A NEW exhibition ‘A Pint of History Please’ (Peint o Hanes, Plis), featuring local pubs, has been launched at Ceredigion Museum in Aberystwyth.

Pubs such as the Webley Arms in Poppit; the Hope and Anchor, Cardigan; the Cilgwyn Arms in Llandysul and the Ffostrasol Inn are mentioned in the project, organised by the Ceredigion Local History Forum and the exhibition will tour the county.

The project, made up of the Ceredigion Forum of local history groups, WI members and historians is attempting to record every licensed premises in Ceredigion including pubs, hotels and inns, as well as temperance establishments. The earliest two coaching inns found are the Black Lion in Cardigan and the Talbot in Aberystwyth that date back to the 1770s.

“It has been really interesting and we’ve discovered new information as we went along,” explained historian Michael Freeman. “It was amazing how many buildings in Ceredigion were used as pubs: there were 300 pubs in the county at any one time.

“It’s interesting to note that there were also 300 chapels at the same time too.”

And Cardigan historian Glen Johnson, who has given much information to the forum, says that the Black Lion, Cardigan, must be one of his favourite inns when it comes to fascinating history.

He said: “The claim made in recent years that the Black Lion was established in 1105 is a blatant lie – the Black Lion would pre-date the castle and town was the story true!”

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