The Lord Nelson in South Hams

Like something from Dante's Vision of Hell. With TV screens. A pub for all-day-drinkers (alcoholics), the long term unemployed (unemployable) and thick teenagers. Grossly unappealing groups of the lumpen proletariat usually gathered outside coughing their lungs out with roll-ups. Can't Wetherspoons make a bid for it?

CONSTANTLY HAVING TO WAIT AT THE BAR AS THE LANDLORD IS UPSTAIRS. You’d think that going for a beer on a bank holiday Sunday afternoon would be an enjoyable experience, not at this place. Our family have been visiting this pub for around 60+ years and the new current management are as bad as they get. Dirty floors, tables that haven’t been cleaned (despite the pub being empty when we arrived) and the landlord constantly going upstairs after / between serving were just a few of the bugbears. The negative approach of the manager / landlord makes you feel like you’d be better off spending your time watching paint dry. They have an alarm which goes off every 30 minutes to remind them to check the toilets and at one point this was going off for over 3&1/2 mins. Oh they’ve also removed the wifi too. This place used to be the place to be, to watch football in Totnes with a super atmosphere, today it felt like a graveyard. UPDATE: it transpires the man behind the bar who kept going upstairs isn’t even the landlord…

CONSTANTLY HAVING TO WAIT AT THE BAR AS THE LANDLORD IS UPSTAIRS. You’d think that going for a beer on a bank holiday Sunday afternoon would be an enjoyable experience, not at this place. Our family have been visiting this pub for around 60+ years and the new current management are as bad as they get. Dirty floors, tables that haven’t been cleaned (despite the pub being empty when we arrived) and the landlord constantly going upstairs after / between serving were just a few of the bugbears. The negative approach of the manager / landlord makes you feel like you’d be better off spending your time watching paint dry. They have an alarm which goes off every 30 minutes to remind them to check the toilets and at one point this was going off for over 3&1/2 mins. Oh they’ve also removed the wifi too. This place used to be the place to be, to watch football in Totnes with a super atmosphere, today it felt like a graveyard. UPDATE: it transpires the man behind the bar who kept going upstairs isn’t even the landlord…

No Guinness, No Madri, No Carlsberg. Had to order the most expensive lager instead at £5.35. Shocking. Landlord says he cares but has no backup from the Brewery. Paid £2.20 for a blackcurrant and soda. Shocking. Never coming back.

Bar staff were friendly, however the pub stank of bleach . Nothing of interest at the bar from a beer point of view, the beer we did try was awful and going off

Oh dear, not a particularly pleasant experience. Drinks ok, nice barmaid good service, pub could do with a bit of tidying, especially what could be a really nice garden. Unfortunately the foul mouthed clientele let the place down badly, every other words either c or f. One even thieved an England flag, stuffing down his trousers. Drunk up and left. Not recommended.

I visited the Nelson and India the barmaid served me. She was so helpful and friendly. I wish her well in her chosen career, because she was so professional.

It has new landlord and they charging more than brewery charges for white wine spritzer. It's always been 4 20 with last two landlords. For glass of wine and soda.it has not gone up. But they are charging 1.50 for dash of soda. The brewery does not charging that so they must be stealing profit. or give a small glass that cost 2.90 and charging for a large. Really unfriendly. We have been going there for 2 years daily.but not going any more

Terrible hosts and owners, went in to buy a drink and got refused for how I looked, honestly couldn’t believe how I was treated!! Don’t drink here if you want to have a nice time!!

What are a disgraceful pub This is Popped in for a quiet pint Did not even drink caught of a pint got asked to leave I think it was a lonely lady that served me tried having a jolly with her Then got asked to leave by her I think it was a husband I can imagine he beats her round Shocking Definitely won't be going back there again I can imagine he's a drug dealer one of the big boy crew

Not at all a nice pub if you're young and only go out once in a blue moon. This pub is full of halfwits and idiots not a place to go to on a Friday or Saturday night. There's always someone kicking off towards the end of the night and it's basically a place for all the drunk and the undesirables to go too... stick with other pubs in totnes that are much nicer and friendly compared to this... The bay horse is a fantastic pub live music friendly staff and even there customers are nice.. prices of drink maybe more but still better than the Nelson which caters for the lowlifes of society... Enough said.

Great landlord, good location . Just what you expect and look for in an English pub . Top quality beer and clean toilets

Under new management, friendly landlord and landlady lovely buzz of atmosphere.

