Locals show community spirit to save village pub

THE owner of a village pub thought her dream was over just months after it had begun.

- JONATHON HILL

The Three Horseshoes in Peterston-super-Ely, just outside Cardiff, had been closed in 2022 and a couple of weeks later, neighbouring pub The Sportsman's Rest also shut its doors.

In January 2023, Monika Zakrzewska and her partner, Nathan Ali, decided to reopen The Three Horseshoes despite it having struggled before, and with Monika, who is from Poland, never having heard of the village, which has a population of fewer than 1,000 people.

"I had actually never heard of the place when Nathan asked me if I'd be interested in coming here. I thought he meant Ely in Cardiff," she laughed.

But, hearing how the loss of the pub had affected the small village so badly, the couple set out to make it a community hub where the local book and running clubs could meet. She started a quiz night and bought alpacas to entertain the children on the surrounding land.

Things soon began to unravel, however, when owner Valiant told her of its decision to sell up. Without the money to buy the pub from them, she had all but given up on her dream.

Monika, 37, said: "It was always about The Sportsman in Peterston.