Down South

 As is our want, we usually have a holiday in October.  This year we decided to return to Falmouth.

Work was still very busy so we nipped up to Bristol just a couple of days before we were due to go to Cornwall to decompress a little then we headed down (on the train, obvs).

 Once again, we bemoaned travelling on a Saturday (must try harder to find a holiday rental which starts midweek) - Our train was partially cancelled, meaning an unplanned change in Plymouth, but we were unphased.

Our Falmouth base promised much but didn't deliver everything we'd hoped, nevertheless it was in a decent spot meaning it was relatively easy to get around on foot, even on days when the weather wasn't at its best.

We wanted to seek out a few new places:  The Seaview, The Globe and the Jacobs Ladder and reprise old favourites:  Moth and the Moon, Beerwolf, The Front, Seafood Cafe.

 Front and Beerwolf really bring it for us:  good real ale, sometimes the bonus of an interesting keg.  A place we can play Regicide with impunity.

Seafood cafe was still good but the food less to our taste than the first time we went (and serving chips and salad long after the other dishes had been finished was a bit sub par)  but the beer was great and the service really engaging. 

Moth and the Moon is a more subdued kind of place than the others but it's cosy and atmospheric with beer that's certainly good enough to pass muster for a couple of pints.

So much for the old friends...

What about the new places?  Actually, we failed to get to Jacobs Ladder (we passed it a couple of times but it didn't beckon us in) and as an aside the Famouth Brewery place in a tiny lane near the harbour didn't seem to be open to the two or three times we passed it. Must do better!

The Globe which I wanted to try because they've taken a high street pub which Greene King were dumping and turned it into an independent venue and you have to love that.  Their cask offering was modest (two beers - one pale, one stout) from a brewery we didn't know (...bear something???) but the pint of the pale one we had was cool, well kept and very nice.  Their keg offering appeared to be all/mostly uber Brands so nothing to interest us there. The view out the back is great, the staff friendly.  I hope it does well.

We had a bonus new pub when we accidentally walked to Penryn -  The Seven Stars which has its own microbrewery.  It was around lunchtime and it was very quiet but the welcome was pleasant, the beer good (Hidden Brewery) and the bus back to Falmouth-proper oh so convenient (gotta love a pub very near bus stop).

Best new pub though was The Seaview. A punishingly steep walk from where we were staying but oh so worth it.  Verdant beers plus a guest on cask and loads of their own keg beers as you would expect.  The first time we went for the beer, the second for beer and food.  Had a bit of a Barley Mow feel about it with definite "shifts" of different people.  I'm not sure that "Desi" is really a description you can give the place but we tried the food offering.  I liked it a bit more than the BBB but we did eat well.

...and the one that got away?  A place we'd never even heard of - taproom for the Dynamite brewery but never quite found the time/occasion to visit.  Next time, maybe.

All in all we barely drank the same beer twice:  Treens, Verdant, Tintagel, Firebird (plus the odd guest) and 3 or 4 from each brewery available in the main venues we went.  We were able to major on cask, which we particularly liked and bonus points for Seaview's willingness to offer 2/3rds - even in cask.

Still - because we're old.  We're glad to be home.  Back in Bristol for a few days before we head back to Sussex.