A pub with links to the earliest days of Falmouth is due to reopen its doors on Wednesday under new management and with a new name that recognises its connections with the town’s history.

The former Wodehouse Arms on The Moor has been renamed Pennycomequick and is now in the hands of new management trio, James Luck, Steve Boot and Mark White, who have over 35 years’ experience in the south west pub and restaurant trade between them.

It was planned to reopen the pub on Saturday, although a slight overrun means it should now be opening on Wednesday instead.

The trio have honed their style through longs stints working together at two of Newquay’s most distinctive bars, the Central Inn and Whiskers, while Steve Boot’s training at Fifteen in Watergate Bay means the Penny will also offer the best home-cooked meals using only fresh, locally sourced ingredients.

Asked to sum up in one word what the new Penny is all about, James, Steve and Mark all agreed that the word should be ‘convivial’, as James explained: “It’s just one of those words that is packed with good meanings, which I guess you could sum up as great food and beer alongside great people having a great time – it’s as simple as that.”

Despite the new moniker, the Pennycomequick is no newcomer to Falmouth. The existing pub building was restored in the mid 18th century when Killigrew Street received a makeover, but there has been a pub on the site from at least the middle of the 1700s linked to the oldest family in town.

The pub was bought by Walter Hicks for St Austell Brewery in 1913 from John Wodehouse, the Earl of Kimberley, whose family, through marriage, has direct links back across the centuries to the ancient Killigrews of Arwenack, recognised as the developers of the original town of Falmouth in the early 17th century with Sir Peter Killigrew MP having received a royal charter for its foundation in 1661.

And nor is the name itself new, being a derivation of Falmouth’s original Celtic name, Peny-cwm-cuic, which translates into English as 'head of the creek.’ The new signage at the pub uses the image of the pilchard with tin and copper ingots found on the famous 1811 Cornish Penny and the basis of the old Cornish economy.

As a man whose grandfather once ran St Austell Brewery for the Hicks family in the 1940s and 1950s, and whose family has been entwined with the development of the Brewery’s pubs for well over half a century, James has a firm understanding of the importance of heritage.

“When we first visited the pub we fell in love with its sense of the past and it’s a priority for us to hold on to that as part of the unique look and feel of the Penny," he said. "You can’t buy heritage but it can easily be lost and we want to make sure that while our guests will enjoy the contemporary atmosphere of the pub, they’ll also feel the warmth of a traditional Cornish welcome when they come through the door.”

The Pennycomequick is expected to reopen on Wednesday and a special launch party is set for Friday. For more details, contact James, Steve and Mark on info@pennycomequick.co.uk