Historic pub destroyed by fire ‘will be as it was’, vow landlords

Work is under way to restore an iconic 13th-century Cornish pub to its former glory less than a month after the building was destroyed by flames.

The Pandora Inn on Restronguet Creek, near Falmouth, turned into a raging inferno after a fire in the chimney spread to its thatched roof. Once the structure was made safe, tenants Steve Bellman and John Milan found much of the ground floor was virtually intact.

Mr Bellman said: “We were over the moon. Everything is obviously very wet from the fire brigade’s valiant efforts and the subsequent rain, but almost all of the structure including the bars, the low beams and settles are all fine, as are the many pictures and models. Incredibly, not a single bottle had been broken.”

He attributed the preservation of the floor to the recent laying of a new carpet in the upstairs dining room, where fire-retardant floor boarding had protected most of the ground floor.

Mr Bellman said: “So we can now say to people, the Pandora will be as it was.”

The fire broke out on the morning of March 24 as staff were busy preparing for the lunchtime trade. It took 55 firefighters to quell the flames.

Such is the popularity of the St Austell Brewery-owned pub that a Facebook tribute was set up after the disaster.