About

Welcome to the website of the Friends of the Prince of Wales Inn

We are a Community Benefit Society, Friends of the Newtown St Martin Pub Limited set up by the local community of St Martin in Meneage, in the beautiful South Helford area of Cornwall on the Lizard Peninsula.

If you’re confused about our name, apparently we would need Prince Charles to give his permission to register our name suggesting we are officially friends of the Prince of Wales, and we don’t like to ask.

Our mission was to save our beautiful 17th Century Inn, The Prince of Wales.

We are a strong local community and the pub is important to us all, not least because we have lost our shop, school and garage in recent years. As well as its economic value to our community, The Prince of Wales Inn is the place where we all come together to talk, share news, raise money for charity and celebrate birthdays, Christmases, family Sunday lunches and have done for generations. This is a beautiful area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, but it is people who make a place your home, and this pub is where people can come together.

The group, which began its efforts in June 2020 after the pub closed due to lockdown has now completed the purchase of the pub. The group raised around £500,000 to secure the business thanks to support from shareholders and funders including The Plunkett Foundation and the Government’s levelling up scheme the Community Ownership Fund.

The opening party took place on November 11th 2022 and we are all excited to really bring this pub alive to restore it to the heart of our local community. The pub is now a place where people can come to enjoy wonderful food and drink, to stay in the beautifully kept rooms and importantly ensure it is a community hub, where people can come to see friends and neighbours. We have always welcomed visitors to our local area, and we know their continued support will help us to keep this valuable community asset alive.