Ian Richards to leave Coverack's Paris Hotel pub in Cornwall

Ian Richards has been landlord of the Paris Hotel in Coverack for the last 13 years, having joined as bar manager two years earlier.

He said: "I think retirement is calling. I always wanted to retire early and after a crazy summer for all of us, I have just taken it as far as I can take it.

"I want to go out on a high, when I'm still loving it – I'm going out when it's buzzing.

"I've seen too many landlords stay on too long and I want to go out at the top."

Ian said he planned to take a year off to decide what he wanted to do next.

"Retirement is the plan, but if I get bored I will look for something," he added.

Three years ago Ian married his long-term partner Louise, so is looking forward to spending more time with her and their two grown up children.

One thing Ian is particularly proud of is that he has seen consistent growth to the business up to the point that coronavirus hit, and has since seen two "fantastic" summers even with the lockdowns and pandemic restrictions.

He has also battled through road closures – not least the devastating damage to the village during the 2017 flash flooding in Coverack.

One of the highlights of his career there has been hosting a wedding reception for Emmerdale actors Lesley Dunlop and Chris Chittell in 2016, after they married at the village church.

n Lesley Dunlop and Chris Chittell with Paris Hotel head chef at the time Jane Kelly and landlord Ian Richards, after the pub hosted their wedding reception in 2016

Ian said of the St Austell Brewery pub: "I don't think there's a better site on the Lizard Peninsula.

"It's a great location, great locals and visitors that come year after year. If you're prepared to work at it you can't go wrong."

He will be handing all this over to the new landlord Jamie Tidball and his wife Sam when they take over mid December.

Ian was able to have a say in who should fill his shoes behind the bar, and said that Jamie was top of his list.

"I've had three or four people contact me, but I really felt Jamie is the right person for the pub. He's really bought in to the locals culture and visitor culture, being at the heart of the village life," he said.

n Bill Frisken of St Keverne Parish Council shows the Duke of Gloucester the damage to the sea wall, watched by Ian, a year after the flash flooding of 2017

Jamie, who hails from New Zealand, has many years of experience managing pubs in London and has been coming to Coverack on holiday for years, which is how he met Ian.

Ian's last official day at the pub will be Tuesday, December 14, when he hopes to go out on a high with a fundraising auction from 8pm in aid of two causes close to the heart of the village.

Money raised will be split between Come On Holly Pop, the fundraising campaign for Holly Martin, a kitchen porter at the pub who was left seriously injured after a fall from her horse earlier this year, and the Sepsis Trust, in memory of Chloe Rideout from the village, who died from the infection.

Ian said, being a Coverack boy who was a dairy farmer at Treliever for 21 years before becoming a publican, he planned to still visit the Paris, on the other side of the bar.

"A heartfelt thank you to all the customers over the years. I've made many, many friends. Being a local born and bred in Coverack, that's what I want to thank people for," he added.