The Mermaid Inn stands beside Porth Beach. A photograph catalogued as Mermaid Court Café, around 1965, offers a glimpse of the earlier holiday shore; it does not establish the pub’s origins.
The Mermaid Inn is the pub beside the sand at Porth, on Newquay's eastern side. Its current address is given as Alexandra Road, also styled Alexandra Court, Porth.
An older view in the Francis Frith collection is catalogued as Mermaid Court Café, around 1965. It shows a low café frontage with striped awnings and chairs outside: a glimpse of the holiday shore at that time.
That image does not establish the café's opening date, the pub's first licence or an exact match between every part of the old and present buildings. Claims that the premises began as fish cellars, salt stores or stables remain unverified.
Sources
Mermaid Inn official contact page: https://www.themermaidinn.co.uk/contact-us Francis Frith P78096, Mermaid Court Café c.1965: https://www.francisfrith.com/porth/porth-mermaid-court-cafe-c1965_p78096
Connected subjects
Read on
- Before the Deckchairs: When Porth Was a Working Beach
Ironworking above the beach, shipwrights beside it and a launch with its own brass band. Porth’s holiday view leaves quite a lot out.