About Us
About Us
The Ship Solva is a family oriented, dog friendly, extremely cosy and welcoming pub situated at the centre of the high street in the popular, bustling little fishing village of Solva in west Wales.
Our Team
professional staff
Simon and Kathie Greene, current landlord and landlady of The Ship welcome you to their cosy family pub in Solva.
Simon and Kathie started their tenancy in 2017 and since taking over have really improved the physical décor of the building and made it into a pub that is warm, welcoming and full of atmosphere.
“We previously ran a pub in Ross on Wye and have used that experience to make The Ship the place it is today.
We hope your experience of dining, drinking and /or staying here will be part of the fantastic memories of your visit to Solva.”
Simon Greene
Landlord
History of The Ship Inn Solva
An interesting old building with lots of exposed timber the ship boasts a fine collection of Toby jugs and old photographs and memorabilia from the early days of Solva Regatta.
The first known records of the ship date back to 1784 where it was one of two alehouses recorded in Solva. At that point it was physically located on the site of the Mariners apartments, it wasn’t until 1815 that the pub and its sign was moved from one side of the road to the other where it still stands. In 1914 it was listed as an hotel with ‘good accommodation for cyclists and tourists’. The pub was also well placed for the GWR. omnibus which stopped outside to pick up and put down passengers on the Haverfordwest station run.
The Raggett family took over in the late 1930s. Mrs Florence Raggett remained the landlady until 1964 when she was succeeded by her son Paul Raggett and his wife Jean. Clem and Nano Morgan were the licence holders in the 1970s and early 1980s but the pub changed hands several times after that with stints by Paul and Sarah Edwards in the 1990s and Ashley and Sally Hart who later ran the Grove in St Davids.
Presently, The Ship Solva is now run by Simon and Kathie Green. They still offer accommodation in 3 nicely decorated and no fuss rooms, but the ‘Inn’ has been dropped from the name of the pub and is known to all as ‘The Ship Solva’
Auntie Mattie – The Lady
Next door to the main pub is a room known as Auntie Matties. The aforementioned landlord Ashley Hart renovated the room and made it into a restaurant / function space. The room was named in memory of Mattie Davies who used to live there, and she was widely known in the area for selling Sunday newspapers from her front door. The papers were laid out on a table so people could buy or collect orders.
Auntie Mattie – The Celtic Longboat Connection
If you dine in Auntie Matties you will notice lots of rowing related memorabilia dotted around the room. Paul Raggett (another previous landlord) who was president of Solva Rowing Club in its early days (1980s) encouraged local rowers to start a fund to raise money for a new Longboat. At the time the brewery for the pub was James Williams who stumped up £1000 donation towards the funds. The then landlord, Ashly Hart also made a substantial contribution, recognising that the rowers spent a lot of time meeting and drinking at the Ship. Raffles and races were held to help raise further contributions to the new boat fund.
After a successful fund-raising campaign Solva Rowing Club purchased a new Celtic Longboat from Dale Sailing in Neyland and as a tribute to their beloved pub the boat was named ‘Auntie Mattie’. The rowing club subsequently went on to grow and won numerous league titles many times over. 2 further boats were purchased and named ‘Uncle Sid’ and ‘Cousin IT’. The club is still very active today and still meets in The Ship Solva after their club nights!
