THERE AREN'T many cafés where you can order one cup of tea and sit nursing it all day.
But at the canteen of the Fishermen's Mission in Newlyn, it is fine to do just that.
This century-old hub of activity for the port provides a place to meet and do business, get a hot meal or just set the world to rights over a cuppa.
The canteen of the national charity, known formally as the Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen, opens six days a week, serving fresh, home-cooked meals. It's also a home from home for fishermen and local residents who enjoy the atmosphere as well as the reasonable prices.
With its future uncertain, I spent a morning behind the scenes to find out what this special venue has to offer. After serving up dozens of hot cups of tea, coffee and hot chocolate, I found a real heart of the community that's worth fighting for.
Run by kitchen manager Alison Rowe with the help of Nettie Mchale, the canteen offers a warm welcome to those coming in from the sea or from the street.
With locally-caught, freshly-battered fish and chips on the menu, it was a busy Friday lunchtime and the kitchen was a whirr of activity. Along with Superintendent Keith Dickson and Vice-Superintendent Steve Canning, the team are on the go from the minute the canteen opens at 7am.
Activity
Ali, who has worked at the mission for ten years, says the friendly ambience keeps people coming back for more.
"You can have a laugh with them," she says of the café's range of customers. "It is relaxed and there's no pressure to leave the second you're finished."
While I work the tills, Ali and Nettie fry fish and chips, butter bread and serve up mushy peas. A visiting couple from Truro thank us for the tasty lunch, saying the mission's café had recently been tipped as a hotspot for visitors by the Guardian newspaper.
I join some local fishermen for five minutes to find out what the mission canteen means to them.
"It is a good meeting place for people," says one while his friend agrees: "If you come down the harbour and you want somebody, you can usually find them up at the mission."
It's also a place where skippers can find crew members at the last minute and where fishermen can talk shop without spending a fortune.
"It is very handy to come and get something to eat at a reasonable price; it's very convenient," says a third man.
Keith Dickson agrees that the canteen is special – but he's positive that a solution can be found to help its doors stay open after the charity withdraws its funding in a few years' time. "The canteen is unique in that it is not a commercial enterprise; it is that ethos that makes it different," he says. "In days gone by, it was the beating heart of Newlyn. It still is, but in a different way."
Though the work of the Fishermen's Mission will continue, the charity can no longer afford to run its centres and plans to pull out of the Newlyn building once it finds a buyer.
Talks are being held to see if the building can remain in the hands of the community and this is something Keith is keen to see happen. "It is the perfect fit," he says of the possibility of bodies like Seafood Cornwall, the Cornish Fish Producers' Organisation and the harbour commission joining forces to take it over. "The local people have got to drive this and get together and talk to each other."
article copyright THE CORNISHMAN