THERE is no more aptly named pub than the Sportsmans Arms, set in countryside near Menheniot station.

The pub has been owned twice - and still is - by Mike Griffin, who has been a keen horse breeder and trainer. He has travelled the country with his equine charges, one claim to fame coming on 9 November l996 when his horse, Benjamin Lancaster, really upset the form books and won the televised Osmington Mills Holidays and Permit Trainers Association Handicap Steeplechase. Benjamin, who is now retired and still lives locally with a new owner in Pensilva, was to become at 15 the oldest horse in racing, bar point to point, when he left the sport.

Mike, who had many of the top jockeys ride for him, had other memorable winners, such as one at Newton Abbot on Boxing Day. His horses were kept at stables behind the pub, and he still has two left which he has not yet sold. One of his regular customers, Brian Hurst, who is equally caught up in the spirit of racing, bought some of his horses. Brian, a time served racing apprentice who began in the trade at the age of 17, trains his thoroughbreds for point to point - but is aiming to start them on race courses in the coming weeks. Tongue in cheek he terms Mike as his 'mentor', and he says that, like anyone else involved in training horses, he remains an 'eternal optimist'.

Brian is married to another horse-lover, and Sportsmans Arms' customer, Carol Hurst. Carol, who owns two Carol and Co hairdressing salons in Liskeard's Fore Street and at Trago Mills, keeps her brood mares on the land behind the Sportsmans Arms, while her husband's soon-to-be-raced horses are trained near Saltash. One horse kept by them at Menheniot, however, has a different path set out for him. Slicks Dust, affectionately known as Dusty, is an ex-trotter who was bred in America and later was sent to Sweden at foot with a mare who also had a foal. He won a host of races in Sweden and Denmark before arriving in the UK where he also went on to win races.

Now retired from racing his new job for Brian, who has had him for about 18 months, is to pull a specially built trap. It is hoped that Sportsmans' Arms customers will take a genteel and scenic Sunday morning horse and trap ride around local estates before returning to the pub for Sunday lunch. Other innovative plans are to buy a Victoria carriage for weddings, and a carriage with glass sides for funerals.

Horses - and a children's film which was shot at Knebworth Park - brought Carol and Brian together. He was a stunt man in the film, taking the part of a white knight on a horse, while Carol had provided some beautiful show horses for a jousting scene and was an extra as well. She said: 'He was literally my white knight to the rescue as one of my horses was rather a tricky stallion.'

To keep with the spirit of the pub there are pictures of horses, by Saltash artist Caroline Cook, in the restaurant, and photographs of Mike's horses around the two bars. A photograph of the horse Henry Lancaster proved the inspiration for the pub's sign, which Caroline painted. Also in the bar is a framed Cornish Times article explaining how a number of men died just over l00 years ago while helping to build a viaduct which collapsed at the bottom of a nearby field. The inquest was held in the pub itself. It is thought the Sportsmans Arms, which is actually as much of a hotel as a pub, is at least l05 years old, having been built to serve the railway and the quarries.

Mike, who is also a sailor and has another customer who is a keen greyhound racer, initially took on the Sportsmans Arms' reins 15 years ago. He left, but then returned just over eight years ago. He said that the viaduct being built when tragedy occurred was the second viaduct in the area, and that there was also a Brunel bridge built nearby. He is interested in the pub's history, and would like to hear from anyone who can shed more light on it. One of his past customers was the late Jack Webb who could remember when Menheniot station was very busy. He used to bring milk and produce from the country to the station every day, for it to be sent up-country.

The Sportsmans Arms has seven bedrooms, one with twin beds and one a family room. Many of the holidaymakers who book come from the Midlands, where Mike advertises. One of the attractions is that the pub/hotel is ideally set with sea, countryside and moorland within very easy reach. A majority, including Anita and David Sollors from Birmingham, also return year on year, such is the friendly welcome they receive from Mike, his assistant Rosa Affleck and the staff, who include cook Rita Chenery, and Jill-of-all-trades Heather Hussey, who handily lives only two doors away from the pub.

Rosa and Mike prepare the breakfasts for guests, while the delicious meals at lunchtimes and during the evenings are cooked by Rita. There is an impressive menu, including dishes for vegetarians, and using freshly grown local produce wherever possible.