Fishguard and Goodwick were crawling with cawl connoisseurs last Saturday, as over 200 people visited shops, pubs, cafes and restaurants participating in the twin towns' first cawl crawl.

Around a thousand bowls of cawl were served by the 24 establishments taking part in the lip- smacking fundraiser organised by Fishguard and district Round Table.

Two hundred people pounded the pavements with score cards, all in search of the three most souper soups in town.

Western Telegraph reporter, Becky Hotchin, managed eight bowls of fine cawl, all in the name of journalistic research, before having to call it a day.

Some stalwarts, however, eschewed food for the rest of the weekend and succeeded in taking a sample in all 24 establishments, travelling as far as Scleddau and Lower Town to complete the cawl crawl.

The results were totted up and the winning cawl maker announced as Goodwick's Glendower Hotel. Landlady Noala Jackman was delighted to collect the prize of an inscribed wooden bowl, made by local carpenter Tecwyn James, at a ceremony at the Pendre Inn.

"It was a real team effort," she said of the Glendower's cawl. "I used veg from my brother in law's garden and one of our regulars took charge of the kitchen as Bernard [the usual cook] was away."

Robin Baker, chairman of Fishguard and District Round Table, said that the day had been excellent: "We had a great reception from the public and businesses and raised £600 for local charities.

""One of the aims of the day was to try to get local businesses and local people together and it certainly was busy in town on Saturday.

"We asked all the entrants to use local produce and the various cawls were very well received, with people writing really nice comments on the score cards.

"The feedback from local businesses and townspeople has been very positive and we are already planning next year's event."