Falmouth Holiday Day 1 Saturday 12th August 2017

This was our first proper weeks holiday for many years after our kids had grown up and decided not to go with us anymore.
So were well looking forward to going to Falmouth for a week and to boot we were staying in a pub that my wife had sorted out for our weeks stay there,the pub was the Seaview Inn and did have great views over the harbour and the River Fal.

The journey down was long and over seven hours but was cheap as yet again my wife had  booked the train tickets from Nottingham to Falmouth and back,there were a few changes along the journey with changes at Birmingham,Newton Abbot and Truro,we had cans of proper Guinness and Kronenbourg 1856 or whatever it is called to drink on the way down,we finally arrived into Falmouth just after 3pm,a bit of a walk uphill from Falmouth Town train station and getting slightly lost due to the lack of street names,we was soon is sight of the Seaview Inn,it was not long before we were on our way down stairs for our drink in the Seaview Inn.

Falmouth

1: Seaview Inn

Photo taken by Alan Winfield our base

 
A decent looking pub that was much better inside with a single room which ran the width of the pub and wrapped around the bar,the front area had bench seating and normal tables and chairs,there was a pool table to the rear,the room was carpeted and had a low ceiling,all in all a very nice and comfortable room to have a drink in and good views over the harbour.
There were three real ales on the bar,we had a pint and a half of Cotleigh 25 which went down well,there was also Sharps Sea Fury and Doom Bar on,the choice of beers on the bar changed through the week apart from the Doom Bar.
We really liked the pub and had drinks in it over the week,more to come on drinks had there on other days.

It was a short walk that was slightly down hill to our next pub.

2: Jacob's Ladder

Photo taken by Alan Winfield

 
A decent looking pub with some nice hanging baskets outside.
Once inside the pub was not so good and seemed a bit scruffy,there was a square shaped room with the bar on the left side,the room was bare boarded,the seating just a few normal tables and chairs,there was a smaller room to the right through an opened out doorway to the front right which had a few settees,a room to the rear had a pool table in it.
There was one real ale on the bar which was Doom Bar,we had two halfs of it and it was a decent drink.
The background music was decent,but we found out that this is a pub that hosts live bands.

We soon found out why the pub was called Jacob's Ladder as it is opposite the steps that go down to the town centre,which are called Jacobs ladder,there were loads of steep steps and we were told there were 109 of them.

We were now in the middle of Falmouth and having a look round to see where the pubs were and a look round a few shops.
I soon clocked two pubs and told my wife so she could choose which one to do first,but with women being more observant than men,she told me the Wodehouse Tavern was closed,so it was to be the Seven Stars across the market place..

3: Seven Stars

Photo taken by Alan Winfield

 
A nice looking pub that is set back from the market place.
Once inside my wife took an instant dislike to the pub and said "i am going outside to sit where it is less scruffy.
The pub did look scruffy to me also,so it must be a pub the Camra members like,i was right as when i took the drinks outside there were loads of old GBG stickers on the windows.
The inside had a narrow room to the front where the bar faced on entry,there was a stone floor that looked worn and scruffy and basic bench seating and small stools for seating,a smaller room to the rear which had pew seats,there was a separate room to the right which was for people drinking gins and pymms.
The choice of real ales was good as you would expect in a scruffy pub that camra types like.
We had a pint and a half of Bass which was poured from a barrel on a stillage,this was a decent drink that went down well while watching the world go by while sat on a picnic bench outside the pub,the other real ales noted were St Austell Lucky 7,Skinners Lushingtons and Sharps Atlantic,there were real ciders and maybe a few more real ales that i could not be bothered to note,we had to go to the toilets which were just as scruffy.
This is one of the Falmouth pubs that we would not do again.

We now decided to walk down to the harbour area looking in shops,our next pub was pretty close to where the small ferries went to St Mawes and Flushing.
A story of the St Mawes ferry in a later post.

4: Prince of Wales

Photo taken by Alan Winfield

 
A typical looking town pub and the sort of pub that we like doing.
The pub is situated at the bottom of the old High Street.
Once inside there is a single square shaped room with the bar on the right side,the seating is comfy bench seating and some normal tables and chairs in the middle of the room,the pool table was covered up,the TV was showing football.
There were four real ales on the bar,we had a pint and a half of St Austell Proper Job,which was a very nice drink,there was also St Austell Tribute,St Austell Lemon Drop and Bass on the bar.
We both liked this proper pub and would do it a few more times over the week.

By now all the shops had closed and we were in full drinking mode,we walked up the old High Street passing a couple of pubs to get views over the harbour and River Fal,which were great.
It was a short steep walk uphill to get to our next pub.

