Don't tell tourists, but coastal pub is Cornwall at its best

Martin Hesp learns how community is still at the heart of inn after being bought

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> The Basset Arms at Portreath reopened in July

(Kieran Brimson)

If you had to make a shortlist of the West Country's finest attributes, then the peninsula's harbour towns and villages would be near the top. You only have to visit our seaside venues at any time of the year nowadays to know that is the case.

Some of the prettiest havens are nowadays filled with visitors summer and winter. Which, to many of us, immediately begs the question... Which are the least visited, most untouristy communities by the sea?

There aren’t many left, specially down in Cornwall. But I do know of one harbour that has not been turned into a maritime theme-park for the visitors - and I was lucky enough to spend a couple of nights in its wonderful environs recently.

When it comes to popular Cornish seaside destinations, Portreath has never been top of anyone’s wishlist. Why not? Well, to put it bluntly, this was very much a working harbour. Coal in, copper and tin out. As such, it was not treated with much respect by the people who've run the place down the centuries.

The mining industry required Welsh coal to power its pumps and whatever, and this was the ideal port through which the black stuff could be imported.

Once the coal-yards and ore had gone, the post-industrialised state of the place lent itself to a cheap land-grab by the local authorities, which bunged up inexpensive housing here as an overflow option for nearby Camborne and Redruth.

It is the only harbour I know of, in either Cornwall or Devon, that is almost entirely surrounded by a low-cost housing estate. But, in a funny way, this less-than-scenic mix of concrete and cheap-build has helped save the place from the ravages of tourism. To such an extent that I'd now say that Portreath is one of my favourite seaside towns in Cornwall.