The views have never been in question. Crags and coves, seals and sand
castles, cawing gulls and crashing surf: Cornwall has a world-class
coastline, and a treasure chest of inns and taverns beside the snarling
shore, perfect places to hole up and enjoy the drama. But real jewels remain
hard to find: places with piratical atmosphere, cheery food and snug rooms
where you can wake up and see the sea. We set out to find six of the best.
BAY VIEW INN, BUDE
On one side of the road are dunes, sand and surf; on the other is a seaside
command-and-control centre. This free house on Widemouth Bay has everything
you’ll need for a salty escape, from the latest weather, tide and surf
forecasts (pinned up inside the porch) to seared-tuna salad for a tenner.
The seven ensuite bedrooms have views of sea and sunset. Go for rooms 5 or 6 –
they have big balconies for memorable breakfasts and nightcaps. You’ll have
to shuffle around the bed one at a time – the rooms are small – but the
decor is thoughtful, with roll-top baths, decent fabrics and fresh flowers.
The UPVC double glazing is ugly, but handy when storms blow in.
The Bay View was taken over by the Keene family just this year, and their food
is better than you’d expect at a busy beach pub – they’ve kept it simple,
local and fresh. Even the burgers are from herds grazing down the road,
topped with cheese from the farm next door.
When I visited, surfer types played backgammon on sofas in the back bar while
listening to piped Paul Weller; couples and families chose the heated
decking outside or the sunny conservatory restaurant. Tear your eyes from
the view and there’s a daily specials board, local real ale, a playground
and a bouncy castle in summer.
B&B from £38pp; three-course dinner about £25; 01288 361273, www.bayviewinn.co.uk
GURNARD’S HEAD HOTEL, ZENNOR
I once stumbled into this bar, way down in rugged west Cornwall, and found it
full of silent locals with funny-shaped heads. I vowed never to return. But
a new owner, a fresh colour scheme and some serious investment in the food
have transformed it into a highly rated gastropub with rooms.
Gurnard’s stands on the winding coast road, marooned among granite and
heather, a 15-minute drive from St Ives. The sea glistens beyond patchwork
fields and farm buildings, and it’s a 10-minute walk down to the rocky
shore. On my second visit, I found the pub ochre-washed and surrounded by
pot plants and expensive cars.
Inside, it is more like a mini country-house hotel. The bedrooms have stout
wooden furniture, the bathrooms slate floors. The decision not to install
televisions is clearly deliberate: instead, you get a Roberts radio, bottled
water and fresh wild flowers. Only two rooms have (distant) sea views; you
wake up to the sound not of cawing gulls, but of mooing cows.
The food is sufficiently fine to make Gurnard’s “the best Cornish newcomer” in
this year’s Good Food Guide. Dishes such as grilled mackerel with anchovy
and rosemary butter, or roast brill with carrot purée, demonstrate that it’s
up there with the best of new-wave Cornish cuisine.
The bar still manages to be pubby, though. I chatted to Richard, a 73-year-old
regular in tweeds and cravat, who told me he’d been to Gurnard’s
“approximately 2,000 times”, and was soon reciting his Betjeman-like poems
to me. Later, I sat at a wonky table by an open fire while Jan and Vaughan
from the next village strummed through folk songs about ploughing and
fishing.
Doubles from £72.50, B&B; three-course dinner about £25; 01736
796928, www.gurnardshead.co.uk
SLOOP INN, ST IVES
With its ancient whitewashed walls, black paintwork and cobbled courtyard,
this 14th-century pub could have been designed by an American tourist. Best
of all, it stands right on the harbour wall in the heart of St Ives. Inside,
you duck under low beams, sit on wobbly wooden benches and walk on
slate-slab floors.
The 18 bedrooms are scattered through the pub and adjoining buildings, and
most have a stirring view of the harbour, the beach and the open sea beyond.
Some have balconies. And, while the shiny pine furniture, magnolia woodchip
and orange bedspreads may not encourage you to hang around your room for
long, the pub has unexpected charms, from free WiFi internet access to the
sketches of local fishermen that line the snug front bar. A beach-volleyball
tournament takes place every Friday, the pub hosts private viewings for
local painters, and there’s a teetering pile of board games.