Best pub by far just done five this is the best one.

A locals drinkers pub, good for a quick pitstop

Popped back again for a quick drink with the family very cheap drink and nice beer garden at the back

The owners bio of this pub is in no way a match to the reality, pubs have moved on, and so has the expectations of the customers they serve. This is very basic bar, with TV sport, nothing more, plenty less.

Nice friendly pub. I enjoyed watching the cricket.

A friend runs it, and it is an ok place.

Lovely owners. Cheap good drinks! 100% worth it

Lovely place, friendly atmosphere.

The absolute best if you want a traditional pub. I love it.

Lovely pub friendly staff and other customers will definitely be visiting again very soon.

Excellent “proper pub”. Since Claire & Chugg have taken over The Nelson quickly became our local, they’ve really turned the place around. Friendly, familiar and welcoming!

Great little Pirate pub Friendly landlady (Clare) and staff plus Chug, always up for a laugh, it's a locals, local with a very warm welcome to all, Pictures of Landlady trying to get the football on,, but TBH, it was only France playing,,,,, LOL

Great pub and has great staff! 👍💯🌟🌟🌟

Lovely pub on the high st, friendly staff and a lovely pint.

Great pub. Friendly staff and locals. We were made to feel very welcome.

Good atmosphere. And good drink of cider

Poole Quay .always a good place e to visit. Lots Nelson.....Good food, reasonably priced friendly staff.

Stopped for a quick pint, but the Timothy Taylor's Landlord was so good we had two

In main high street, nice bar. Lady behind the bare was friendly along with a group of regulars. Nice choice of drinks at sensible prices. 👍

Very convenient for t4good room and friendly staff

Busy today football on.but soon emptied out after game finished

Very amicable atmosphere and staff.Nice garden area for me and the dog.

Excellent friendly staff Great place to spend a afternoon out Busy area will be back

Absolutely rude. Horrible blonde women behind the bar. My 3 year old daughter ran into the pub, after seeing the flashing lights, from the fruit machine. So i was calling her to come get her out, while i was doing so, i heard a women screaming, i popped my head in the door. And she says “Is it yours”, (Firstly RUDE, how dare she) So i commented “Yes”, and she then says “are you drinking in here”. So i said “no unfortunately not”, she then carries on saying, “well can you remove her then”. I understand children shouldn’t be in there, but what if i was drinking in there. How bloody dare she speak to me the way she did. If you don’t want children running in, Maybe close your doors, or even move the fruit machine from the front doors. This is obviously not a family place to be, and DEFINITELY rude staff! BOYCOTT, if you have a children that likes flashing lights, there obviously not welcome. But, there’s obviously a reason there was 1 person in there. That happened to be talking to her at the bar, so maybe her friend. NEVER GO HERE! RUDE STAFF! Ive never heard anything good about this place anyway, apparently its cheap beer but dirty lines, and dirty beer! But never thought it was that bad. Absolutely gobsmacked.

Popped in on way to SDR. Lady behind the bar absolutely lovely. Timmy Taylor's beer fantastic, cellar obviously well kept. Did trip on train and thought it would be rude to not pop back in again on way back through Totnes. Will definitely visit again soon.

Such a wonderful lady behind the bar. An absolute gem, customer service 100% positive. Visited on May 16th at around 4ish. X

Good atmosphere watching 6 Nations

A good pint of beer. Well priced, friendly atmosphere.

Good old fashioned boozer. Very cheap beer £2.10p a pint and plenty of sport on several TV. Lots of locals and they were friendly!

Cheap very cheap and lovely staff 👍

Very old fashioned with three TVs in a small bar. Reasonable prices for totnes

A bit quiet on the day we called in, could be busy at other times

Nice local. Very friendly staff.

Lovely staff, great sunny outside tables

Fantastic atmosphere and very welcoming pub. The beer garden is amazing and prices are great.

Lovely pub run by a fantastic spurs supporter 😛

Very tidy pub, great beer with good service, the prices were good well worth a visit if in Totnes.

Good one of cleanest we have been to.

This is what I call a 'proper pub'. The atmosphere was great with welcoming, friendly hosts.

Great little beer garden and not a bad place to stop if in Totnes. A real pub, clean and tidy with a fair priced bar. Staff friendly and welcoming.

Old boozer. Nothing wrong with that!

