Christmas is truly over, and the sight of baubles and tinsel may be too much for most souls, but one Cornish pub deserves a proper mention for its phenomenal festive look – Ye Olde Salutation Inn in Looe.
Every year over the last 18 years, Sean Kenny and his partner Matthew Mayers-Smith have been upping the ante with their Christmas decorations and this year certainly didn’t disappoint.
“We had 4,500 baubles up this Christmas just past,” Sean told CornwallLive a day or so before the decs were put away. “From start to finish, from picking twigs and threading through the lights to getting a very good friend to hang the baubles, it took 10 of us some three and half hours to put it all up.
“We have a warehouse full of Christmas decs that my mum sorts through every year. Everything is colour-coded and in boxes ready for the next Christmas.”
Ye Olde Salutation Inn in Looe with its gingerbread man theme Christmas decorations (Christmas 2024) days before it all came down
(Image: Barry West)
Every year, Sean explained, the 400-year-old historic pub has a different festive theme. In 2023 the Salutation – or ‘Sal’ as it’s known to locals in the south east Cornwall seaside town – was decked out in a Nutcracker theme while in 2022 it was transformed into The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe with punters having to literally walk through the ‘wardrobe’ to get in.
This Christmas the Sal was transformed into a gingerbread man with giant gingerbread men and candy canes adorning the frontage of the pub and thousands of baubles hanging from the rafters. “Ideally we like to do it in one night,” Sean said. “But if we can’t then locals enjoy seeing it evolve.
“But it’s the visitors and seeing their reaction when they walk through the door. It was really visual and we had giant cupcakes on the window sills inside and the children wanted to touch them. The cupcakes were as big as them. It was really magical.”
Ye Olde Salutation Inn in Looe with its gingerbread man theme Christmas decorations days before it all came down
(Image: Barry West)
The family and dog friendly pub has been in Matthew’s family for 35 years and both Sean and his partner are well known and supported by the local community.
Sean said: “There’s just a wonderful feel about the Sal. The family has been there for so long. Matthew’s parents also had another pub in the town so locals know that we know what we’re doing. The Sal is a proper family business and people trust that.
“The best praise I heard was from a regular who told us that for some people, Christmas is a John Lewis advert, but for people in Looe, it’s the Sal. They can’t wait to see it transformed at Christmas every year which is fantastic.”
Sean added: “We already have the next Christmas theme sorted. But sorry, no spoilers.”
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