See a man about a dog...

Came out of a shop to find Guinea Pig Zero and Casey waiting for me on the other side of the street. It struck me as a very Welsh scene: could be a miner and his dog about to go ratting (except not wearing such a fancy jacket.) The Rugby Club used to be a pub called The Sailor's Return. Note that it sells one of Wales' favourite tipples, draught Worthington, known colloquially as Whoosh.

A recent book on the pubs of North Pembrokeshire reports that The Sailor's Return in West Street was actually kept by a mariner, John Lewis, during the 1890s. However, that sailor's return from sea must have been an occasion for trepidation not joy since in 1898 he was charged with drunkenness and beating his wife, Mary. She subsequently took over as landlady. Another female innkeeper, Anna Owen, succeeded in 1917 but she had the misfortune to fall foul of the Emergency Wheat and Rice (Restriction) Order for 'wasting' four and a half ounces of bread. She denied it and the case was dismissed.

This former pub stands almost opposite the former Temperance Hall (now a cinema and theatre.) During the early years of the 20th century the temperance movement was very strong in Fishguard which at one time had one pub to every 90 people, compared to a national average of one to 326. It succeeded in closing a substantial proportion of licensed premises - but not this one.