The Lugger, Fowey - no need for a wetsuit
Visiting Cornwall in winter is a treat. Especially if you make the Lugger in Fowey your destination
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I am a journalist who writes for BBC Culture, Pellicle and Vittles. I was named Beer Writer of the Year in 2023 by the British Guild of Beer Writers.
This post is considerably shorter than normal but the idea is to give you details of a pub I visited while I’m working on longer stuff. 500-ish words that transport you to Cornwall for free, what a great deal. Enjoy!
“One of the secrets of a happy life is continuous small treats, and if some of these can be inexpensive and quickly procured so much the better.” ― Iris Murdoch, The Sea, the Sea.
Fowey reminds me of the fictional Shruff End, which is on an unidentified part of the English coast, in Murdoch’s 1978 novel, The Sea, the Sea. The protagonist, Charles Arrowby, has a large apartment in Barnes, south-west London, which he sells on a whim to move to the seaside to write his memoirs.
I feel this same urge to relocate to Fowey whenever I visit and it’s because of the sea. And the Lugger. But first, the sea, the sea. Well, it’s not quite the sea but the mouth of the River Fowey and it’s sheltered, calm and very swimmable.
I braved the tide and swam on Saturday. 15C water; 14C air, according to my swimming diary - I swim at least once a week in an unheated lido, like this guy. I’m still not quite at the wetsuit stage of the year - so this wasn’t a cold shock. It was choppy enough for me to get the fear, though, which is half the ‘fun’, especially if one of your vices is adrenaline.
The river eventually was predictable and a back and forth from beach to buoy was followed by a pint at the Lugger, served by Christian Hanks, custodian of this Cornish pub. Often people think winter swimming is odd, but Christian is different and he takes his eight-year-old son. “He wants a wetsuit,” he admits, “but I never had a wetsuit!”
Christian and his partner, Ellie Gray, have been at the Lugger for a year and a half. They also run the similarly St Austell-tied New Inn, in Tywardreath, about four miles away. That pub is inland and is local-y, while the Lugger in winter is more unpredictable than the tides of the sea with Christian admitting “three or four could come through the door in a day, others 20 or 30”.
But the pair know the deal, having grown up in Fowey, and to be honest the pub is so busy in summer that it’s tricky to navigate. The town itself is jammed in the holiday season with cars stuck on the roads due to the vast numbers of pedestrians. Getting a seat here might be harder than the Northern Line during rush hour.
For me the colder months in Cornwall are a joy as I’m always out of step with the majority anyway and being in the Lugger when it’s quiet reminds me of past family holidays - we travelled when it was cheap. The décor is also a throwback to the Cornish past of fishermen and heavy industry. The boats. The maps. The catch.
“This is a traditional Cornish pub,” adds Christian. “This was an old fisherman’s pub back in the day - things have moved on and we have to be more foody. It was all men, no children. We’ve moved away from that but we’ve kept the Cornish identity.”
A Stone Roses’ track came on at the Lugger while I was having my pint of Hicks from the 90s, “You adore me”. I did. I really did. And like Charles Arrowby I could move here, but maybe just for the winter. Or maybe just for the Lugger.
If you liked the sound of a Hicks beer (or a seaweed beer I brewed) I’ll be serving - yes, literally serving - these on December 5 at the Shirker’s Rest, New Cross. Please come!
Beer playing cards? What a great idea. Find out more here.
Finally, enjoy Tyson v Paul a rematch of Tyson v Homer
