End of an era at the Capel pub

The Capel pub at Gilfach Fargoed, a regular entry for years in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide, will be closing its doors on Tuesday (11th September) after 50 years of being run by the same family. In 1963 Mr & Mrs Lockyer took out a lease on the pub from Courage Brewery who aquired the pub through their purchase of Simonds Brewery of Reading, who in turn had bought Phillips Brewery of Newport, who had built the pub in 1912.

Some words from Tudor & Joy, current tenants of the Capel
The 'Capel' was first run by our family in 1963 by Joy's Mam & Dad (Mr & Mrs Lockyer), unfortunatley Mr Lockyer (Ted), died in 1971, but Mrs Lockyer (Nancy) carried on the tenancy with the help of her daughters until she retired in 1992 (28.5 years later). Joy then took up the mantle under the then new lease system & signed for 20 years (thank you Maggie T !), whilst there has been a lot of hard times we can still take a lot of pride in what we have achieved over the years & will take away with some very fond memories.

The Capel has for years been an oasis of real ale in the Rhymney Valley, with very few decent pubs in Bargoed or the surrounding area. The Capel has always done its best to support independent breweries and cidermakers with Rhymney and Gwynt Y Ddraig regularly seen on the bar. The annual beer festival was a popular event with the extra rooms in the pub coming in handy.
Have previously written about the pub here.

The pub also features on the CAMRA Regional Inventory of historic pub interiors and is a good example of an unaltered 1912 pub.

The Capel is currently available on a lease from Enterprise Inns with a guide rent of £12,000 per annum.
According to Enterprise Inns:
The Capel Hotel is a substantial three storey building located on the main road into Bargoed, the centre of the Welsh Valleys. The town is surrounded by mountains, hills and green fields. This two bar operation has an established customer base with potential existing to appeal to new markets. The current clientele is male orientated, with those of middle age being the most frequent visitors. The new publican should focus on food trade in order to attract new customers.