The Characters
Barry John
Rugby outside half Wales, the British Lions, Cardiff and Llanelli
A world-renowned Rugby outside half representing Wales, the British Lions, Cardiff, Llanelli and Cefneithen. King John was a legend of the rugby field and whenever he came into the Old A, he was always friendly and accommodating. It was fair to say that everyone wanted their picture taken with Barry
Bernard “Slogger” Templeman
Rugby Scrum Half Penarth and the Barbarians
A tough rugby Scrum Half for Penarth and the Barbarians, Slogger was one of Penarth’s all time great players and an expert of the drop goal. He was an Old Arcade regular and family friend of a few landlords. The corner of the front bar became known as Slogger’s corner, where he he based himself and a number of the rugby and boxing fraternity. Unfortunately, the sign for Sloggers corner was moved in a Pub refurbishment but most still remember Slogger’s legacy
Joe Erskine
Boxing Legend
The Boxing Legend from Tiger Bay who went on to win the British Heavyweight and Commonwealth championship. Joe beat leading heavyweights of his era including Willie Pastrano, Henry Cooper and George Chuvalo during his career. A True Cardiff legend, whose funeral attracted thousands including World-famous Ingemar Johanssen (Who had stopped Joe from winning the European Heavyweight title years before)
John Hickey
Rugby Flanker Cardiff RFC
John was a fearless flanker playing for Canton before Cardiff RFC. He became a Captain of Cardiff and was prolific in the Cardiff team that beat Australia in 1966. He also represented East Wales against New Zealand in 1967, but never did play for Wales – although many thought that he should have. He was a regular in the Old Arcade and after his playing days he became a well-known and well-respected landlord particularly in the Duke of York
Glyn Kernan
Medic, Keeper of the Flags etc
Glyn Kernan became our medic, flag man and general dogs’ body from the Rugby team’s inception. He was a regular in the Old A and also in the original team photograph. An ex-military no nonsense character although luckily, he could take a joke, which was just as well as we were always testing his resolve
On one memorable occasion he offered to cook an egg curry for the after-match meal, but we pointed out that he’d need a lot of eggs to make sure there was enough for both teams. He therefore concluded that 6 dozen should be enough and arranged to order some from a stall in the market next door. We then started winding him up, saying that as he’d have to hard boil the eggs first before adding them to the curry, he’d have to get started very early as 72 eggs at 5 minutes per egg works out at 360 minutes or 6 hours. You could see him thinking about this for a while until the realisation dawned on him that putting all the eggs in the same container meant that five or six minutes was all it would take. But we definitely had him going for a while there!
Glyn was a talented jazz guitarist and a very honest guy. He bought a trophy for the team when he found out that we had beaten the US Marines in California but somehow, he did also manage to lose the rugby pitch flags – eventually found in the Old Arcade cellar!!!
Shanklin and Flatman
Rugby
David Flatman and Tom Shanklin both played professional rugby for Saracens and have continued to work together in the media with opinions and humour. Shanks played for Cardiff and Wales and they are both seen here at the bar in the Old Arcade with Mark Falzon the landlord – apparently having completed thew rail journey from London to the Principality stadium
Bob Allen
Ex Barman at Old Arcade
Bob was Assistant Manager when Carl Perry was the Old Arcade Landlord back in the mid-1990s, and he remembers the 90s well. Those were in the days when there was a side door into the back room from the Arcade, SA was the best seller and loads of Sports people were regulars including the boxers Joe Erskine and David Griffiths
They were also the days when Saint David’s centre was being constructed, which brought in a load of builders as customers. The Ming Hong restaurant was next door and included as a part of the 4-day closedown of the Pub, when the (medieval) drains were found to be blocked
Bob returned to work in the Old Arcade – always in conversation with the Customers. It wasn’t long before Covid hit with periods of closure and then the agreement to use the outside area of the arcade for a limited number of Customers. He became infamous for his stance on serving coffee during covid and his “Don’t do cocktails” responses
After leaving the Old Arcade in the late 90s, Bob became landlord of the Grosvenor and a succession of other Cardiff Pubs before returning to the Old Arcade. He is also a member of the Cardiff rugby choir noted for their appearance with Elvis in the front bar
Ceri Rees
Ex Barman at Old Arcade
I first encountered the legendary Old Arcade Pub in September 1979 when I came to the Welsh College of Music and Drama. A few weeks later we played Rugby on Llandaf fields against the Old A and in fairness got hammered! A magnificent afternoon followed which culminated in one of our players Geraint Evans (Grunt or Animal to all mates) being subjected to the 3 man lift between Cabbage and Tudor Morgan, no escape there !
Shortly after this I got a job behind the Bar from the legendary Paul Graciz and worked with Gary Holden, Tudor, Spewer, Bonehead, Peter, Josie, Godwin and many more. Got used to pouring as many pints as I could on international days 10 mins before the pub opened to alleviate the rush for Beer! And was told by Paul,
The place became our second home from the College and our Rugby jumper insignia that said WCMD RFC was translated by Bonehead to Warm Chapati, Madras, Dubiaza, Rice, and F Chips ! Needless to say we took this as a massive compliment
In those days when the opening hours were 11 til 3 and 5-30 til 10-30 we used to get all the Market Traders in during the lunch time, Roger, who sang Danny Boy nearly every day ! Albert Voisey, Dai Murphy to name but a few. Then the evening regulars such as Pat the Echo and many other Cardiff Characters came in – including Terry and Pat Hutchins those who know will know !
I worked there until Paul moved to the Bluebell and Barry Nelmes took over in around mid-1981 but still drink in the pub to this day
Many changes have taken place there, but it still remains the best pub in not just Cardiff but Wales as a whole!!
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