THE Cresselly Arms pub (known by all as ‘The Quay’) has won the best sporting pub in Wales award in a competition run by Country Life magazine and the Countryside Alliance.

Simon Hart MP presented pub owner Hugh Harrison-Allen and landlord Colin Evans with their award.

The citation for the award reads: “This famously old-fashioned, no-nonsense pub, part of the Cresselly estate, is a nucleus for the South Pembrokeshire Hunt, the local cricket club, and numerous other institutions, and is sporting MP Simon Hart’s favourite.

“The beer is served from the barrel in jugs; it’s hardly changed since its last update in the 1890s.

“The highest tides lap the bar, which has a fire and lots of sporting memorabilia, including a piece of the goalpost at which Welsh rugby legend John Taylor scored a crucial try against Scotland in 1971.”

Simon said: “The Quay has been my local for more years than I care to remember and it has always been the most welcoming pub, first under Maurice Cole and now with brothers Colin and John behind the bar.

“You only need to take one glance at the walls covered with racing, rugby, cricket, hunting and fishing memorabilia to realise that this isn’t a pub just pretending to be ‘sporting’ - it is the real deal.”