THE Rashleigh Inn on the waterfront at Polkerris is owned by the Rashleigh family who lease the building to Bernard and Carol Smith.

The original inn was situated in the car park of the current pub. In around 1912 during a bad storm part of the front wall collapsed and the pub was hit by rock falls and hide tides and subsequently knocked down.

The current pub was built in the 19th Century as a lifeboat station and the use then changed to a coastguard station. The inn had a sloping floor from the bay window to the back of the inn which the lifeboat would use as a slipway. The sloping floor is still intact but now covered over with level floor boards. The coastguard station then became the General Elliot Inn, named after a man who distinguished himself in India. In 1965 the name was changed to The Rashleigh Inn, taken from the Rashleigh family.

The Rashleigh family own the Menabilly estate and live around two miles away from the pub. They have provided a 20-year lease on the pub to Bernard and Carol, from which they have taken up 13 years and are currently applying for an extension.

Previous to running the Rashleigh Inn, Bernard and Carol owned a hotel in South Wales for three years and before that Bernard was a commercial manager for a brewery and Carol was self-employed as an accountant.

Bernard said: 'We took over the Rashleigh Inn to be semi-retired - it hasn't quite worked!'

The inn, a grade II listed building, was turned into a food-orientated establishment in around 1972 after Jim Prentice and Geraldine Moore built the kitchen and garages and made other alterations.

Carol explained: 'The inn has been a food-orientated establishment ever since.'

The inn offers a full bar menu, specials board, with particular specialities being local fresh fish, and a vegetarian menu. At lunch times there is a cold buffet in the restaurant and in the evenings an a la carte menu. Carol designs the menus for the inn and the meals are cooked by Keith White and Dennis McGuire.

Sally Dunn has been helping in the kitchen for the past six years and commented: 'It's a good atmosphere to work in. I've been here so long because the times I work fit in well with when my children are at school, and also because it is such a nice place to be, working or socialising.'

Music

The Rashleigh Inn has key mentions in the Good Pub Guide, the Good Beer Guide, the Which? Guide, Egon Ronay's Guide and the AA good pub guide, to name but a few.

The pub serves many real ales and selects around 300 in a year from local brewers, local companies and from further afield.

Bernard stressed: 'The Rashleigh Inn is a traditional old-fashioned inn and restaurant and we serve no alcopops. We always joke that we're still dragging the place into the 21st Century when people ask for them! There is also no television or Sky for the football, no pool table or darts board at the pub.'

The inn euchre team are doing well in the St Austell and District League and have won a fair bit of silverware in the past.

The inn has a regular music night most Saturdays when Cecil DeValle, an American piano player and professor of music at St Austell College, comes to the inn to play. Regulars and locals at the pub provide the percussion, with Pauline Harris on the accordion, Mike Harris who sings comical songs, Brian Ball who also sings and Fred Handover on the spoons.

Fred, in his eighties, is the musical director of the group and not only plays the spoons but can learn the words of any new songs that are released.

Bernard commented: 'Fred is the only non-Cornish man who knows all the words to Trelawney!'

Fred has lived in the village for around 30 years after moving there from London, via Birmingham. Fred is a carpenter and has made some of the doors and tables in the inn as well as being the former captain of the euchre team. Fred said: 'The pub is marvellous, I get my Sunday lunch from here every week, they drop it up to my house!'

Carol commented: 'We all try to look after each other here.'

The inn sells various originals and prints from artist Mike Kerris who lives at Tywardreath.

Mike is a signwriter and artist by profession and used to live in a cottage in the village which he now uses as a studio. Mike's paintings are not the only ones to grace the inn's walls. Taking up a majority of space on one of the walls is a large portrait of a man - purely theatrical - although Bernard and Carol joked, a great many people have been drawn in by popular stories about the man - including the one about him being the first ever fire chief of Polruan!

Boots

The inn's nominated charity is the Children's Hospice South West, and quiz nights used to be held to raise money, as did an annual bonfire night, until it got far too popular and had to be stopped due to health and safety reasons. Auctions are held regularly to raise money for the charity.

The inn has a dress code which includes all walking boots being removed before entering the pub as the sand from the nearby beach and walks 'gets everywhere'. People must also wear shirts into the pub, even if it's a hot day.

Children are welcome at the inn as long as the family are having a meal, and the youngsters must leave by 8.30pm.

Dogs are provided with water bowls on the terrace although they are not able to go into the pub.

Ivan Hathway is the bar manager at the inn and lives in Polkerris.

He started work at the pub just over 12 years ago and has worked his way up through the ranks to become a successful bar manager.

The inn has had only six licensees in one century with Vic Loader, who ran the pub from 1946 until 1972, building the bay window in the mid-50s.

The majority of Bernard's and Carol's trade comes not only from the locals and regular visitors but also from people walking the coastline paths and others visiting for a special meal.

Rob and Tina Small, from Leceister, holiday at Polkerris as much as possible, renting out Bernard's caravan in the village as many as six times a year. Rob is a detective superintendent for the police force and Tina is a special needs teacher.

Rob commented: 'The Rashleigh Inn is our 'local', not any of the pubs in Leceister. It's 285 miles to come for a pint and a packet of crisps but it's worth it!'

Robert Hughes moved from Hampshire over a year ago, where he was a languages teacher, to Polkerris where he now works behind the bar at the inn. Robert still supply teaches when he is needed.