I’ve already included some of the many
wonderful pub signs I discovered in Cornwall
in my blogs about the places we visited but wait, there’s more!
Plume
of Feathers, Porthscatho
In the 18th and 19th centuries, Porthscatho’s
17th-century
Plume of Feathers pub would have been packed with local fishermen,
celebrating (or commiserating about) the size of the day’s pilchard catch. The
town is still a fishing port but these days the pub is more likely to be full
of tourists and holidaymakers.
Interestingly, the plume of ostrich feathers
on the pub’s sign is the heraldic badge of the Prince of Wales, and there are
many pubs with this, or similar names, in areas of Britain that are associated with
royal estates.
The Red
Lion, Newquay
The Red Lion was once the most popular name
for a pub in
Britain,
with over 600 back in 1986. This particular
Red Lion sits on a hill high above
Newquay and enjoys lovely views over the old harbour, town and beaches. With
its front verandah, it looks like it could be located somewhere in the colonies rather than a town in Cornwall: there’s a wonderful old photo of it, dated 1888, in the
Francis Frith collection.
The
Old Custom House, Padstow
As the name indicates,
this building once contained Padstow’s
Custom House, with a bonded warehouse
and neighbouring house for the Customs officials. Sitting right on the edge of
the picturesque harbour, the oldest part of the building probaby dates from the
18th century, though there have been later additions and alterations. The sign presumably
shows a Customs official at work recording goods in his ledger.
The
Shipwrights, Padstow
This
pub’s website says
the Shipwrights is a ‘
traditional brick pub
built originally to serve the fishermen and tradespeople of the bustling
historic port of Padstow’ but, according to a photograph and text in the
book
Padstow History Tour by Malcolm
McCarthy, the building was not always a public house. In the 1920s, ‘H. Brown,
painter and decorator, was using it. In earlier times, this building was the
site of the saw pit, where great baulks of timber were cut by hand for the
flourishing shipbuilding industry in the port.’ Regardless of the truth of the
matter, it’s a wonderful old pub that was being very well patronised on the day
we were in Padstow.
The
Golden Lion, Padstow
Finally, a
website that includes details of
the pub’s history. You’d think it would be something to celebrate for all old
historic buildings. The site says: ‘The Golden Lion dates back to the 14th
century and is the oldest in in Padstow.’ And ‘The Golden Lion is the stable of
the Old ‘
Oss
which, on the 1st May each year, dances through the streets of Padstow to the
sound of drums and accordions’. You can read more about that
May Day event here.
The
London Inn, Padstow
The
London Inn’s website also tells the interesting, if slightly garbled story of its history. I
interpret their text to mean that the buildings that originally housed three
fishermen’s cottages were converted to a public house in 1803, and, rather than
referring to the city of London (which is what the sign seems to infer), the name
London
came from a local sloop that operated out of Padstow between 1877 and 1878.
Tywarnhayle
Inn, Perranporth
The Tywarnhayle Inn sign, an interesting shape that has an image showing the local beach
landscape, says this pub was established around 1830 but I’m afraid I’ve uncovered
no further information about its early history. More recently, though, it has
suffered a series of rather smelly problems – according to an article dated 13
October 2014 on the Cornwall Live website, the pub had several times suffered ‘from
internal flooding, which means that raw sewage waste travels up through the
floorboards, sinks and toilets when nearby storm drains overflow.’ The floods
were so bad they had forced the landlords to go out of business. Presumably,
the local council has since rectified these problems.
The
Green Parrot, Perranporth
‘Wetherspoon’s chairman and founder, Tim
Martin, said: “We take immense pride in the restoration and refurbishment of
wonderful buildings into Wetherspoon pubs. We feel that it is right to
celebrate the history of the buildings.”’
The website gives the following
information on the Green Parrot:
'Built as a
private residence, this building was converted into The Green Parrot in c1977.
The old house stood in wooded grounds and was originally named Pentrig House,
from the Cornish meaning ‘end of the sea’ or ‘low tide’. In the late 1890s and
early 1900s, it was the home of Joseph Teague, ‘Capt. & Hon. Major’ in the
1st Volunteer Battalion, Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, Perranporth.'
That doesn't explain where the pub got its current name but it's certainly a handsome pub sign.
