Thursday 24 January 2019

Pandy -- a smuggler's pub?


Pandy, one of the most delightful spots in the neighbourhood, features here and there in the 8 novels of the saga.  There are two ruined buildings -- a ruined cottage (with nearby ty bach) beside the track, and another -- more ruinous -- below the point where the track bends sharply.  That must have been the pandy itself, for there are traces of walls, an old pond, and a leat.   I have always wondered when it stopped working as a pandy or fulling mill, and when the cottage was finally abandoned.  It looks as if it has been derelict for centuries........

But during a convivial evening yesterday, I was talking to Dillwyn Vaughan from Llannerch, and he said that his father (who would have been alive in the early 1900's) remembered the cottage being used as a "smuggler's inn".  In other words, it was used for the sale of smuggled alcohol, presumably brought in by sea.  It was probably safe from the customs officers because of its extremely remote location.

More research needed.......

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