The Blue Anchor, Helston

The Blue Anchor remains famous in ale drinking circles for being one of just four home brew pubs operating in the UK when CAMRA was formed in 1971. Unlike the other three (The Three Tuns in Bishops Castle, All Nations in Madeley and The Old Swan in Netherton), it is the only one that has continuously brewed beer since then. The pub’s Spingo ales are well known around Cornwall and occasionally found in a few other revered local ale houses, but the Blue Anchor is your best bet to find them. On my visit, their two flagship beers, Middle and Special, were on alongside a seasonal brew, with all three clocking in at over 5% abv. I asked the barmaid what she recommended and she said most of the regulars drink the Middle, so I ordered a pint and found it to be a very distinctive and remarkably sweet, old fashioned ale. It took me a while to get used to it but it drank reasonably well and it was certainly interesting to try something so out of kilter with modern beer trends. Two real ciders were also available and more of the Spingo range was available in bottled form. The building reputedly dates back to the 15th Century, when it was used as a rest home for monks, but was converted into a pub and brewery in the 18th century, taking its name from Helston’s former days as a port town before the estuary silted up. Today we find a rare pub layout, with several rooms accessed from a central flagstone floored passageway. The main bar is in the front right hand room, with the dark wood servery tucked away to the rear left. Dark wood beams cross the ceiling and a collection of old tankards and pint glasses has been hung from them. Some excellent traditional pub seating fills out the front part of the room and there are some good black and white photos on the walls. This was by far the most popular room and the friendly locals generated a good buzz and seemed used to random strangers passing through. The front left room has pew and chair seating options, a table made from an upturned barrel, a grand stone fireplace and a great picture of Helston Town Band on the wall, alongside other old paintings. A small adjoining snug has room for a single table and a very old poster which advertised the nearby Seven Stars pub as being up for sale. Further down the passageway, you pass beneath a ‘Take Courage’ sign before you find another door to the left which leads into a cosy room with some more barrel tables and padded pews plus walls decorated with a series of excellent posters for the Spingo Brewery and various events in the pub. I thought these posters looked great in this room, which was a little cold although an electric heater was doing its best to keep us warm and dry out our sodden clothing. A second bar can be found to the rear right of the passage, where a few more locals had set themselves up underneath some more interesting local posters. The corridor emerges into the garden area from which you can access a huge tent full of seating and a closed bar, the outdoor toilet block, the skittle alley and of course the brewery itself. The pub seemingly attracts a fair amount of tourists and runs its own line of merchandising including packs of bottled beer, t-shirts and even Spingo mustard. This is an obvious destination pub that is worth seeking out for the fabulous, unusual interior, the genuine warm welcome and the anachronistic beer range. I really enjoyed exploring this pub and sampling a beer that I would struggle to find the likes of elsewhere in the country. For me, this was a memorable visit and one I’m very pleased I made.

I first visited this place just over 30 years ago and have to admit that then it was my main reason for visiting Cornwall apart from seeing Land's End. Other than the smoking ban and the marquee in the garden I don't believe the pub had changed one bit. As described in detail below, it's an old unspoilt pub with several different rooms and the Marquee was taken up with a group of golfers who were knocking back the Middle beer as though Armageddon was hours away. Having arrived just after eleven, I got a seat in the bar where the seven hand pumps had two ciders, Flora Daze, Jubilee IPA, two Middles and the Special. I tried the Flora Daze (£2.90), Middle (£3.10) and Special (£4.30). While the pub itself is fantastic the beers brewed seem quite pedestrian compared to many of the new wave of microbreweries and none of them were completely clear. The Flora Daze is an attempt at a new style Pale Ale but just tasted weird to me. The Middle is a predominately sweet amber beer typical of South and South West England and is probably the best. The Special is so sweet it drinks like a barley wine rather than the 6.7% ABV it actually is. Thirty years ago a beer this strength was relatively rare but nowadays they crop up everywhere. I also thought it was too expensive. This is a really great pub but if you don't care for sweeter old school beers it may disappoint.

What to say about this place, the home of the Spingo Brewery. Well, the small stone thatched cottage frontage, with its blue painted windows and door, hides a burghage plot that retreats some way back to a nice beer garden. I am always sceptical of historic claims; a 15th century monk's house and so on... well, i am dubious a monk lived here, but it may have been in possession of a monastry - nobody ever cites the source do they! Anyhow, back to the pub. The entrance takes you into a passageway decorated in white and blue, with stone floor. There are a couple of rooms off to the left, the first being the Children's Room, which is a snug in white painted stone with settles and old photos on the walls. The second room is in cream and fake beam, with stone floor, settles and Springo pictures on the walls. The two main rooms are off to the right and served by a central bar. The Gun Room is the lounge at the back, the bar is at the front; both have cream and wood panel decor, stone floors and sone fireplaces, with wooden furniture, including settles. Old photos are on the walls. There is no TV that i saw and no music either. The service was really friendly and the place populated by both holidaymakers and locals (more to the mature side). The locals are really friendly and if you go in the bar you'll get dragged into a conversation, or local banter, pretty quickly. Beer; usual tap stuff with 6 Spingo beers on; Special, Middle, Jubilee, Easter, one i failed to note and a class Stout. A brilliant place and a must do if in the area.