Now and Then, former Somerset Arms, Aberkenfig

The former Rhymney Brewery pub, the Somerset Arms, Dunraven Street, Aberkenfig

Now and Then, Railway Inn, Pencoed

The former Rhymney Brewery pub, the Railway Inn, Pencoed, is now known as the Chatterton Arms

Now and Then, Llynfi Arms Tonddu

The Llynfi, Maesteg Road, Tonddu is looking a lot better in Street View than it is when it was a Whitbread pub after they took over Rhymney Brewery. Now known as the Llynfi Arms

Now and Then, Swan Inn, Aberkenfig

The Swan Inn, Bridgend Road, Aberkenfig was built in 1907, although there is a building on this site on the 1888 OS map.

Rose and Crown, Nottage, Porthcawl

Rose and Crown, Heol y Capel, Nottage, Porthcawl, CF36 3ST


Open All Day
The village of Nottage with its medieval origins is today part of Porthcawl, the nineteenth and twentieth century developments of the later town have now encroached on this once separate and older settlement. A navigable stream once lead to the sea from the village and the Duffryn-Llynfi tramway and later railway once ran through the village and under the village green.

Situated facing the village green, the Rose and Crown is unusual in that it was originally built as a row of stone cottages in the nineteenth-century, two of which became pubs, the Rose and the Crown, before the entire row was converted into one pub.

To the front of the pub there is a small car park and outdoor drinking area which faces onto the village green.

The white-washed building features a slate roof and a weather-boarded entrance porch which leads to the interior of the pub. The dividing interior walls of the original buildings with their large fireplaces have been kept which enables the pub to offer different distinct and unusual bar areas. The bare stone walls add to the traditional atmosphere of the Rose & Crown. Old photographs of the surrounding area decorate these walls. The old cottages have been extended at the rear and this new extension forms a substantial part of the pub today.

The left-hand side of the pub features a traditional bar area whilst the right hand-side features a restaurant, although food is served throughout the pub. Real ales are from Brains with Bitter, SA and Rev James being served together with their seasonal guest beer, at the moment it's the Tour de France themed 'Le Peleton'. The pub is a regular entry in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide and hosts a beer, cider and sausage festival once a year. There is also an extensive wine list or alternatively Brains Black is available.

As welll as the front outside drinking area there is another outside area with more tables at the side.

The Rose & Crown hosts regular live music and there is also a function room available free of charge. The pub also offers accommodation.

Food is served all day from a traditional but extensive menu with a focus on Welsh ingredients being used wherever possible and a separate lunchtime menu.

The pub also offers free Wifi.

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Prince of Wales, Kenfig

Prince of Wales, Maudlam, Kenfig, Bridgend, CF33 4PS

Open All Day

The Prince of Wales stands as an isolated stone-built building overlooking the shifting sands of the Kenfig Burrows. This building was originally the town hall of the ancient Borough of Kenfig, not the modern conurbation that now bares the name. 

Above: the view from the pub to across the sands

The rest of the old borough has been enveloped by the sands over the centuries but the town hall hall still stands, defiantly overlooking the sands and the Bristol Channel, after 500 years. The town hall part of the pub is on the first floor, accessible only from the exterior of the building. Believed to date from around 1600, this Tudor structure was thought to be originally built on pillars , later stone walls were built on the ground floor to create a pub, 'The New House Tavern' or 'Ty Newydd' and later called 'The Corporation', which was again altered in 1808 and renamed the Prince of Wales after the Prince Regent who later became George IV.  The pub and the village of Kenfig are due to feature in a forthcoming (11.03.12) episode of Time Team.

Set in its own grounds with an extensive car park and outside drinking area, the pub is entered via an off-centre door and corridor which leads to the bar. To the left of the corridor is a small room with a number 2 above the door, a reminder of the times when each room in a licensed premises had to, by law, be identified. The law altered in the 1960s but that number is just a small reminder of how little has changed in this pub over the years. This small room contains tables and settles and is decorated with sea charts and photographs of
shipwrecks from the nearby coast. Due to the historic interior of the Prince of Wales it features in the CAMRA book the 'Real Heritage Pubs of Wales (see below).
The bar features no handpumps, the real ales are served straight from the barrel from another room and include Bass, Sharp's Doombar as well as a guest beer.

