Chainbridge Days

A Memory of Mamhilad.

Chainbridge was more than just a pub years ago when I was in my late teens and for years following. It was a meeting place for the whole community, in a time when everyone knew everyone else and everyone cared for everyone else. Run by Tom & Jean Spickett Jones, it was a thriving pub with darts and pool teams, lots of parties and the traditional New Years Eve fancy dress. Its 'locals' were from an area spanning Llanvair Kilgeddin to Pontypool. I used to work at the ICI Fibres factory in Mamhilad and would be in Chainbridge after most afternoon shifts, after most morning shifts, and before most night shifts. After the sad death of Tom and the retirement of Jean, the pub went through several different landlords and not forgetting that time was moving on and people were getting married or moving away etc. It did get busy again when a Pontypool man, Dale Powell took it over for a while. The pub was left empty for a while and was totally gutted on the inside prior to someone purchasing it in 2012 and has been working on it to date. I, like all those who grew up with Chainbridge and who lived locally await this new era.

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