Bedford Inn

It would appear that John Rendle was the village blacksmith and wheelwright in Plymstock for much of the second half of the nineteenth century and furthermore that he operated out of what later became known as Bedford Inn Cottages. These are doubtless synonymous with Bedford Cottages, a group of three properties that stand on the kink in Horn Lane, opposite Downhorn Farm on what would then have been the main road into Plymstock from Laira Bridge (and thus a logical location for a wheelwright and blacksmith).

The name however would appear to pre-date John Rendle’s use of part of the property as a pub for in Ivy Langdon’s Plymstock Connection we read that the Duke of Bedford (then the principal landowner here) granted “George Bellamy and his heirs and assigns for ever in fee farm, a dwelling-house or cottage and garden called Bedford Cottage” in 1839.

Licensees

1857 - John Rendle (wheelwright, blacksmith and beer retailer)