At 54 years old, John Doull is old enough to remember when Maindee, one of Newport 's most diverse areas, was awash with bustling shops, packed pubs through the week, and pretty much everything else. "I used to play pool at the George, and we all used to go down on a Sunday when there were the old Sunday hours for pubs," he said, while enjoying a sunny afternoon along Chepstow Road, Maindee's main thoroughfare.
"So, you'd have until 3pm and then the pub would shut again until about 7.30 or 8 in the evening. So we all used to go from Maindee to Risca in the afternoon, because the pub there was open for an extra hour or so. So, by the time we got back to Maindee after we'd only have to wait a little bit outside for the pub to open again.
"All of a sudden, at half past three, you would see a load of taxis pulling up in Maindee. I'm sure that's why there was still a taxi rank there! Every pub was packed and every shop would be full. The atmosphere was just great." John lives off Caerleon Road and has grown up in the area since 1977. "Maindee used to be a little town within a town," he said. "It was almost like a suburb of Newport."
