A good pint with no frills

By Phil Mellows

It wasn’t until I was checking out the pubs for a short holiday in North Pembrokeshire that I realised I’d explored the area before. I forget a lot of stuff, but I rarely forget a pub, and I’m certainly not going to forget the Dyffryn Arms. 

Better known as Bessie’s, after landlady Bessie Davies, who’s been running the place for 70 years, it’s a throwback to what many pubs used to be like – a piece of living history. 

Walking in through a narrow passageway, Bessie’s living room is on the right (I caught a glimpse through the open door on my first visit) and the tiny bar is on the left. 

There’s no counter. Beer is served through a hatch at the back, the draught Bass drawn straight from the cask into a jug before being poured into a glass. Other drinks are available in bottles, including another classic, Mann’s Brown Ale. But it’s always got to be the Bass here, gently sparkling at perfect quaffing temperature. 

The Davies family have had their name over the door since 1845, and I doubt much has changed since. The Dyffryn Arms is probably a product of the 1830 Beer Act, a law that allowed anyone to convert their home into a pub for a licence fee of a couple of guineas. By the 1860s there were tens of thousands of these beer houses across the country. 

Modern drinkers will find similarities with today’s micropubs. There’s the same dedication to serving a good pint with no frills, and there’s space for only one conversation. A visitor is immediately drawn in, whether they want to be or not. 

We should be thankful that the Dyffryn Arms has not only survived Covid intact, but it has also come through a serious fire in the building in 2019. And while Bessie didn’t serve me herself this time, as she had before, it was marvellous to find her granddaughter behind the hatch, giving me hope that this unique place can live on in safe hands for a good while yet. 

And it’s not the only pub survival story in this part of the world. A few miles down the road in the village of Rosebush you’ll find the Tafarn Sinc. Built in 1876 out of corrugated iron as a hotel for a failed spa resort, by 2017 it was threatened with closure. 

Fortunately, a group of residents – including the movie star Rhys Ifans – stepped in to buy ‘The Tin Pub’ for the community. It was a delight to find this quirky local still going strong, with sawdust on the floor, hams hanging from the ceiling, and castrating pincers for decoration. 

Photo: Tafarn Sinc © Paul Mellows