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Beer of the Week (w/e 27th April 2025) with Thuck Phat
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Detail Pages
The Witchball, Helston
The Lizard
Postal town: Helston
TR12 7NJ
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 6½ of 10) see review guidelines
Blue Scrumpy left this review about The Witchball
Having visited the westernmost real ale pub in Great Britain last month, it was a strange coincidence that I should find myself in the southernmost British pub on my latest visit to Cornwall.
I'd never visited The Lizard before and it wasn't quite what I was expected. The village itself is a rather commercialised place, similar to a kiss-me-quick English seaside resort, with chip shops, cafes, fish stalls and restaurants. I'd somehow expected some kind of final outpost overlooking a rocky outcrop.
The Witchball doesn't seem to make much of its claim to fame. In fact, it seemed to be a fairly down-to-earth pub popular with both locals and visitors alike.
There is a small beamed bar area with little decoration and a games room containing a pool table off to one corner. Most people were sat in the outdoor area to the front of which a strange feature was the gents urinals in the corner, which was basically a place to pee surrounding by corrugated iron. With no running water, at least hand sanitiser was provided.
At the bar, the cask ales are Tribute & Sea Fury. A guest beer may occasionally appear, but the third handpull was vacant for our visit. Ciders appeared to amount to Thatcher's Gold & Healey's Rattler until we spotted a sign above the bar promoting flat ciders for £4 a pint.
Behind us, there were 4 local bag-in-the-box ciders probably remaining from a cider festival the pub had held. You are given glasses to help yourselves. On offer were Bearded Moustache Mango & Storm Damage & Gweal Mellin Cornish Farmhouse & Festival Strength. The Festival Strength (8.2%) was the only new one for me. So, it seemed rude not to avail myself of a swift half. After all, it was only £2!
With quite a lively, but friendly atmosphere, this was another pub I enjoyed visiting. The cask ale selection was a bit on the boring side and the decor is nothing to write home about, but it was a fitting end (or so I thought it was the end) to a day's drinking in Cornwall, with the unexpected bonus of another real cider.
By the way, looking at Ian's review below, they may well have stopped selling food. There was certainly no sign of any menus or anything being served this time.
On 13th August 2024
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3040 recommendations about 3038 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Ian Mapp left this review about The Witchball
Lots of press coverage of this places sad closure in Feb 2023. Less about its reopening in June 2023.
Completely unchanged from what I can remember from visiting 12 years ago.... although saying that, there was no Betty Stoggs on this time. Three cask from Sharps and the lesser spotted Sea Fury in fine condition.
Single roomed, very low ceilings, large front patio area. More of a drinkers pub than the Top House Inn.
The menu looked very interesting - a Caribbean influence. We may well go back for an evening meal.
On 23rd October 2023
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1563 recommendations about 1543 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Soup Dragon left this review about The Witchball
A great little pub and eatery, in the GBG, with a front beer garden. The pub, a former farmhouse, looks like two cottages thrust together with a large front extension (the dormer window spoils the look a little). It is in white rendered rough stone. The interior is an L-shaped room. One end (the front extension) is the food area and is in white and white rendered stone, with food tables and mixed art. The other end is the bar, in white and beam look, with red perimeter seats, a brick fireplace and a witch's broom on the wall. It has a patterned carpet throughout. It is a small place. There is no TV and there was no music. The food here was really nice. The service was great and the place rammed with a mixed clientele (not hard, as it is so small). Beer; usual tap stuff with Skinner's Betty Stoggs, St Austell Tribute and two from the Chough Brewery; Kynance Blonde (fine) and Fire Raven (class) on handpull. A great pub with great food - one to try if this far south.
On 24th May 2013
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 3067 recommendations about 3062 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Gill Smith left this review about The Witchball
This is a friendly pub situated just off the main green. After a 6.5 mile walk round the Lizard penninsular, I was ready for a pint, and they were ever so good and agreed to let us have food even though we were in just after the 3pm finish for food. It is in the 2012 Good Beer Guide and deserves it's place as the beer we had was in good condition. They still runs a beer festival in August, but sadly we will have left by then.
On 1st July 2012
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1339 recommendations about 1222 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
aleand hearty left this review about The Witchball
By sheer chance, our recent visit to The Lizard coincided with the Witchball’s annual beer festival, whereby a marquee filled with casks on stillage took over most of the front garden. This gave the opportunity to try beers from some of the rarer Cornish brewers: Wooden Hand, Chough, Keltek etc and very good they were too.
Unfortunately, as drinking time was quite limited, this meant I was unable to have a nosey round the pub itself. However, on the basis of the warm welcome I received from the landlord / barman and the commitment to real ale, I have no qualms about recommending the pub for a visit, when in the area.
On 21st August 2010
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 644 recommendations about 624 pubs]