The Bay View Stores in Solva has earned itself one of the industry’s top awards after being named as the best Rural Shop and Post Office in the whole of the UK.

“We really can’t believe it,” said Gwyn Price, who has been running the shop with his mother, Jean, for the past 24 years.

“It was a huge honour to win the Wales award at the Senedd back in January and then to have the chance to go to the House of Lords this week and take part in the Countryside Alliance National awards was something else.

“We had a one-in-eight chance of winning, but the standard of competition was so high, we knew it was going to be tough to be named as the overall winner.”

But, true to form, the Bay View Stores, Solva, outshone the cream of Britain’s rural shops after being named as the outright winner.

The Countryside Alliance puts a great deal of emphasis on the way in which rural shops support the communities around them, and this was undoubtedly one of the main reasons why Bay View Stores did so exceptionally well in this week’s final.

A quick browse through its shelves shows off some of the outstanding produce that the farmers and food producers of Pembrokeshire are renowned for, including local oysters, lobster platters, fresh dressed crab, hanging basket plants from local nurseries, Mount Milk which can be bought from the vending machine as well as a large selection of homemade pies and pastries.

“We’ve always done as much as possible to buy local - why buy cauliflowers from France if we can buy them from the farmer up the road?”

Gwyn was introduced to shop life at a very young age when his mother ran a bakery in St Davids.

“I remember being involved in the shop from the age of around five, and then I went to work with her as soon as I left school," he said.

“Twenty four years ago we made the decision to close the bakery in St Davids and open the Bay View Stores in Solva, and it was possibly one of the best decisions we could have made.

"Solva is a truly fantastic community and whatever event is beingn organised, absolutely everyone will turn out to support it.

“I’m also extremely fortunate that the staff who work here at the shop are really behind everything I do and I certainly wouldn’t have been able to achieve this award without the support and dedication that they’ve given me over the years.”