Now and Then, former Red Bull Inn, Caeharris

The former Red Bull Inn, High Street, Caeharris, Merthyr Tydfil, has been demolished and housing is on the site today

Now and Then, former Prince of Wales Inn, Merthyr Tydfil

The old Rhymney pub, the Prince of Wales Inn, Nantygwenith Street, Georgetown, Merthyr Tydfil has been demolished along with the rest of the street. The Cyfarthfa Brewery once stood to the rear of the pub. More photos of the street here

Now and Then, former Mount Pleasant Inn, Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil

The ex-Rhymney Brewery pub, the Mount Pleasant Inn, Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil, stood on the corner of Union Street and George Street. Today George Street has vanished and Union Street is Lower Union Street and truncated to the right of the images.

Now and Then, the former Tre-Ivor Arms, Merthyr Tydfil

The former Rhymney Brewery pub, the Tre-Ivor Arms, Lower Row, Penywern, Merthyr Tydfil, has now been converted into flats.

Ale and Cider Fair for Merthyr

The historic town of Merthyr Tydfil plays host to an ale and cider fair this Saturday in the Redhouse, the former council offices which were recently refurbished and reopened to the public after years of lying derelict. Looking at their website it does seem like this place is trying to establish itself as the Chapter Arts Centre of the Valleys, which , of course, is a welcome development.
Expect beers from Grey Trees, Pipes and Tudor Breweries together with ciders from Brecon Beacons Cidery and Halletts, hopefully without their mouse infection this time!

Now and Then - Royal Oak Merthyr Tydfil

The site of the former Royal Oak Inn, 152 High Street/Plymouth Street. Demolished to widen the road and provide parking.

New look for Rhymney Beers

A trip up the valleys last week gave me an excuse to visit Merthyr Tydfil's best pub, the Winchester, brewery tap for the current Champion Beer of Wales winners, Rhymney Brewery.

The Rhymney Brewery guys have been busy, along with the now completed move to Blaenavon from Dowlais, they have also redesigned their pumpclips with the Hobby Horse trademark taking a prominent place on the pumpclip, together with the original slogans of 'Best around here' and 'An easy winner' on them.
The Hobby Horse was the original symbol of the old Rhymney Brewery, taken over and closed by Whitbread, but originated at Pritchard's Brewery of Crumlin in the 1920s. For more information on the old Rhymney Brewery here is a link about a 1963 film of the brewery.

Winchester refurbishment

Popped into Merthyr's premier real ale pub and the Rhymney Brewery tap, the Winchester, to see the alterations. Well the fireplace and chimney have been installed, with Fawlty Towersesque moose head above the mantlepiece, the door to the the bar servery has been removed, making a larger bar and the next few days will see the front wall come down to be replaced by a large glass window.
Added to that 4 real ales on the, including Rhymney Dark, this is by far the best pub in Merthyr!

Brewery tap refurbishment

Plans to refurbish Brewery Tap

The award-winning Rhymney Brewery, currently based in Merthyr Tydfil but moving to the historic world heritage town of Blaenavon in 2011, have submitted plans to Merthyr Tydfil Council for a refurbishment of their brewery tap, the Winchester. The Castle Street pub is situateded between the Castle Hotel and the 1930s former Water Board Offices (Social Services now) and was converted to the Rhymney Brewery's first pub and Brewery Tap back in 2006, the premises before then had been a commercial unit, even used as a tanning saloon. Originally on this site, there stood a pub called the Beehive which dated from the 1840s but this was demolished when the next door Castle Hotel was built in 1967.

The planned refurbishment for the Winchester will see a Welsh slate roof installed, replacing the 1970s flat roof and the frontage will be opened out and improved with large etched glass windows allowing natural light to illuminate the interior of the pub. A Victorian style door will be installed to the side of the etched windows and the entrance floor will be tiled with a 'Rhymney Brewery' mosiac.

The pub sign will be hand-painted and a Rhymney Hobby Horse sign will be embedded into the outside wall. A chimney stack will also be built on the side to enable a real fire to be put into the pub! Smokers will be catered for with a smoking solution to the rear of the building.

The Winchester was a breath of fresh air when it opened in Merthyr, the first pub in a generation to regularly have a dark mild on cask in the town – the former Champion Beer of Wales, Rhymney Dark as well. Having been impressed with the Winchester since it first opened and seen the plans for this refurbishment, well hardly a refurbishment, more of a de-refubishment and recreation of a Victorian beerhouse., I'm very hopeful that these plans will be passed by Merthyr Council and this rebuild looks as good as it does on the plans.

Merthyr's Heritage gets Demolished

Above: The former site of the Giles & Harrap Brewery today.

