BACK in the 1980s, the Western Telegraph published a series of books that included a number of articles written by journalists relating to the history of the county, including old photos.

The book was called Pembrokeshire Then and Now and volume two was published in 1989.

Western Telegraph: THEN: The Chain Back area of Main Street in the 1900s.THEN: The Chain Back area of Main Street in the 1900s. (Image: Newsquest)

In this volume, there is an article called ‘Chain Back in the old castle town’ which was first published in the Western Telegraph on June 25, 1981. Here we take a look at the article – which focuses on Main Street, Orielton Terrace and the Chain Back history – and see how much the area has changed by comparing the photos in the article to images from the last couple of years. For ease of understanding, the ‘Then’ photo means the earliest photograph, the ‘Now’ photo is the photo from 1981 and then we will use ‘Current’ for the photograph from the 2020s.

Here is the 1981 article: “Pembroke’s castle and town wall date back to Norman times, and Main Street is shown on a map drawn by John Speed in the early 17th century. Originally, the town wall completely encircled the town and Main Street ran across its diameter.

The street is one of the oldest thoroughfares in of its kind in Britain, and seems to have altered little since the old photograph was taken about 80 years ago. But don’t be deceived, Main Street has seen a lot of action over those years.

On the right hand side of the pictures is Orielton Terrace. The houses here were built in the early 18th century, and the name comes from the Orielton Estate. Stephen Wirriott, of Orielton, was mentioned in the chronicles of a battle in 1124. To the Pembroke locals, though, Orielton Terrace is known as the ‘Chain Back’. One explanation for this is the chain link fence which can be seen in the ‘Now’ picture. This fence has been erected since our ‘Then’ picture was taken.

The trees in ‘Chain Back’ were probably planted by Mr A. G. O. Mathias, who was the manager of the Trustee Savings Bank for many years. He was a pioneer of motoring in Pembroke, owning one of the first cars in the town – a Morris.

Western Telegraph: NOW: The Chain Back area of Main Street in 1981.NOW: The Chain Back area of Main Street in 1981. (Image: Newsquest)

One of the houses in ‘Chain Back’, now used as the Baptist Manse, was owned by the Ford family, who were millers. The Fords ran the mill on the Mill bridge, which burnt down many years ago. Corn as shipped up the river and vessels moored at Pembroke Quay.

Across the road from Orielton Terrace is Handley’s shoe shop and gentlemen’s outfitters. The Handley family bought the shop 61 years ago, in 1920, and converted it from a dairy to a shoe shop.

The dairy, called the Cloretta Dairy, was built on the site many years before, and today some of the cowsheds, barns and stables still exist.

Just a short distance up the road from Handley’s is the York Tavern – pictured in both our photographs. Local legend has it that Cromwell used the basement of the public house as his headquarters wile in Pembroke during the time of Civil War.

Near the York Tavern, is the Old Chapel which dates from late medieval times and is also shown on John Speed’s map. It has a stone vaulted ceiling and was originally used as a store house, but got its name when it was used as a chapel, where Charles Wesley preached in the late 18th century. Fifty years later it was converted into a brew house, and the boilers remain intact today.

Western Telegraph: CURRENT: The Chain Back area of Main Street in 2021.CURRENT: The Chain Back area of Main Street in 2021. (Image: Google Street View)

From this area there is access to the Commons down the New Way. The path leads from the town walls into Main Street, and was constructed in the early 18th century.

The photographs were taken from outside Hamilton House, where it is said Nelson’s Lady Hamilton used to stay. In the grounds of the house was a large, and very old, elm tree, but sadly this had to be cut down recently when it contracted Dutch Elm disease.

In the far distance in the photographs is the Town Clock. This was installed om 1832, and the shop beneath the tower has a clause in its deeds stating that it has to allow local council workers access to wind the clock twice a year.”

In the ‘Current’ picture, taken in 2021, you can see that the Chain Back area is still the same and the tree is also still there, albeit with a bit less greenery!