A couple who have been the official key-keepers for the last 15 years at Cilgerran Castle retired at the end of March.

Joan and Ian Munro became key-keepers when they moved to the area from Sussex, before opening a small gift shop in their house, which is at the entrance to the castle.

The key-keeper issues tickets to the site, ensures the site is kept clean and tidy and provides visitors with a temporary key to let themselves into the castle.

Mrs Munro said: "I shall miss the visitors. We got approximately 13,000 visitors a year and we had a big map of the world on the shop wall on which we would stick a pin to denote the nationality of the visitor.

"We had visitors from as far afield as Russia, Poland and even the Cook Islands.

"Americans in particular loved the idea of having their own key to the castle!

"It has been a partnership effort between my husband and I and we will miss looking after the castle, but we are now looking forward to getting on with the jobs we should have done years ago around the house and garden.

"We also intend to treat ourselves to a Cadw pass for the first time - making use of our free bus pass and visiting as many sites across Wales as possible."

Wayne Evans, Cadw's visitor service manager, said: "We are very grateful for all the hard work Mr and Mrs Munro have done over the years at Cilgerran.

"Their commitment to the castle has been exemplary and we will miss them as much as regular visitors to the castle will."