Former Eagle Inn, Bridgend, Cardigan
At the street corner stands the former Eagle Inn. While living there the First World War, Edith Davies received news from her husband in a German prisoner of war camp (see below).
One of the Eagle’s Victorian landlords was Captain Thomas Mathias, who owned a smack called Ann. In 1882 the smack ran aground near Milford Haven, to which it had been sailing with a cargo of Cilgerran slates. The crew were saved. He left the Eagle in 1893. In June 1884 he and a fellow sailor drowned when the Ann sank off Fishguard.
The Eagle Inn had its own stables. In 1909 a police constable found a black gelding in very weak condition at the inn’s yard. The horse was barely able to stand and had a discharging sore under the saddle. Earlier the policeman had spotted the horse drawing a wagon, holding four people and luggage, through the town. The horse’s owner, Thomas Griffiths of Newport (Pembrokeshire), had to pay £1 5s 9d in fines and costs.
Catherine Davies was the Eagle’s licensee in 1921 and probably earlier. Her son Fred was living at the Eagle when he joined the armed forces at the outbreak of the First World War. He was living there again, with his mother, in 1921.
Catherine’s daughter Edith Anna Davies was baptised in March 1895. In December 1915, Edith married Daniel Harton Davies, of the Royal Field Artillery. Their fathers were both named David Davies, and they named their son (born on 27 August 1918) David Eldred Davies.
Daniel’s father was a sergeant in the Cardiganshire Constabulary. In 1911 Daniel, aged 17, was living with his parents at Cardigan police station and working as a grocery assistant.
While Daniel was fighting in the First World War, Edith was living with her mother at the Eagle Inn. After being promoted to sergeant for his gallantry, Daniel went missing in France in March 1918. On 21 March he filled in a pro-forma postcard, shown here courtesy of Ceredigion Archives, to tell Edyth (his spelling) that he was a prisoner of war in Germany.
Daniel is in the bottom left of the photo showing a group of men at their PoW camp. The other photo shows the camp near Altdamm where he was held (both photos courtesy of Ceredigion Archives). In December 1918, Edyth received telegrams from Copenhagen and Edinburgh as Daniel travelled home. Back in at the Eagle Inn, he received a letter from the king welcoming him home, and a presentation from the town council. He later served in the police force.
For more of his wartime documents and photos, follow the link below.
David Eldred Davies served in the Second World War and was curate of Newtown with Llanllwchaiarn 1949-51.
With thanks to Ceredigion Archives
Postcode: SA43 3AA View Location Map
Ceredigion Archives website – more details and photos relating to Daniel Davies
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