January at The Blue Anchor Inn

I suppose January technically started on New Year's Eve with some fantastic live music from High Voltage, and plenty of Spingo and community spirit, as we headed into the early hours of New Year's Day - gosh, that seems like months ago now, January does drag on, doesn't it? January is always a long haul for us here in the pub. The pub sees less footfall as we all have a few less pennies after Christmas and the New Year, and as people undertake Dry January. However, this quiet spell does allow us to complete odd jobs and maintenance in the pub that we wouldn't normally be able to do, giving everywhere a bit of TLC.

Myself and our marketing manager, Jenni, have been busy in the pub office this month, filling our diaries with music bookings, fundraisers and other charitable events, booked for 2026 (you can view all our events here - more are being added each week). Ben, our head brewer, was busy doing deliveries for the pubs this month, as well as doing what he does best - brewing! This month he did several brews of our Spingo Special, and Spingo Middle (which we're always having to stock up on as you lovely lot go through it so fast, in pub and online!).

Speaking of events, this month we hosted a new weekly event for January - Spingo Happy Hour! Every Friday, pints of Spingo Middle were just £3.50. It was great to see new and old faces in the pub, making the most of the offer - it was an ideal chance for people to try Spingo Middle at a lower price. We also hosted our first live music session of the year, with a live acoustic session from Mae Amelia on the 25th January - a talented, young, local musician who we also have booked to play at our sister pub, Out of the Blue, in Porthleven, on April 26th. Then, on 31st January we had fantastic local duo, The Roosters, play for us - they're always a great energy to have in pub.

As is custom, January is the time for resolutions, new beginnings, and reflection.

2025 was a great year for the pub - we had part of the roof rethatched, our hanging pub sign was refurbished, we helped raise thousands of pounds for local charities, including local cancer charities that have supported me throughout my breast cancer diagnosis since early 2025. This year, we aim to continue our maintenance of the pub, which is only possible with the support of our wonderful pub patrons and visitors throughout the holiday months. We also hope that 2026 will see us beating our fundraising efforts from last year - we have every belief that we will do so!

Whilst on the note of 'new' things, we've also added some new items to our online shop this month. We have made some 'new' old stock available, which includes 4 variations of our 'retro' Blue Anchor sweatshirts. We've also just introduced embroidered, navy Blue Anchor beanies, at just £12 - ideal for this horrid weather we've been having!

The weather here in good old Kernow has been something for the history books this month. We won't lie, it's been scary. Storm Goretti hit Helston, and the surrounding areas, hard. We saw hundreds, if not thousands of trees down across Cornwall, vast electrical outages, and our locals here in Helston were even without water for several days after the storm had passed. We were delighted to be there for our community during this time, and offered support where we could, in the form of hot pasties and sausage rolls (not something we'd normally offer but we feel that a warm Cornish pasty and a pint of Spingo does wonders for the soul on a rainy day). We were able to use water from our very own well on-site to keep our facilities up and running, keeping pint glasses clean and washed up. Thankfully, we had our lovely log burner on for a bit of warmth too.

Amazingly, BBC Radio 4 caught wind of our efforts to support Helston during this time, and got in touch with the pub the day after the storm, and asked to interview us! Of course, we accepted. You can listen to the interview here. I tell you what, in the week after the storm, I nearly considered changing career, as I ended up talking to BBC Radio 5, and BBC Radio Cornwall (twice!) - I thought I may as well start some kind of pub podcast at this rate! It was a great feeling; to have the pub, our brilliant staff, and our community, acknowledged on these radio broadcasts. Helston truly deserved that recognition after being battered by Storm Goretti. Our locals, especially our farmers, were truly fantastic in their efforts to clear roads of fallen trees/branches.

Not long after Storm Goretti, we faced more flooding, weather warnings and even more named storms. It's been a trying time. More trees have come down, access to some areas has proven difficult due to flooding. But thankfully, through it all, the Blue Anchor Inn has remained standing proudly, and has acted as a 'beacon of hope' to those in need of a listening ear, a warm fire, and a pint in hand.

We hope February brings us some sunshine, Lord knows we need it. We've already got events planned for February, such as our Valentine's Day live music from Tori Chilcott on Saturday 14th February, from 8pm, and live music from Guy Rosewall!

We'll catch up with you at the end of February. Hopefully the next blog requires less talk about the weather!

Hope to see you in the pub soon,

Jenine & Ben x