Loading Cremyll Ferry times…
Plymouth’s pubs have seen it all, from smugglers and sailors to soldiers, sinners, and the unlucky souls who never made it home, but some of them never left.
Plymouth on Tap is turning down the lights and pouring a few ghost stories straight from the city’s bar tops.
These are the tales whispered after closing time. Welcome to Tales From The Tap.
Those who resisted were dragged through tunnels to waiting ships, and their spirits never quite left.
Locals talk of spoons floating mid-air, the cellar gas cutting off by itself, and a jukebox playing when no one’s near it.
A smuggler named Eddie Blake is said to linger behind the bar, while two phantom women sit under the dartboard where the old doorway once stood.
The Minerva doesn’t need to try for atmosphere, it’s soaked into the walls.
Long silent on Union Street, the old Palace Theatre still draws an audience of its own.
Once the heart of Plymouth nightlife, the derelict building now whispers with stories of movement and figures in the dark.
Built on the remains of a 15th-century monastery, it’s home to a ghostly worker named Charles who’s known for pinching women and flicking cigarette ends from the upper gantry.
A young girl in period dress and a hooded figure have also been seen drifting through the still room, while the ladies’ toilets occupy the spot where a woman was once stabbed to death.
Outside, a white lady crosses Barbican Lane at dusk before fading into the wall.
For a place that bottles gin, it’s remarkably full of other spirits.
Plymouth on Tap wouldn’t be what it is without the sponsors who get behind it and back the bigger ideas, so a huge thank you to every business that’s already supported the project and helped keep it moving. Your support helps cover the real costs of running it properly, and it means I can keep shining a light on Plymouth’s pubs, telling their stories, and giving the local hospitality scene the attention it deserves.
If you fancy putting your name behind something people actually care about, I’m always up for chatting about sponsorship for events like a pub crawl or the annual Plymouth’s Favourite Pub competition, which reached 6.9 million views on the Facebook page in 2025. Drop me a message and I’ll send over the options.
