Scuttling the Ship

For the record... this pub won't be here much longer. It's closed and is soon to be demolished to make room for a new road aimed at relieving the bottleneck you can just see at the far right, where High Street funnels down into the central square. Fishguard is notorious for its narrow streets where cars, let alone larger vehicles, have trouble passing each other. The plan is to create a one-way system by making a link road to the left here, through the site of the pub and down past the old primary school which also doomed, to make way for a new supermarket.

The plans are controversial naturally, with some people incensed at the notion of damaging the town's character, and others keen for innovations that might improve access and increase footfall for the surviving businesses in a failing commercial situation.

I don't think there's anything special to say about The Ship and Anchor (which also goes by sleazier name). Historically Fishguard had a reputation as a bibulous town with dozens of pubs and unlicensed shebeens, many kept by independent women, sailors' widows for example, for whom serving beer in the front room was a useful, home-based means of getting a livelihood (taking in laundry and fostering children were others.)

Then the Temperance Movement went to work and during the course of the 20th century the number of pubs was substantially reduced. Today there are eleven in the town, if I am not mistaken, of which at least 3, apart from this one, are currently closed and may not re-open. It hardly makes for a thriving community since pubs are more than just places to drink: they serve food, host meetings, provide venues for live music and act as social hubs in a town that has precious few. The Ship and Anchor may be no great loss but it'll be another light missing on a dark evening in Fishguard.