Once there were seven public houses in the village of Llandrillo, the only one remaining is the Dudley Arms Hotel.
It was named after Lord Dudley a local landowner. An ancient low headroom thick walled building of about six bedrooms situated in the centre of the village.
The Dudley was also a farm with outbuildings around the courtyard situated at the rear of the house.
At one time there was a petrol pump at the gable end of the house, this was convenient for the guests and the few local villagers who had a car. The owner also hired out cars.
The Dudley Arms was a haven for fishermen since it held the rights to fish all the local streams and three miles of the River Dee for free.
At the end of the 19th century the Dudley Arms and most of the local farms and houses were sold to Sir Henry Robertson.
At the turn of the century, Mr John Hughes was the tenant.
In 1917 Mr & Mrs Owen Davies of The Prince of Wales, Cynwyd took over the business.
They were very busy during their first few years but Mr Davies became unwell and died a very young man. Mrs Davies was later to suffer another setback when she lost her son named Dudley as a school child. Mrs Sarah Ellen Davies continued to run the business with her son Roy.
At times they would be very busy, preparing wedding breakfasts etc, also food for the sheep dog trials and football competitions, which were held on the Dudley Arms field.
The Davies family were associated with the Dudley Arms for 73 years and had a good reputation of keeping an orderly house.
Mr Roy Davies sold it in 1990 to Mr and Mrs Emyr Roberts of Hywel Dda Rhydymain.
In 1997 under the new ownership of Brinley and Meryl Owen the interior went through a bit of a face lift, gone are the single small individual rooms, and in a more contemporary look without spoiling is charm.
In February 2012 Amanda and Claire took over the running for a few months, to give Meryl and Brinley a well deserved break.
After 15 years at the helm a message appeared on the Dudley Arms Facebook page
"Brinley Owen and myself would like to thank you all for supporting us at the Dudley Arms over the last 15 years. We've had lots and lots of fun, hard work and amazing memories with you, but it's now time for you to welcome Mark and Julie and we sincerely hope that they are welcomed and supported like we were. We wish them the very best of luck and hopefully we will see you there for a drink! Thank you all again xxx "
The Dudley Arms has been central to village life, and will continue to be so.
