THE Winds of Change pub at South Petherwin was purpose-built in 1989 by John Wills, a farmer in the village who decided to change to a hostelry owner.

There was no pub in the village for 150 years after the former pub, the Arbenorth Arms, was bought by the Methodist community and closed down.

The pub is now owned and run by Mike and Val Ratcliff who bought the pub just over 10 years ago. The couple have two children, Steven, aged 12 and 10-year-old Anne Marie.

The name 'The Winds of Change', seems to be fairly unique. Mike and Val believe that the quote from the former Prime Minister Harold MacMillan in 1960 when in Cape Town, 'the winds of change are blowing through this continent', may have something to do with the name.

The pub has a main public bar where an extensive wine list is available with wines from all over the world stocked there, including non-alcoholic. There is a good selection of ports, maderias and sherries and over 100 malt whiskeys including some from the Isle of Man and Wales!

Other drinks include Danzig Gold Wazzer, a spirit with 24 carat gold leaf floating in it, formerly used for medicinal purposes and apparently an excellent remedy for flu, along with Gold Strike, cinnamon snaps with gold leaf floating in it, 12 different rums, 10 different vodkas, seven brands of gin and countless brandies. A range of beers, stouts and lagers are also available as are soft drinks.

Rosemary Anders from Coads Green was having a drink after doing her shopping at Launceston. Rosemary and her husband Nick, who works on oil rigs, usually come here for a social drink and a meal with their two children, 13-year-old Gemma and Catherine, aged nine.

Rosemary commented: 'Mike and Val always make me feel very welcome, even if I pop in on my own. It's the only pub I know where I would come in on my own.'

She continued: 'I'll just say that the cod and chips are the best I have ever tasted and Nick would say, if he was here, that this is the best place for a pint of Stella Artois!'

The bar menu covers anything from quick light meals to a main meal and desserts.

The food is freshly cooked to order from carefully selected fresh produce sourced, where possible, from local traders.

Once the produce is delivered to the pub, Val takes over the preparation and cooking using the comprehensive equipment in the modern kitchen.

Some of the meals from the bar menu include home made steak and kidney pie, turkey and ham pie, Windy's Tiddly Steak pie, lasagne, ham cooked in cider, fishermans medley, roast of the day, cod and chips, halibut steak in prawn and mushroom sauce, a variety of omelettes, a selection of steaks and a selection of vegetarian meals and special diet meals to name but a few.

Derek and Carol Bennett from Bude visited the pub for a meal as they were passing.

Derek said: 'Whenever we are in this direction we try to time passing here at about lunchtime!'

Carol commented: 'We like it here. We always bring our friends who visit us here as they have a wide variety of food and it's always available. There's a lovely atmosphere.'

There is a lifesize statue of an Indian in a corner of the bar, near the door. Mike explained that he wanted something to fill up the corner of the bar and found the Indian in a shop in Bude. He is now hoping to find a suit of armour for another bare corner.

On the other side of the door is a spade, which was used by Alec Wadland, a former resident of the village to cut the first sod on the site at 8am on August 22, 1988.

Alec unfortunately never saw the building completed and the spade hangs in the wall with a plaque and explanation of its significance.

There is a games room at the one end of the bar with bar billiards, darts and a pool table. There are no teams at the pub but customers are welcome to have a friendly match between themselves.

Amused

At the other end of the bar there is a children's games room with a small pool table to keep the children amused.

The restaurant, with superb views over Dartmoor, can seat up to 50 people and is available for private functions from a small buffet to a sit down meal with menus designed for the occasion.

Mike has recently bought a minibus for the pub which he uses to transport guests to parties at the pub from the villages nearby.

Mike owned and ran a transport business in Cawsand and decided to take on the pub as a change of pace as he suffered with eyesight problems and could no longer drive commercially.

The pub sees many club, organisations and charities meetings, some meeting there regularly being Gateway, a disabled organisation from Bodmin, the Cornish Tractor Club, South Petherwin Cricket Club and the 'Bang Gang', a group of explosives engineers from all over the South West.

Some other regulars who frequent the pub are the Wind and Steam Group, a group of steam engine enthusiasts who meet to chat about their engines. During the summer the occasional one will turn up at the pub on the way to or from shows.

Mike explained; 'We get a great many people driving steam engines or vintage cars stopping here when they are out and about, either to or from a show or just driving around.

John Wakeham, a partner of Kivells Estate Agents and Auctioneers also comes in. He's the editor of the Red Roller, a magazine and internet site about steam engines.'

Pat and Harry Dunk are regulars at the pub. They live just over four miles away and class The Winds of Change as their 'local'.

Harry explained: 'We moved here on early retirement and we've been coming to the pub regularly since Mike and Val took over.'

Val commented: The food is beautiful, I've never had a bad meal here and you always feel so welcome. We bring our friends here with us when they visit.'

Signed

The Winds of Change have a signed photograph of Frank Bruno hanging on the wall. Mike and Val sponsored the boxer when he ran in the London Marathon for Great Ormond Street Hospital - a cause close to their hearts as Val's niece was treated for a brain tumour at the hospital.

They raised so much money Frank Bruno signed a photograph for their children.

Mike's holiday fund box, retirement fund box and swear box on the bar raise money not for holidays or retirement but for the Children's Hospice South West, which also has a gallon bottle of whiskey, full of money, on the bar.

Mike explained: 'The swear box has already been filled once and is getting close to the top again! My customers and friends have a habit of trying to wind me up - it usually works and most of the money in the swear box is mine!'

Peter Bunney from Fowey is a lunchtime regular at the pub. He works at Jaspers slaughter house near the village and said: 'The food is brilliant, I can't fault it. I've never even heard a bad word said about the food when I've been here.'

The walls in the pub are home to a great number of clocks. The one above the door is an atomic clock which keeps perfect time as it is set by satellite, there is an 'ish' clock on one side of the door, for when customers say: 'I'll be home around eight o'clock ish!'

The most confusing clock in the pub is the backward clock, which does succeed in making many people stare at it until they figure the time out.

There is a Guinness clock and a Schweppes clock. The Schweppes clock was personalised for the Winds of Change by a former customer, Gordon Lovett, who also carved a Winds of Change sign for Mike and Val when they first took over the pub.

There is a sign warning of a 'killer cat' in the bar. The killer cat is in fact 'Kizzey', who comes to the main bar most nights just before closing and has a tendency of walking down the bar on the stools, which does include over people's legs, with his claws out! Hence Kizzey's nickname was born!

The Winds of Change pub has a website: http://www.thewindsofchange.co.uk">www.thewindsofchange.co.uk which displays menus and pictures of the pub.