the Brittania Inn, and survived through World War II with an array of different landlords since then.
“It’s a beautiful building and there’s nothing else in the village apart from the village hall,” Mr. Manfield told SWNS news. “It’s a lovely pub—and it’s 100-years-old this year. It has its original fireplace and an original tiled floor.”
It was a tough decision for the music teacher and musician (known locally as Pete), but he felt he had to give it a go, or risk living with the regret when a block of apartments went up in its place.
“To lose (the village’s) heart would’ve been catastrophic in my opinion—and then you’ve got nowhere to go.”
“You haven’t got history, that history of 100 years is gone and when it’s gone there’s no bringing it back.”
Manfield, who moved to the village in 1997, explained that the landlord was struggling and he was going to have to get rid of the pub.
“I am not a big drinker, I might come down once in 10 days—and particularly if I’ve been working or playing somewhere, then I come back and have a drink on the way through just to relax,” Manfield explained.
“It’s just a lovely old building and when it’s gone it’s gone—and it was just unacceptable to let it go without a fight. That’s the reason why we borrowed the money on the house.”
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There was some luck involved too, back in 2024 when public records show he bought the pub in Knowle, Budleigh Salterton, for around £270,000: He needed to find someone to run the place.
He met the current manager, Mark Loftin, by chance when he was getting a haircut, and mentioned he was thinking about buying a pub. Loftin told him he wouldn’t mind trying his hand as the new bar manager.
“He’s never run a pub before, which is brilliant in many ways—he’s got no baggage. We are very lucky to have found him.”
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“This was an amazing opportunity, especially to be involved with Pete.” Loftin said.
“Our values and belief systems basically align and that’s what’s important—wanting to keep the pub traditional, not turning it into a gastro pub—and that’s what we are doing.”
Together, they are saving the pub for the community.
“We have all sorts of people that use the pub for meetings, dog walkers, skittle teams that come in, and the ethos was to keep it a traditional pub.”
The community response has been positive, explained Manfield, who said their pub is thriving.
“We are extremely lucky. Mark (Loftin) has been an amazing landlord and his family is just wonderful.
“It’s a traditional English pub doing traditional English things. Many pubs are struggling and closing. This pub is surviving.”
And locals have been spreading the word on social media, and thanking Manfield for buying The Dog and Donkey.
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“Just moved into Knowle Village, great to have a friendly convenient Local!”
“It’s a great pub with friendly staff. Never had a bad meal here and plenty of it. Nice pub garden too.”
“Pete has always been a legend.”
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