Aberteifi / My town / Dic Jones

Arch Druid and Chaired Bard

The focal point of Cardigan is the Town Hall – if there’s a reason to celebrate, the town’s people congregate in front of the town hall . I remember when Hywel Davies won the Grand National back in 1985 – everyone gathered at the Town Hall to celebrate. It is a very notable building and was once obviously where the council sat. The importance of the building is gathering apace now since the restoration and regeneration projects have been underway.

Other buildings that stand out for me are the Shire Hall where the court would be held and also the old coaching inns of the Black Lion and the Angel.

The town comes alive on Barley Saturday where a fair is held throughout the town. It's an occasion unique to Cardigan town where everyone meets to celebrate the end of the sowing season by showing stallions and running horses. The tradition is that the fair is held on the first Saturday after the last Friday in April – now doesn’t that sound Irish?!!

The market in Cardigan used to draw people from across the three counties – north Pembrokeshire, south Cardiganshire and most of Carmarthenshire – all with their distinct accents and dialects – it was a real melting pot.

The seafaring tradition of the town has also had an impact on the town’s language. Words common to other coastal towns would be used. Words such as ‘meg’ and ‘niwc’ were used to denote money – words uniquely used also in Caernarfon (another seafaring town) at the same time.