Great place to watch sport friendly staff great atmosphere will be back for sure 🍺🍺🍺👍👍

Cheap, friendly, good service, nice setting

We found a lovely traditional pub

Very welcoming and friendly staff and quite reasonably priced drinks.

Great service from the ladies on shift when we came in on Tuesday

Great atmosphere fantastic for sports very friendly staff and dog friendly

Nice friendly staff good atmosphere and alrd

Locals got served first! Staff friendly but this really bugs me!

Great service. The manager was all you could ask. Enforced the rules. Excellent customer service, friendly and was always cleaning. The real ale was great quality. No food available. Happily go there again. Thank you

Nice pub with a garden. Real ales!

Nice quiet little pub..... very friendly and chatty lady behind the bar. Good drinks and a good price too.

All good in beer garden, clean distanced and safe. Only 53 allowed in seated inside area

Errrr if you ain't local, expect the stares🤨🤨

Lovely relaxing afternoon, glass of rose + music, nice staff

Visited here to escape the rain on a day trip to Totnes. The lady serving was lovely and in between serving customers was constantly wiping tables and politely reminding customers to sanitise on entering. A nice afternoon and would re visit again if in the area

Lovely traditional English pub, friendly staff & excellent choice of beers.

Friendly local pub, great prices , nice little garden

Friendly atmosphere nice beer and the bakers on cross the street would leave your hot Cornish pasty straight out the oven I saw this today

Love this pub, really lively and friendly atmosphere. Live gigs are great. Plenty of parking in Totnes.

Very rude and unwelcoming. Presumably for locals only.

Nice traditional pub. Need to put HI IM ANGELA POSTER IN LADIES LOO

Really great prosecco and cheesy chips! Love it!

What a lovely little pub. Very accommodating as we wanted to watch 2 live games at the same time and it was not a problem. The tribute was a lovely ale and the patrons were really friendly. Recommend highly as they seem to have a good local clientele and atmosphere.

RUDE staff - the fat one has severe xenophobia! Wouldn’t go again and would implore others to enjoy a pint in a pub elsewhere in Totnes

Unnecessarily rude to customers buying drinks and spending money. Unbelievable!!!! Completely unprofessional, aggressive behaviour towards friendly customer. Couldn’t believe it.

Rude Rude staff. Pub only for locals, scroll down and read other reviews. Don’t give them your money. Watch footie elsewhere ! You’ve been warned!

A pub for locals and regulars ONLY. I was with my family on Boxing Day, enjoying what had been a wonderful Christmas in Exeter. Unfortunately the guys running this pub had lost their Christmas spirit and were extremely hostile and rude. Whilst watching the football, we were approached by an aggressive landlord/member of bar staff who shouted at us to buy another drink or ‘Get out’. Bearing in mind we had all bought two drinks each, no less than any other punters, it was clear the remark was personal and that we were not welcome. Totnes and neighbouring villages are a lovely visit, filled with plenty of quaint pubs, eateries and coffee shops- don’t waste your hard earned money at this place, it doesn’t compare.

We popped into here for a drink and was surprised that the drinks were so cheap, the atmosphere was fantastic as they had music on and everybody was enjoying themselves ,will pop in again if in totnes

Typical locals pub with good beers and sport TV's around the place so you can't miss a thing!

Changes hands often current owner is very professional very old school just as you want a pub landy to be cheapest pints in Totnes and one of the two pool tables in Totnes defo recommend

Good sports bar with pool table and big beer garden

Rude and unwelcoming staff go to the Dartmouth in instead

Worst pub in Totnes. Rude staff

Friendly, good beer and a sports pub with cricket on the telly. Would recommend a visit.

Nice quiet pub and happy staff had no issues with staff or customers in the bar i have a soft drink while waiting for the bus home from tones

Very nice pub , reasonable prices would recommend.

Honest public house, good sports

Why would you want to run a pub when you hate it - that's what comes across when you are meet by the current landlord, no smile no please no thank you just grabs your cash as they don't take cards! Learn to smile or find a job you want to do!

A place away from the madding crowd. Amazing escapism from the 21st century, live events, even ( Elvis / Jerry Lee Lewis landlord) who if tempted may occasionally entertain you. What more could a person want, and all done in style, fun, civility and charming company. Extensive walked beer gardens, beautiful on sunny days. Next time you are in Totnes go in and feel the spirit of true Totnes as it would always have carried the true feeling of Totnesia and it's diverse people. Hope to see you there soon

Brilliant prices.locals local.lovely walled garden.

