Pingelly Exchange Tavern has a new owner with big plans for restoring 116-year-old watering hole

A small southern Wheatbelt town’s century-old watering hole has a new owner with a flair for preserving history. The Pingelly Exchange Tavern, formerly the Pingelly Exchange Hotel, was built about 1906 after tenders called for the building of a large hotel in Pingelly, according to the WA Heritage Council. For the past 20 years, the two-storey federation filigree-style hotel was owned and operated by Jeanette and Ian Jeffrey. Now the founder of popular Facebook page Lost Perth, Warren Duffy, is set to take the reins to refurbish and manage the 116-year-old building. The historian-turned-publican swooped on the chance to realise his dream of refurbishing a historic WA pub. “It needs saving, it’s such a beautiful building,” Mr Duffy said. “I drove past the pub 10 years ago and thought how lovely it was, but then we moved to Albany and admired photos of it for a decade. “I looked at other hotels but when the sale of the Exchange fell through, I went down and said I wanted to buy it.” A man with a keen appreciate of the past, Mr Duffy has been running Lost Perth for more than a decade. The Facebook page with more than 215,000 followers and has inspired subsequent pages such as Lost Pingelly and Lost Albany. “Our lives have changed — the toys, lollies, drinks and fashion have all changed — and it’s nice to look back on how it used to be,” he said. “It’s so wonderful that people have embraced it and share their photos with me, it’s nice to be trusted to do that.” Mr Duffy is brimming with ideas for refurbishing and upgrading the Exchange. He said he wanted to create a space where residents and tourists could relax and feel comfortable. “I’m thinking of getting rid of the pool table and putting in a café with history books where people can come in and read and have a coffee,” Mr Duffy said. “The stables out the back are either going to be apartments with ensuites or a silent nightclub, where people wear headphones to keep the neighbours happy. “I’ll do ice cream, sundaes, spiders and milkshakes and the shop will just be bursting with lollies and local products. “It will all be local employees, especially things like merchandise, I’ll have it made in Pingelly.” Mr Duffy was a Royal Australian Navy cook after school in 1988, and he said he was looking forward to getting back in the kitchen in Pingelly. With almost 30 years’ experience working in the fencing industry, he has already started renovations. But he said it was important to preserve the history of the building. “We won’t disturb the old girl, we’ll keep her the way she is,” he said. “It’s a country pub, so people didn’t have a lot of money so they ignored the fact it needs a little tender love and care. “It’s a feature of the town, so it’s important to keep it going.” Mr Duffy is planning to restore the ageing verandas and strip most of the building back to its bones. “I’ve crowdfunded the verandas, because they’re technically on council land. I’d hate to see them go,” he said. The history buff is planning to move to Pingelly in the coming months, and plans to re-open the tavern in the new year. Mr Duffy said he had already been embraced by the Pingelly community. “I’ve never been so nicely greeted,” he said. ‘Half the councillors have personally come to see and the Shire chief executive Andrew Dover has been instrumental. “It has been so lovely to meet the locals. They are just happy that their pub is coming back.”