Hundreds of people turned up to the Saundersfoot Chamber for Tourism’s annual Cawl by the Sea last Saturday.

This popular event is a firm fixture in Saundersfoot’s calendar, and a fabulous start to the season.

So popular that this event has become, the 350 limited edition, hand made cawl bowls were sold in less than an hour after the doors had opened at 11:00am.

Keeping participants entertained while they queued was Pure West Radio and local band Mr GG.

Beachside Barbecue, Harbwr Bar & Kitchen, The Captain’s Table, Regency Hall, The Stone Crab, Boathouse and Marina Fish, Chips & More all created their own special version of Cawl (traditionally a lamb ‘stew’) with participants visiting each venue and voting on their favourite.

Welsh rugby stars Alun Wyn Jones and Ken Owens were amongst the invited guests and joined in with the trail, choosing their own favourite from the seven varieties on offer.

Goodness knows how many ‘selfies’ they were in, but true gentlemen that they are, they smiled for all of them!

Other invited guests on the day were Neil Sefton (Chair of Saundersfoot Community Council), Dr Simon Hancock (Chairman of Pembrokeshire County Council), Liz Williams (Pembrokeshire Tourism Project Manager) and Dilys Hackett (Chair of Saundersfoot Chamber for Tourism).

The winners of the ‘Public Vote’ were the Boathouse.

The ‘Players Choice’ was The Captain’s Table and the ‘Chairman’s Choice’ went to the Regency Hall.

In addition to the Cawl, the Regency also hosted the Village Showcase.

The idea behind this part of the event was to showcase some of the wonderful groups and events held in Saundersfoot.

From charities such as Rotary, WI, RNLI and Cancer Research to interest groups such as the Historical Society, Hobbies Group, Craft Group and Guild of Spinners, Weavers and Dyers there was also a display of goods that will be on sale at the new Tuesday market.

Local Café Little & Large Bites were promoting their charity events, local beach cleaner Julie Davies created a Welsh dragon picture from the hundreds of bits of plastic she collects from the beach each year and Pembrokeshire’s Community Transport services PACTO were explaining how they help people and groups who do not have access to their own or public transport.

At the end of the day there were lots of very full stomachs, some lucky raffle prize winners and some very tired volunteers.

“It was a superb event” said Dilys Hackett, Chair of the Saundersfoot Chamber for Tourism. “As always, we had a fantastic turn-out and there has been a wonderful community spirit around the village.

"Without the commitment and hard work from all our volunteers, these events would simply not happen.

"It was great to see everyone working together to create another successful event for the village.

"On behalf of the Chamber, I want to thank all the volunteers and organisations who were involved in the day including Andrew Evans from St. Brides Hotel for donating all the Chamber raffle prizes, FBM Holidays who sponsored the printing of the programs and Pure West Radio for attending the event.”

And if you want to plan ahead for next year, the date for the Cawl by the Sea will be March 6 2021.

For more information about SCTs events see their website www.visitsaundersfootbay.com or visit them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @VisitSaundersfoot