The village of Llangwm’s sport in particular, and of the county in general, lost one of its best-known and respected ambassadors this week with the passing away of Barry Jones (76),  a talented all-rounder whose skills in a range of sports were formidable.
 
Barry was arguably the best wicket-keeper of his generation in Pembrokeshire Cricket and terrific opening batsmen alongside other quality players like Peter Rees, Tony Tuckwell, Colin Phillips, Dai Bowen, Tony Kiff, Roy John, Martin Charles and Dennis Cole, as well as youngsters in Jeff Saies and Willie Morris, who worshipped the ground Barry stood on!
 
He played for Pembrokeshire in their epic encounter with Barbados at the old Esso Ground as a measure of the esteem in which he was held.
 
In rugby at Pill Parks he played alongside Peter Rees as hard-tackling centres and other team mates were alongside some of the above were redoubtable characters like Glynmor Howells, Terry Hitchings and Brian ‘Juno’ John.
 

Moving tributes

Peter Rees said,
“Barry was like a big brother to me and was one of the most modest and gifted sportsmen I have met because he was also very good at pool, table tennis, and darts.”
 
In his later years he continued to put in lots of unnoticed work, especially on the pitch, and one of his services at Pill Parks was to train his dogs to find any cricket balls hit into the field below, saving clubs lots of money.
 
Will Morris, now living between Wrexham and Chester, told us,
“Today, most of what attracted me to Llangwm sport expired, who was quite simply one of the best men I ever met.

“He was a mentor, a teacher, a colleague, a father figure, a colleague, a team mate, a drinking partner (I could never keep up!), a friend, and a bloody good bloke.

"Barry Jones ALWAYS remained constant and that’s why we had an understanding, on and off the grass.

"RIP Barry Jones... quite simply the best all round Pembrokeshire cricketer and character I have ever met.”
 
We could pay this gentleman of sport no higher tribute than those from Peter and Will, and our thoughts at this time go out to his partner Marie and Barry's family.