THE Cornish Inn at Gunnislake has new owners. Anastasia and Bill Howard daughter Karen and husband Stuart Ridley have moved from London to Gunnislake after deciding that they wanted a better quality of life.

The Cornish Inn has a bar area, a restaurant which has been recently refurbished, four letting facilities and one self contained flat.

Anastasia and Karen set up their own catering business in London - the local council and WestHam Football Club being but a few businesses they were connected with. Previous to starting the business Anastasia was in the clothing trade, making and selling clothes - and Karen was a recruitment consultant.

Bill was a service engineer for a catering company and Stuart was a builder although he has turned his hand at bar work before.

The family have been coming to Westcountry for the past 12 years and viewed around 30 to 40 pubs before choosing The Cornish Inn because they liked it and saw the potential of the premises.

The car park can hold around 20 to 30 cars, and the forecourt of the building will be turned into a beer garden at some point, with decking and plants, to utilise that space and make the pub more attractive.

The restaurant has been refurbished and the bar area has been re-organised with new tables and chairs.

The coach house, beyond the restaurant, will be turned into tea rooms next season to hopefully bring in custom to the town. The food at the pub is all home made and cooked to order. Anastasia said: 'We are selling good pub grub here, pies, steaks, puddings, all traditional good food.'

Sunday lunches

The fresh meat is sourced from Tamar Butchers and the fresh vegetables are from Cornish Farm Produce at Saltash.

The popular Sunday lunches have been running for around three weeks and have been booked out every time. There is a choice of four meats, beef, pork, lamb and turkey, with honey roasted vegetables.

Karen commented: 'We do a three course Sunday lunch for under £10 but no-one has tried it yet as they all complain of being too full after the main course!

Many of our customers has said that the food we serve is like food from home and they feel like it's their home because the atmosphere is really relaxed. We aim to provide good food and good portions at good prices.'

Not only does the pub serve full meals they also do basket meals, ploughmans, burgers and a special treat of chilli sausages from the local butchers.

The two main members of staff employed are Michelle, who works in the bar and restaurant, and Sue who does a bit of everything from cleaning the bed and breakfast rooms, working behind the bar and food preparation.

There are two four poster bedrooms and two twin bedrooms along with a self contained flat in the pub, all of which have been refurbished and all rooms are en-suite. A full English breakfast is served for the B and B rooms and an evening meal is an optional extra in the restaurant.

Anastasia, Bill, Karen and Stuart all live on the premises and there will soon be an addition to the family in six weeks time - the baby Karen and Stuart are expecting! They also own two Westie dogs, Laddie and Paddy, both of which are a year old.

The pub enjoys good live entertainment, anything from music of all types to comedy, with these being held on most Saturday nights.

Theme nights

The possibility of adding theme nights to the ever growing repertoire of the pub is being considered as is the possibility of hosting barbecues in the garden during the summer season. A quiz night has been held with entertainment following and Bill explained: 'It was a really good night, relaxed and everyone had a laugh.'

David Morgan, a regular in the pub and who lives in the village, said: 'It is brilliant here. Although the four of them are relatively new to the trade they are all really making an effort, putting themselves out for their customers. Dealing with a family is great and it is almost like an old fashioned pub with really good conversation and everyone is so friendly. Besides, you also get good beer!'

An everyday regular is Ben May. He commented: 'It's ideal here, absolutely superb. I only live about 10 yards down the road and I like coming to the music nights.'

Adam Elliot, having a drink with him, said: 'It is friendly here, a group of us come here every night.'

A range of real ales are sold, Eden, Cornish Coaster, Bass and a popular lager - Budweiser on draught.

Also at the pub was Gary Cummings and Charlotte Courts, they have eaten at the pub before and Gary commented: 'The food is very good, there is a lot of it and you can tell it's home made.' Charlotte added: 'Everyone is really friendly and Stuart is a great laugh.'

Anastasia and Karen agreed: 'When we book a table for lunch that's it, it's booked for the afternoon. We don't rush people in and out, it's better if people can enjoy their meal and get extra servings if they want them and then sit and chat afterwards.'

Bill said: 'From being here for about two months, I know more people here than I knew in London, down our street over the course of 18 years.'

Residents at Gunnislake, Paul and Debbie Waight, come to the pub quite often. Debbie said: 'I like the atmosphere, it's very friendly. The pub is a good local.'

The Cornish Inn's next door neighbour is lorry driver Simon Stapleton. He commented: 'The pub is great now, they are top people. Because it's so good here now, I end up in here after work because I have to walk past the door to get home!'

The pub opens Monday to Friday from 5pm until 11pm and on Saturday from 12 noon until 3pm and from 5pm until 11pm and Sundays from 12 noon until 3 and from 7pm until 10.30pm. When the summer season gets under way the pub will be open all day.

The Cornish Inn promotes the fact that they are a family run and family orientated pub, children and dogs are welcome in the pub as is anyone else who wants a good atmosphere, good conversation, good food and, according to a regular, good beer.