THE Ship Inn at Polperro, situated in Fore Street, is run for Inspired Inns by Ray and Mary Simpson. They have managed the pub for the past eight years and they now have the help of their son, Mark, and daughter, Karen.
Ray has been in the pub industry on and off since 1975 and has travelled the country from Cornwall to the Shetland Isles. The couple moved from Bath to Polperro but know the area well, having been past landlord and lady of a pub in Looe.
Mark, their son, married Sam, a teacher, two years ago and they have an eight-month-old son, Torrin. Mark and Sam moved to Polperro just after Ray and Mary, and Mark is now head barman at the pub.
Karen used to be a baker and confectioner in Swansea and had her own outlet in a charitable organisation.
She moved to Polperro with her husband, Stuart Butler, and became chef at the pub last year.
Karen and Stuart have been married for six years but together for the last 22.
Karen said: 'We aim to serve good quality food at reasonable prices and also get the food to the customers as soon as possible. All meals are cooked to order and freshly prepared each day. When I became chef I helped redesign the whole menu. We serve traditional pub grub with a few specials that are changed every few days.'
She continued: 'At the height of summer we can easily do about 130 meals at each session.'
The Ship Inn is rumoured to be the oldest inn in the village and was possibly a coaching inn. Ray believes that at one point the current Ship Inn and the neighbouring building were one and the cottage situated at the back of the pub was the stables.
Flowers
The beer garden at the back of the pub is decorated with pots and containers full of flowers which Mary plants and displays. The pub is decorated with over 20 hanging baskets and hay racks.
When The Ship was owned by Ushers, the company ran a pub garden competition and out of 525 pubs in the country came within the first six four years running from 1995.
The Ship Inn hosts music nights once every three weeks and has various regular singers who are popular with all who attend. These range from the talents of Richard Courtice who sings anything from opera to Queen and is also one of the three English Tenors, to Martin, 'The Hatter' and The Shanty Men.
A music festival is being held this month and the Ship is the venue for a series of different acts.
The weekly quiz night is a favourite held every Tuesday. The quiz masters are John Marshall and Stuart Butler who also works as an electrician for a local company.
Darts
A mixture of ages and abilities can be found in the pub's two pool teams, which meet during the winter months, and the two darts teams which meet every Friday and play in the Polperro league. The ladies darts team plays in the Looe and Polperro League and won the second division last season.
A local who plays pool at the pub is Joe Kidger, who is in his 70s.
He makes pool and snooker cues and has recently patented a new pool cue tip.
Lewis and Gertrude Waterhouse from Pelynt come to the pub regularly each week.
They lived in Polperro before moving to Pelynt but keep returning to the village and the pub each week.
Gertrude, a former member of the darts team, said: 'It's very friendly here, we always have a laugh.'
Lewis commented: 'The family is friendly and you get good beer. Our window seat has been nicknamed as Old Codgers corner!'
Sid and Christine Strachan on holiday in Looe from Doncaster agreed: 'There is a lovely atmosphere.'
Christine said: 'It's lovely in here, they serve good beer and everyone seems really friendly.'
Sid commented: 'We were just saying that it would be nice if we could take the pub back home with us!'
Avril Steward has lived in the village for the past 50 years and is the former owner of the Wheel House in the village.
She said: 'I come here quite regularly, I like the pub, the food and the owners.'
Perry Bradburn from Cheshire has come on holiday to the Looe and Polperro area many times. This year he was accompanied by his uncle, Jack Davies.
Perry said: 'There is always a pleasant atmosphere here, everyone is very friendly and even though we are not from the area all the locals bring us into their conversations and we all get on.'
New Year's Eve brings many people from far and wide to the area and The Ship Inn hosts an all-night party with a theme.
These themes have ranged over the years from Peter Pan, the Hunchback of Notre Dame amd Soldiers and for the Millennium the theme was people during history.
Great
Lorraine Kirtpatrick who lives in Polperro said: 'It's a nice pub. They are a great family and when I brought my family down at the weekend they all agreed that the pub is great.'
Two other locals, Glynne Puckey and Benjamin Oliver, come to the pub for a drink when they are not working at the Crumplehorn.
Glynne has lived in Polperro most of his life, apart from 10 years he spent in London.
He commented: 'The Simpson family are great people, I've known them for many years.'
Ben is the chef at the Crumplehorn and his grandfather owned the Ship Inn from 1970 to 1985.
The pub is children and dog friendly.
Dogs are welcome anywhere in the pub as long as they are on leads and there is always a readily available bowl of water and doggy chews.