Just Call me Bubbles

The Polgooth Inn St Austell has some unusual customers

TV reporter Clive Gunnell meets the owner of the Polgooth Inn St Austell, Arnold Bax and its unusual customers, a pony, a dog and Bubbles the crisp-eating sheep. Historically local tales describe punters sharing the bar with various animals including horses, ducks and chickens. One joked at having to wipe feet on the way out of the pub rather than on the way in.

The traditional 16th Century pub named after the village Polgooth meaning Goose Pond in Cornish has a long history. In the 18th Century the village was known to be the site of the greatest tin mine in the world, and the Inn was originally the Counting House. This caused a stir with the miners’ wives as husbands received pay and spent hard-earned wages on beer and food before heading home.