The larger room, to the right of the corridor is decorated with photographs of locals and has a full list of all the Portreeves or wardens appointed by the Borough of Kenfig since their charter was signed in medieval times. The pub features snippets of local history on most of the walls, but the end wall is taken up by a large stone fire-place and chimney, the wooden logs for which are stored in ancient burnished copper cauldrons either side of the welcoming fire. Old wooden doors and thick stone walls that defy mobile phone signals
make the Prince of Wales a quiet and welcoming pub, there is a flat-screen television but this is only used for major sporting events and in this pub that means rugby not football.

Food is served 12-3 and 6-9 and the menu features Welsh specialities such as locally made faggots and Welsh lamb as well as traditional pub fayre such as lasagne and grills as well as more unusual specials such as Bengali Cod or Cajun Beef in a Stilton sauce.

The Prince of Wales has a large car park outside or there is a bus from Bridgend/Porthcawl (63B) every couple of hours during the day.


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The Prince of Wales features in the CAMRA book 'Real Heritage Pubs of Wales'.

Winter Ale Festival at the Coach

The Coach in Bridgend will be holding a mini-Winter ale festival this weekend, starting Friday
25 November  and continuing until Sunday 27 November.
Facebook Event here

No full list yet but here are a few beers they have:

Amber Ales 'Chocolate Orange Stout'
Purple Moose 'Dark Side of the Moose'
Dark Star 'Winter Meltdown'
Titanic 'Plum Porter'
Skinners 'Betty's Big Sister'

Black Mountain, Smoked Porter, Marvelous Maple Mild

Winter Meltdown, Chocolate & Vanilla Stout, Dark Age

Otley O5, O8, KowHai

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Coach

37  Cowbridge Road, 

CF31 3DH, 

Bridgend

Traveline Information:

The Coach, Bridgend

The Coach, 37 Cowbridge Road, Bridgend, CF31 3DH

Facebook site here 

The Coach is a two-storey mid-to-late nineteenth century building situated on one of the main roads on the outskirts of Bridgend, only a short walk from the town centre. The building is faced with locally-quarried stone but is built out of brick and features colourful hanging baskets on the façade at this time of year. The Coach has an unique two-sided sign featuring the front and back of a Neath & Cardiff 'Brown Bomber' coach which used to travel past the pub. The pub was originally called the 'Coach & Horses' but the latter part of the name was dropped a number of years ago.

A central doorway leads to an open-plan wooden bar with three gleaming chrome handpumps, two of which are reserved for real ales from independent breweries and the third for cider from Wales' award-winning makers Gwynt-Y-Ddraig, with another cider or perry being served straight from the barrel. The full bottled range of Gwynt ciders are also available. Both above and behind the bar are pumpclips from some of dozens of brews this pub has served over the years since it was purchased in 2010 by two enterprising local customers. Beers from Breconshire, Skinners, Dark Star, Monty's and Vale of Glamorgan Breweries have all been served here, the Coach is a genuine freehouse with firm commitment to quality real ales. There is also a bottled beer range featuring brews such as Tomos Watkin Magic Lagyr as well as Goose Island IPA from the United States and other beers from Mexico and Estonia. A foreign draught 'guest' lager is also on tap, recent lagers have been Staropramen and Budweiser Budvar, both from the Czech Republic.

Despite being open-plan, the Coach manages to retain different areas; to the right of the bar is a pleasant lounge area with a stone fireplace, settles, tables and even a guitar and piano for music nights. The left-hand side features a dartboard, more seating and some contemporary art on the walls. To the rear of the Coach there is an outside section with a small patio area with tables and chairs.

A sell-out beer festival was held in the pub earlier this year and there are plans to hold another one in the future. Regular theme nights are held such as Jamaican or Cuban nights along with a quiz night on Tuesdays and this once neglected pub, purchased at auction by two relatively young locals has once again become the focus for the community.

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