A POPULAR Shorwell pub steeped in history is now open under new management. 

Familiar names, Simon Cant and Liam White, have added the Crown Inn to the growing list of businesses under their wing. 

The pair already run The Vine Inn, on Upper Green Road in St Helens, The Castle Inn, on Newport High Street, and The New Inn, on Main Road in Shalfeet.

The latter, the duo took over back in April of this year.

"We opened the doors at 11.30am today (Monday)," said Simon.

"Myself and Liam have both managed the pub before, and we love The Crown — it's a proper traditional pub with a trout stream.

"I fell into that stream twice as a kid, trying to catch the fish, and now I'm back. 

"When the opportunity came up to take it over, we thought 'yeah, lets go for it'.

"Expect good food, good beer and good times. 

"We're only serving drinks for the time being, but food will follow shortly. 

"We're buying new kitchen equipment so we can't serve food right away. 

"We're living the dream, and we just want to save as many Isle of Wight pubs as we can. 

"It's a case of use 'em or lose 'em. 

"We've made a few little changes to the place — added a few decorations of our own — but we don't want to give too much away. 

"We've had a shift around and put our own touch on the pub. 

"We've changed the exterior sign, but brought the original sign inside."

The pub is now open seven days a week, from 11.30am to 10.30pm.