Pembrokeshire
Researched by Nikki Bosworth
(from Llangwm Village News, 16, April 2004)
Living in Llangwm 150 years ago, you would have had the choice of two grocery shops run by John Skyrme and Walter Wilkins. Their exact location in the village is not easy to identify, but they were probably in Main Street or Mill Street.
Ten years earlier, on the 1841 census, no shops were recorded in the village of Llangwm but, if you needed to buy something, it was probably available locally. Food would have been home grown or raised, supplemented with produce from local farms and market gardens.
Lewis Wilkins, cabinetmaker, Dovid Harries, joiner, or William and John Jomes, blacksmiths, would have made any necessary furniture and household items. Clothing and footwear would have been created by Richard and Phillip Thomas, tailors, George Cale, shoemaker, or one of several seamstresses or dressmakers working from home. Goods from further afield would arrive by boat, having been transferred from a coaster or ocean-going vessel at Milford Haven.
It is interesting to conjecture on the skills of some of these craftsman. For example, George Cale was described as a labourer when he married in 1839. By 1841, he was a shoemaker and, according to the 1851 census, he was then working as a lighterman on the river. Where did George learn his shoemaking skills? Was he o poor shoemaker or was there no demand for shoes in Llangwm? George was the son of George and Lettice Cale of Llangwm Hill. He was baptised at Llangwm church on 11th September 1814 and married Anne Lewis, a servant and from Nevern originally, on 13th October 1839.
By 1861, Llangwm appears to have developed into a busy village. John Morris was the village’s first postmaster and his married daughter, Sarah Morgan, was his assistant. Hester Esmond, from Narberth, was an egg merchant and publican at the Church Inn. Ann Skyrme, from Camrose, was a grocer and innkeeper, with her sister Hannah Edwards and her sister-in-low Sarah Edwards as grocer's assistants John Morris had served 20 years in the Royal Navy and was supplementing his pension by running the Post Office. By 1871, he and his wife Sarah were living solely on his pension and sharing a house next to the Black Horse Inn with their daughter Sarah and six grandchildren. Sarah Morgan was the wife of a seaman, William Morgan, serving aboard HMS Andromeda.
In 1871, Ann Skyrme was still selling ale at the Three Horse Shoes, but appeared to have given up the grocery side of the business. Maria Shrubshall had established herself at the Black Horse Inn as an innkeeper and grocer, while Mary Grimes and John James were both trading as grocers in the village. An interesting snippet from the ‘Western Telegraph’, newspaper of 24th December 1873 reveals that Mary Grimes was fined 2 shillings and sixpence for allowing her donkey to stray onto the highway. This was the animal’s third offence, but one would have thought thot the magistrates might have been more lenient at that time of the year - he was probably only looking for the stable in Bethlehem!
Generally, by 1881, changes in the village left a more lasting impression on Llangwm. At Rock House [now the Cottage Inn], Alfred Joseph Anstee had opened grocery shop and general store. Mr Anstee was the son of gamekeeper and had grown up on the Ffynone Estate of Manordeifi. He was shopkeeper and postmaster at Rock House for 44 years, marrying twice. His first wife Alice died in 1891 aged 32 and is buried at the cemetery in Pill Parks Way. Mr Anstee was buried in the same grave in 1922 following his death from pneumonia.
The 'Western Telegraph' of 14th August 1912 reported that "a fire broke out in the shop of Mr A J Anstee, the Llangwm Post Office, on Saturday evening [10th August]. Fortunately a plentiful supply of water was available from a pump nearby and, with the prompt assistance of the villagers, the fire was extinguished, but not before all the drapery goods in the window had been destroyed. It is supposed that the fire originated from a petrol lamp."
Mr Anstee's widow, Annie, continued with the shop at Rock House, and expanded the business to include the sale of newspapers. Sometime between 1924 and 1928, Mrs Anstee transferred the business to a house in Main Street. Back at Rock House, Williom Hill and later John Palmer, was in business as a baker, while another bakehouse had been established by John John at 24 Main Street, adjacent to the Rock House bakery.
By 1891, Williom G Palmer had established a reputation as a pie baker at Church End Road; presumably this was at Cleddau House in what is now known as Rectory Road. The business was later expanded to include the sale of groceries.
In 1901, 14-year-old Richard Lewis of Main Street was employed as a grocer’s errand boy, probably by Mr Anstee, to help support his widowed mother.
The valuation list for 1928 records 4 shops in Llangwm - apart from those of Mrs Anstee and Mr Palmer - including a grocery shop run by Thomas Davies of Cambourne House, Main Street, and Thomas Llewellyn's store on the Green.
For newcomers to the village (and those with shorter memories), the post-war years brought further changes to the local shops. In 1956, the Palmers were still in business at Cleddau House and the Johns continued with their bakery in Main Street. Mrs Roach ran the shop at no.7 The Green, whilst the Post Office was based of Nash Villa, 5 Main Street.
*For more on Llangwm shops, see 'Memories of Llangwm Shops' by Graham Stephens, and 'Johnny Palmer's Shop' by Chris Palmer on the Bygone Days page.