This early image of Lower Town is one of a series taken around the turn of the 20th century.
If you look closely at what was the Dinas Arms, a number of cottages can be seen where today there is just a car parking area. The “new road” around the headland has yet to be built and so all travellers had to negotiate the old hill. This hill was so steep that a strong horse was kept at the bottom which would be harnessed to a loaded cart to assist in pulling it to the top. In railway terms – he would have been described as a “banker engine”. Apparently when he was unharnessed at the top, he would be turned around and sent back down the hill by himself!
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This is a wonderful old photo and the information about the helper horse is fascinating. It’s also interesting to see how intensely the land was used, carved up into small paddocks, orchard and gardens, and all surrounded by trees and hedges. It’s possible to see that there was an existing path or lane below Bodmor, the route later taken by the ‘new’ main road.
I believe that the Dinas Arms was originally situated on the old Newport road before it moved to the former Ty Cwrt in Quay Street.
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