Dear Sir/Madam I am writing to inform you (although i am not surprise if you haven't already) the disgusting and vile behavior of your landlord you currently have running The Lord Nelson Totnes! There has been many instances .. I will start with; My Hen do - Myself and a fellow 7 customers walked in(second hen do) and my mum for me put on one of my favorite songs, landlord skipped it not even half way through. My mum not impressed as you can imagine was not happy and confronted him, he replayed it (regrettably). Due to that we went up the road, got in contact with the stag do and they were down the "Nelson" so we joined. As we walked in all of them unhappy and regretful that they had spent money and telling us to leave. They had put on a playlist to play for themselves and for us when we had arrived.. Landlord skipped the lot and put on his music(again) so we all left (over 20 of us). Secondly - We went in for some quite drinks myself and a few friends when the landlord himself was nowhere to be seen(possibly 8ish), his "Mrs" on the other hand was behind the bar reluctant to serve. After requesting 3 times to be served (not the only ones waiting) she served but was the worse pints we had ever received! When we went back for our second the "Landlord/Manager and his Mrs had their backs to everyone and cuddling/loving each other (kissing/cuddling) which I am sorry I find very unprofessional myself being in the pub trade many years and my parents/grandparents having pubs (local ones) would never dream of this! Thirdly - Closing when he wants (especially if he is working .. It is never to the times the pub normally is) Fourthly - The main reason I am writing tonight which I am absolutely disgusting with your pub and landlord with .. you do not snatch and take drinks out of customers hands with an aggressive tone (when you have had the night off drinking pints at the bar loving/kissing/snuggling/rubbing your hands all over/canudaling your partner. There was 7 of us and yes we had been there for a matter of 2 and a bits hours but that is not the point .. we had all spend a round of 6 "jagers" whilst ordering a round of drinks at the time. The bell rang for last orders .. so we ordered a pint each and a round of jagers (not much for us) We were finishing a game of pool .. "the barman he has employed who we know and has not really worked behind a bar as he cannot even pour a pint of Guinness" told us last game. That is absolutely fine, the landlord said drink up which was fine as we all were .. we had 3 maybe 4 balls on the table. Myself and my partner had 3/4 of a pint of Guinness and myself the same of fosters .. the rest didn't even have a chance to see what they had left .. we all planned to drink up, finish pool have a wee and go ours. The landlord stormed around and snatched all our drinks before we had a change to take them and finish them (which I am not being funny wouldn't of taken us more than 30 seconds) His words were " I WARNED YOU AND YOU DID NOT LISTEN SO THEY ARE GOING" yet, once we had left he locked everyone else drinking in the pub .. as we were stood outside still fuming and disgusted due to it's our local, we worked there and our pints were rudely taken I find this outrageous. He then proceeded to moved all the locals he decided to keep their to the back of the pub (in darkness as he turned the lights and TV out) The worst mistake you ever made was getting rid of "Ian & Leanne" I have never seen that pub so busy since myself and the current owners left it" .. I have not heard any good from anyone in Totnes since you have got "Elvis" working there. Closes when he wants, prices always changes even if its the same round, puts on his music and cancels customers, rude, just cuddles and loves his Mrs and doesn't have any interest in the pub at all .." My local for more than a decade and it is dying due to this landlord! I am fuming after tonight and I we very rarely come out to due the money after getting married, buying a house and paying for a honeymoon" It also hurts not that fact that myself, friends & husband worked there it is the fact that our local pub we have worked and grown up in has been run down to the ground by someone that doesn't even care ... other than his love life and being Elvis"

Nice friendly pub . The landlord Dave is a really interesting chap. We'll be going there many times in the future

Nick n Karen from Torquay been going in 4 about 5 weeks now drinks very fair price staff and locals brill made to feel at home , fine butcher's right next door ,, sky sports, and shopping all on same street you must pop in be silly not to !!!

This is an honest clean drinking pub with lots of screens showing sport. + A pool table. Exceptionally cheap beer £2 a pint and quality real ale at £3 a pint. No foodz no thrills and cash only. I only go there to watch sports

This place was always a bit rough. The place has never really changed. A lot of big drinkers. Move on to somewhere less earthy

Really nice staff and good service. Food excellent and great value for money. My wife had so much meat on her plate that she had to pass some over. Pork and beef excellently cooked - melt in the mouth. Mmmm!