Below: The site last year

So farewell then to the former Giles & Harrap Brewery on Brecon Road in Merthyr. Although this had not been used as a brewery since 1936, the substantial premises, which covered 2 acres, were a distinctive landmark on Brecon Road, with their 250 foot frontage.

 Above and below: the site from the North end of Brecon Road

 Above: the extensive site of the former brewery

Above and below: the rear of the premises before demoilition

The first brewery on this was back in 1830 when Watkin Davies was brewing here, the location being described as 'Tydfil Well', other owners were:

1835 Rowland Hopkins

1844 Merthyr Tydfil Brewing Company

1848 James Penny

1852 John Giles

1871 Giles &  Harrap

1936 Hancocks of Cardiff bought and closed the brewery together with 62 pubs. Premises were used as a depot by the brewery.

The buildings were later used as a depot and yard by the former Merthyr Tydfil Borough Council but for the last 25 years have lain empty and dereliction crept in. About 10 years ago there was a plan to sell the site to developers who were going to convert and renovate the original building for use as offices, unfortunately objections from, among others, the Georgian Group meant that this deal fell through and the buildings stood empty, with the purple weed budlea growing rampant amongst the brickwork and vandals stripping the slates off the roof, this unwanted building fell further and further into disrepair before finally being demolished a few weeks ago. Another part of the industrial heritage of the Taff Valley destroyed. Well done to the Georgian Group for objecting to a plan to save the buildings, this has now resulted in the total demolition of the historic buildings on the site. CADW also deserve a mention for their inability to save these buildings. Once again this useless QUANGO shows that it has no interest in protecting our heritage.

For a reminder of Giles & Harrap Brewery in their heyday, visit the Royal Oak in Ystrad Mynach, a stunning Brewers' Tudor style pub with etched windows built in 1914.

More information and photographs of Merthyr Tydfil can be found here:

www.oldmerthyrtydfil.com

Happy third birthday for the Winchester

From Brew Wales

The Rhymney Brewery Tap, the Winchester celebrated its third birthday in November.

The Winchester is situated between the 1930s built former Water Board offices, now home to Social Services, and the Castle Hotel. Only three years old, the Winchester is the brewery tap for the local Rhymney Brewery, based at the Pant Industrial Estate at Dowlais. The new Rhymney Brewery was established in 2005, using the name of a brewery that was once famous throughout South Wales before being closed by Whitbread in 1978. The Winchester is a modern two-story building but is built on the site of the Beehive pub that dated back to the 1840s but was demolished in 1967.
The new Rhymney brewery logo is prominently displayed on the outside of the pub and the doors leading into the pub feature the trademark of the new brewer – a red fire-breathing dragon. The pub was named after the Winchester Club in the television series Minder as Rhymney Brewery founders Steve and Marc Evans are both fans of the show.
On the inside, the Winchester features plenty of seating with low seats and tables along one side of the pub and high bar stools along the other. No food is sold, the Winchester is purely a drinkers pub, with 4 real ales served, all from the local Rhymney brewery. The brewery regularly brews around 7 different beers so the selection does vary but the award-winning Rhymney Export at 5%ABV is always to be found alongside Hobby Horse, a light, hoppy ale at 3.8% ABV. Other ales such as Dark, a former CAMRA Champion Beer of Wales, Bevan's Bitter and the seasonal brew Scrum V also feature on the bar. Rhymney Brewery even brew their own lager and this is a permanent feature on the bar. All the real ales are served in Rhymney Brewery branded glasses. Bottled beers from the brewery are also available in the Winchester.
The walls of the Winchester are decorated with old photos of Merthyr and souvenirs of the old Rhymney Brewery, including the famous 'Hobby Horse' signs. Steve Evans has purchased the old hobby horse trademark and it is once again roaming the valleys of South Wales as it is used on a label for their Hobby Horse beer, in fact their label won an award from the Labelogists Society for the best bottle label and the colourful certificate is proudly displayed on the bar, alongside awards from CAMRA.
The Winchester also features flat-screen televisions, showing sports but the pub also features a piano for more traditional pub entertainment, with free beer on offer for anyone playing it.
Behind the bar, a coat of arms of the Whitbread empire is proudly displayed, as if it were a hunting trophy, Whitbread may have closed down the old Rhymney Brewery but the new brewery is proudly brewing local beers once more, much to the enjoyment of the locals and those from further afield.

Winchester, Castle Street, Merthyr Tydfil, CF47 8BG
Open 12-12 Monday- Saturday, 12-10.30 Sunday

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Budget Price rise in Merthyr!

Seen on the wall of the Winchester pub in Merthyr Tydfil. 4 real ales on and the best place to drink for miles.




I've seen some souvenirs in pubs including the odd stags head but the coat of arms from the company that closed down the original Rhymney Brewery, now that's just being sarcastic.