The making of Moby Dick - when Hollywood came to a tiny Welsh harbour

It is the seaside town that was transformed to Dylan Thomas' Llareggub in 1971, but Fishguard was also the backdrop for another iconic film.

Director John Huston chose the Pembrokeshire town as one of Moby Dick's locations, where the 19th-Century Nantucket whaling ship Pequod can be seen sailing.

The film, released 70 years ago in 1956, starred Gregory Peck as Captain Ahab and at the time was one of Hollywood's most expensive films, costing about $4m (£3m).

Although Fishguard itself does not feature as filming was done out at sea, locals still recall when Hollywood's stars took over the town.

Gareth Rees, who was 16 at the time, says there was "a buzz" in the area.

"It put Fishguard on the map for a long time," he said.

"My wife, Gina, her mother had a bed and breakfast, and she had three chauffeurs staying there. So there was a Rolls [Royce] and two Bentleys parked outside her house in Main Street. She said they were very good guests."

Gareth was a Sea Cadet, and his crew were challenged by some of the cast members to a rowing race.

"I can't remember who told me, 'you've got to come down the harbour', then I realised why we were down the harbour, for a race."

He said the Fishguard sea cadets won the race, with Gregory Peck as coxswain of the opposing team of Hollywood stars.

"He wasn't actually rowing, he had the easy job," he said.

"We were a good crew at the time, a good team. We were British champions and had been for about three or four years. Nobody could beat us at the time."

He recalls meeting Gregory Peck.

"He was a gentleman and everybody says that now, you'd never have thought that he was a big Hollywood star.

"I never thought I'd be this famous in 70 years time because I rowed against Gregory Peck."

Huw Lewis, also a part of the Fishguard Sea Cadets team and 16 at the time, accepted the award on behalf of the team, presented to him by Peck.

"I had no idea who on earth it was. They were very happy memories," he said.

Margaret Andrews, who grew up in Fishguard and was in sixth form during filming, got a summer job as a part of the makeup department based in the Fishguard Bay Hotel.

"I remember an aunt of mine told my parents 'I hear Margaret's got a holiday job and is based in the Bay Hotel with all those men'," she said.

"But eventually everybody accepted them and we got to see that they were just people."

She got the job through her boyfriend, who was a part of the team making Captain Ahab's famous scars for his face.

Margaret recalls seeing stars such as Peck on a daily basis and would sometimes get a lift home in one of the chauffeurs' Bentleys or Rolls-Royce.

"The makeup man in charge was very high up in Max Factor, he was the only one who was allowed to make up Gregory Peck."

As a teenager she said seeing stars like Peck was "very exciting". "He was such a very nice man."

"I'm very glad I experienced it. I didn't realise it at the time, it was an insight into another world."

To celebrate 70 years since the release of the film, its legacy is a major theme of this year's On Land's Edge Festival - an annual celebration of music, theatre, film and literature in north Pembrokeshire.

On Friday, the annual lantern parade featured an 8ft illuminated Moby Dick, as well as fish and ship lanterns made by pupils at Ysgol Bro Gwaun.

There was also an exhibition, The Making of Moby Dick: An Exhibition of Memories, at the local theatre, Theatr Gwaun.

Patrick Thomas, chair of trustees there, said: "There are still lots of people in the community here who remember the filming, who spent time with Gregory Peck, John Huston and Bernard Miles. We were able to bring those memories back to life and put them on display."