A passion for oysters in Cornwall

The Wright Brothers, the UK’s leading Oyster and seafood specialist has added a new string to the South Western arm of its growing oyster business.

The Wright Brothers, who over the past few years have been working on the regeneration of the Helford River Oyster beds, have recently taken on the famous Ferryboat Inn at Helford Passage, just a stone’s throw from their Oyster Farm on the Helford River.

The Wright Brothers won the lease to farm oysters on the historic Duchy of Cornwall Oyster beds at Helford just four years ago. Taking over the Ferry Boat Inn enables them to offer their customers one of the most unique experiences in food – seafood and oysters including the sought after Frenchman’s creek, as fresh as you like pulled from the waters at their feet.

The Ferryboat Inn dates back to around 300 years and is situated on the waterfront at Helford Passage, surrounded in wooded banks and sloping fields, this is one of Cornwall’s most breathtaking locations. Found close by is ‘Frenchman’s Creek’ – the inspiration for Daphne Du Maurier’s novels.

The Wright Brothers have given the Ferryboat Inn a major refurbishment giving much of the pubs original features a new lease of life. The main bar, with its unrivalled view of the river, large French windows, slate floor, wooden beams and open fireplace retains much of its lively atmosphere, whilst the former servery has been transformed into an oyster bar offering customers informal counter seating where they can enjoy the theatre of, watching chefs shuck oysters and prepare shellfish.

There’s also a more traditional but intimate seating area for those dining in groups or prefer something a little more tucked away. The jewel in the crown however, is the terrace which affords some of the best views in the south west and offers plenty of outdoor seating for those long sunny days and warm evenings.

At the Ferryboat Inn customers can sample Helford River produce just yards from the waters in which it grows such as Frenchman’s Creek oysters, crab, lobsters and winkles.

Ben Wright who runs the farm says “We’re lucky to have such fantastic produce all around us and want to really showcase the best of the area with our ‘farm to plate’ philosophy. We harvest our own oysters and fish directly from local boats so there is a lot of cross over with what we are doing. At the Ferryboat we can put fantastic Cornish produce in front of people straight from its local source. The Oysterage and the Ferryboat will be a happy marriage as well as a great pub and restaurant for the community as well as those visiting Cornwall.”

Seafood from the Helford River will feature heavily, alongside locally sourced produce. The oyster menu will reflect the best of the season’s oysters. The kitchen is headed up by Ben Lightfoot who has a multitude of awards and a loyal following from his days at The Sticky Prawn on Flushing Quay.

The pub is the perfect stop-off for visitors to Trebah Gardens, Glendurgan, and the numerous walks and boat trips around Mawhan Smith, Durgan and the Helford Estuary. The Helford River ferry also brings passengers across the river from Helford village, connecting it with the Beautiful Lizard Peninsula to the South.

The Wright Brothers began in 2002 as a wholesale operation, dealing in a range of high quality French oysters, they quickly established a loyal customer base supplying most of London’s top restaurants and in 200? opened the critically acclaimed Wright Brothers Oysters & Porter House, in London’s historic Borough Market.

In 2005, they took a license for the Helford River oysterage with the aim of regenerating it to its former glory. The private fishery and oyster beds on the Helford River have enjoyed a glorious history – the beds here have been tended and farmed for many centuries producing oysters sought after throughout the UK and abroad.

The oysterage thrived until the Bonamia parasite devastated the oyster stock in Helford and the Fal in the early 1980’s, and the slow recovery from this disaster meant a dramatic decline in oyster production. Just a few years on and the farm at the Helford River is thriving.

The Ferryboat Inn is open seven days a week for lunch, dinner, bar snacks and cream teas.