The food is classic pub grub, but with plenty of fish: cod from Newlyn,
mackerel from St Ives, good Cornish crab. And the location, two minutes’
walk from the Tate, draws the odd celebrity: the landlord’s second-cousin,
Rosamunde Pilcher, features the Sloop in some of her novels and has been
known to pop in.
B&B from £42pp; two-course dinner about £14; 01736 796584,
www.sloop-inn.co.uk
Rooms at the Godolphin Arms offer a grandstand view of St Michael’s Mount
GODOLPHIN ARMS, MARAZION
The Godolphin’s grand facade mirrors its aristocratic heritage as part of the
St Aubyn estate. Indeed, it is still owned by James St Aubyn, the son of
Lord St Levan, who lives just across the sandy causeway atop St Michael’s
Mount.
The pub stands on the sea wall and claims one of Britain’s great coastal
views: across Mount’s Bay from the Lizard in the east to Penzance and
Mousehole in the west. Stone steps lead down to the Blue Flag beach, and at
low tide you can cross a causeway to the Mount – when the water rises
sufficiently, a small ferry sails from beneath the Godolphin’s terrace.
Inside, it’s a mix of styles: the restaurant is all crisp white linen and
napkins stuffed in glasses; the huge open-plan cafe-pub has breezy pine
balustrades; while downstairs is the rugged Gig Bar, a youthful beach
hang-out with regular live bands.
Most of the 10 bedrooms have “the view”, some through floor-to-ceiling bay
windows. There’s a scattering of balconies, four-posters and bunk beds for
kids; and the decor is unexpectedly funky, with paint effects and jazzy
seaside colours.
Doubles from £80, B&B; three-course dinner about £25; 01736 710202, www.godolphinarms.co.uk
CADGWITH COVE INN, CADGWITH
Cadgwith is a tight little fishing hamlet tucked in a cove on the Lizard
peninsula: so tight, in fact, that you have to park pay-and-display (£1.60 a
day) at the head of the steep little valley, then walk down through woods
and tumbling gardens to the inn – about a third of a mile.
The cream-painted pub is 300 years old, and as quirky as you’d expect in this
remote spot. If you’ve booked ahead, there will probably be a note pinned to
the door from Dave the landlord, saying: “Let yourself in.”
Down in the bar, you’ll find log fires, dark beams, impromptu singing sessions
from local fishermen, sea murals, dangling knots, a specials board and a
warning to visitors “against the dangers of seasickness whilst listening to
nautical tales in this bar”. You may sit in “Dead Man’s Corner”, hung with
photos and paintings of regulars who’ve gone to Davy Jones’s locker. Seafood
barbecues are available during the summer.
Upstairs are seven bedrooms, but only three ensuite. Their floral bedspreads,
rattly sash windows and tiny bathrooms are everything you’d expect for the
price – but here they’re redeemed by the view into the mouth of the cove.
B&B from £27.50pp; three-course dinner about £20; 01326 290513, www.cadgwithcoveinn.com
GALLEON INN, FOWEY
Between the galleries and boutiques of Fowey’s main street, an alley burrows
down to the Galleon Inn. Once the fearsome haunt of the wildest fishermen,
it has been modernised and, like the rest of this pretty harbour town, isn’t
scary at all.
The bedroom decor is a bit B&Q, but if you pick rooms 4 and 7, you won’t
notice the cheap pine furniture and maroon bathrooms – the view over the
harbour and the steep wooded estuary is irresistible. Luxury yachts glide past
the window and a busy yellow water-taxi service runs from the pub’s own
mooring below. Breakfast is served in a back room, with local kippers and
haddock available.
Downstairs, little of the pub’s 400-year history is on view.
There’s a waterside terrace where four resident ducks scrabble for crumbs
under the picnic tables and parasols, while inside is a long modern bar with
slate floor, pool table and piped music. Alongside is the high-ceilinged
conservatory restaurant – on a busy day, they’ll serve 500 meals.
The bar is a lively venue in the centre of an upmarket boating and tourism
town. There is live jazz on Sunday lunchtimes, with rock bands on Fridays
out of season.
Sea-view rooms £40pp, B&B; main courses £5.75-£12.95; 01726 833014, www.galleon-inn.co.uk
