The Best Pub in Cornwall: A Debate

Ask six people in Cornwall for the best pub and you’ll get seven answers. This is a county that takes its pubs seriously — and personally. The right pub isn’t just about the beer or the menu. It’s about the fire, the view, the walk that gets you there and whether the landlord nods when you come through the door.

We asked our six guides. The debate, as always, got heated.

Angie’s pick: The Tinners Arms, Zennor. Angie went straight for Zennor. “It’s a mining village,” she said, as if that settled it. “The name’s right there — Tinners Arms. The miners drank here.” The pub is small, granite, low-ceilinged, tucked into a village on the moor above the sea where the road simply runs out of ambition. D.H. Lawrence lived in Zennor during the First World War, and the church next door has a 600-year-old mermaid carved into a bench end. Angie orders the crab, always. “You can taste the Atlantic,” she said.

David’s pick: The Bush Inn, Morwenstow. David picked somewhere most people have never heard of, which is entirely in character. The Bush Inn sits near the Devon border at the top of a cliff, close to Morwenstow — one of the most remote stretches of the North Coast. It has been pouring pints since the 13th century. “You walk the coast path from Hawker’s Hut,” David said. “Nothing for miles. Just cliffs and sky. Then The Bush appears and you’ve earned it.” The ceilings are low enough to catch your head. The floors slope. The beer is local.

Gail’s pick: The Ship Inn, Mousehole — or possibly not a pub at all. Gail, who sits on the Mousehole Harbour Authority board, initially chose The Ship Inn — right on the harbour, salt on the windows, Stargazy Pie on the menu in December. “It’s the soul of the village,” she said. Then she paused. “Although, honestly, if you want a really good glass of wine, there’s a wine bar in Penzance that—”

“A wine bar,” said Morgan.

“It has very good natural wines.”

“This is a pub debate, Gail.”

She returned, graciously, to The Ship. “The fish pie,” she said. “And the view of St Clement’s Isle from the window seat.”

Lucy’s pick: The Rashleigh, Polkerris. Lucy chose a pub you can only really reach on foot or by a narrow lane that discourages the casual visitor. The Rashleigh sits directly on the beach at Polkerris, a tiny cove on the south coast between Fowey and Par. “Walk the coast path from Gribbin Head,” she said. “You come down through the trees and there it is — a pub on the sand.” Daphne du Maurier walked these paths. Lucy’s family has been in this part of Cornwall since 1531, and she speaks about the Rashleigh the way you’d speak about a neighbour. “Crab sandwiches. A pint of Tribute. Your feet in the sand. That’s it.”

Evie’s pick: The Turk’s Head, Penzance. Evie chose the oldest pub in Penzance. The Turk’s Head dates from the 13th century and sits on Chapel Street, where the medieval town once ran down to the harbour. “There’s a smugglers’ tunnel,” Evie said, “that runs from the cellar to the harbour. They sealed it up, but you can still see the entrance.” The pub survived a Spanish raid in 1595 that burned most of Penzance to the ground. Evie likes her history layered, and a pub with a smugglers’ tunnel, a Spanish cannonball story and seven centuries of continuous drinking fits the brief.

Morgan’s pick: The Blue Peter, Polperro. Morgan went for the fishermen’s pub. The Blue Peter sits right on the harbour wall in Polperro, and at high tide the water comes close enough to the door that you could, theoretically, fish from your stool. “It’s a working pub,” Morgan said. “Fishermen drink here. The floor’s wet, the ceiling’s low, the dog’s under the table. That’s a pub.” Morgan spent years as a coastguard, and his definition of a good pub has a lot to do with salt air and proximity to the sea. “If you can’t hear the water,” he said, “what’s the point?”

The verdict

There is no verdict. There never is. This argument has been running between our guides for years, across dozens of pub tables and at least that many rounds, and it shows no sign of resolution. Gail still thinks about the wine bar. David still thinks remoteness is a virtue. Morgan still believes a pub without the sea is just a room with beer.

They’ll have this debate again next week, probably at whichever pub is closest when the walk ends.