5: The Boathouse

Photo taken by Alan Winfield

Not the best looking pub we had done up to now,but the signs saying all aboard took our fancy,we like corny signs like that.
Up some steps and we were in the main room after passing a crummy lower room with a darts board and and outside covered drinking and smoking area.
The main room was quite nice with the bar to the rear,the room was bare boarded and the seating bench type and chairs,there were great views over the River Fal from this room towards Flushing,we enjoyed watching the ferrys and boats coming and going while sat in this nice pub.
There were two real ales on the bar,we had a pint and a half of St Austell Tribute,which went down well while looking at the views outside,the other real ale was from Wickwar brewery.
We would visit this pub again as we quite liked it here,a comfy pub with great views and smart inside.
Another pub that we would revisit as we liked it.

I had spied the Greenbank Hotel in the distance which was right next to the river,a short walk downhill and we was outside what looked like a very posh pub that would be to smart for us.

My wife with views of the River Fal Estuary

6: Greenbank Hotel

Greenbank Hotel Photo taken by Alan Winfield

 
Once inside the pub was very smart and busy with posh smart looking people who were ordering drinks at their tables,so i went to the bar and asked for a half of St Austell Tibute and a slimline tonic for the wife,this round was a lot cheaper than i thought it would be.
The room looked quite smart and far too upmarket for us to be comfortable in,the bar faced inwards and the seating was bench seating and posh tables and chairs plus two settees,there was a separate dining room where the posh people would have their posh meals.
There was one more real ale on the bar which was from Longrock brewery,too strong for me to drink.

It was now a walk back uphill while looking at the nice views and to the top of the High Street for our next pub.

7: Star & Garter

Photo taken by Alan Winfield

 
This looked like a nice proper pub from the outside.
But once inside it was not quite as good with a good area of the room with the good views set aside for diners only.
The room was T shaped with the bar to the front left,the floor bare boarded,there was bench seating and chairs to the front where we had to sit,normal tables in the middle area an bench seating in bays to the rear where the diners were sitting,the views over the River Fal estuary were great.
There were three real ales on the bar,we had halfs of Sharps Atlantic,which was a decent drink,there was also Skinners Star & Garter and Driftwood Spar Red River Rye on the bar.
The pub was quite busy on our Saturday night visit.

We now walked back down the old High Street and to the bottom where our next pub was.
We were getting a bit hungry so we shared a fish from the chip shop which was opposite Finn MC'Coul's

8: Finn MC'oul's

Photo taken by Alan Winfield

 
A corner pub that had seating on different levels,we stuck to the ground floor level which had the bar on the rear left side,the room was a irregular shaped and the TVs were showing Mo Farra in the 5000 meters race.
There were two real ales on the bar,we had a pint and a half of Sharps Atlantic,which went down well after the fish,the other real ale was Sharps Doom Bar.
There was a good lively atmosphere and background music was playing,my wife liked this pub.

We now took a walk along the main shopping street looking for a few more pubs,it was not long before we found our next pub.

9: The Grapes

Photo taken by Alan Winfield

 
A corner pub situated in the main shopping area of Falmouth.
The bar faces if you enter from the side entrance like we did,the pub has a decent sized single room which is part bare boarded and carpeted,the seating is normal tables and chairs,there were good views of Flamouth harbour from the rear of the room.
There was a decent choice of real ales on the bar,we had a pint and a half of Skinners Lushingtons,which was a very nice drink,there was also Skinners Cornish Knocker,Exmoor Ale and Doom Bar on the bar.
We were happy enough having a drink in this pub until i went to the toilet,when i came back my wife was stood up looking bemused as the table we had been sitting at was not there anymore,they had cleared the middle area of the pub to make way for dancing before there was any live music,we were pretty pissed off and soon left like a lot of other drinkers who had been displaced.
We would do this pub again during the day when it would be better.

We walked further down the main shopping street and soon found another pub.

10: The Kings

Photo taken by Alan Winfield

 
Situated on a kink in the road the Kings looked a bit posy for us,but we went in no matter what it was like.
There was a single oblong shaped room inside with the bar on the rear left side,the floor was bare boarded and the seating normal tables and chairs and tall posing tables and chairs,there was also a small area to the front left which was carpeted and had settees.
For a pub like this i was surprised to see three real ales on the bar,we had two half of Rebel Surfbum IPA,which was a decent drink,there was also Skinners Porthleven and Bath Ales Spa on the bar.
There was loud background music playing and the pub soon started to fill up,it was banging by the time we left.

As this was our first day in Falmouth and my first pubs done in Cornwall we went back the way we came and back up Jacobs ladder to get back to the Seaview Inn and for a quick last drink.

Saturday done,days out would get more hairy some frightening and worrying in the days to come