The Plough, Whitchurch, Cardiff

The Plough, 1 Merthyr Road, Whitchurch, CF14 1DA

Open all day

The Plough occupies a street-corner location opposite the nineteenth-century parish church of Whitchurch. Although this Cardiff suburb has medieval origins, this part was only developed in the nineteenth century, due to the nearby tin plate works. The Plough dates from this time and the original building is the one on the corner with Old Church Road, this later expanded into an adjacent property and earlier this year underwent a complete refurbishment by owners SA Brain. It was more of a transformation than a refurbishment and the Plough is now described as featuring ‘contemporary dining’, though still has features that appeal to those who whish to use the pub for a drink rather than dine.

The whitewashed exterior of the Plough features hanging floral baskets and there is a small outside drinking area to the front. The entrance porch leads to a corridor with a bar to the right and small snug to the left, which features leather armchairs. The corridor continues to the rear of the pub and into a large dining room, which features another bar and doors leading out to a secluded patio area with climbing plants. Surprisingly the rear garden area is non-smoking.

The Plough is decorated throughout with pictures of old Whitchurch, one in the front bar, features the pub when it was a free house that served Bass and the photograph also features an early motor bus advertising false teeth. In the photo the pub can clearly be seen to be made up of two buildings that were originally separate. Another interesting item framed and mounted on the wall is an advert from the Echo in 1907, which says that the Plough serves Bass from the wood. Today the Plough is owned by SA Brain and the beer range is Brains Bitter, SA Gold, Rev James and SA, although seasonal ales from the brewery may also make an appearance. Budweiser Budvar from the Czech Republic is also available in bottles and there is also an extensive wine list.

The Plough has undergone a sympathetic refurbishment and has not been turned into a pub that excludes drinkers for the benefit of diners, in fact with its multiple rooms and bars there is room for everyone in this pub. The pub may have lost its skittle alley in the refurbishment but now appeals to a different clientele.

Food is served all day from an extensive menu with Welsh ingredients such as Carmarthenshire Ham, Celtic Pride 21-day matured beef and Welsh ice cream being featured.

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Fox & Hounds, Whitchurch, Cardiff

Fox & Hounds, Old Church Road, Whitchurch, Cardiff, CF14 1D
Open all day

The Fox & Hounds is situated off what is now the main thoroughfarethrough Whitchurch, however this was the centre of the old village as directly behind the pub a Norman Motte and Bailey castle once stood and across the road are St Mary's Gardens, once home to St Mary's Church which gave the area of Whitchurch its original name. The tump of the Norman Castle survived into the twentieth century before it was flattened to provide land for housing. The Fox & Hounds has an unusual profile – it is a very long building with its short end facing onto the road, the reason for this is that when the pub was originally built in the 16th or 17th centuries, the castle was still a prominent landmark and the building today still respects the now-demolished Norman Structure. In the nineteenth Century there was a school in what is now the pub car park and there is a photograph of it on one of the walls of the pub, together of other old photographs of the area, including one of the pub when it had a thatched roof.

The Fox & Hounds has very much of a country pub feel to the place despite being in a suburb of the City, the long profile of the pub features distinct dining and eating areas with wooden floorboards and settles at the front to dark grey flagstones and seats at the rear.

The long wooden bar features contrasting light and dark wooden panels and gleaming brass handpumps serving Brains Bitter, SA and Dark along with two handpumps reserved for guest beers, one usually reserved for the current Brains seasonal beer such as 'Bread of Heaven' and the other for guest beers from breweries such as Wooden Hand of Cornwall orAdnams of Suffolk. Pumpclips of former guest beers are displayed on the dark-stained rough cut wooden bar back. The pub is recognised for its beer quality by CAMRA as it is a rgular in the Good Beer Guide and also holds Cask Marque accreditation.

To the rear of the pub is another dining area which leads out to the surprisingly large beer garden. There is also a smoking shelter at the front of the pub.

Food is served all day at the Fox & Hounds, from an extensive printed menu with daily chalkboard specials such as 'Pie of the Day' or

'Homemade Specials'. Grill nights are Tuesdays and Wednesdays are Curry Night and there is a cask ale night on Saturdays with the real ales available for £2 a pint.

The Fox & Hounds is a real community pub with quiz nights on Sundays and poker nights on Mondays. The pub is large enough to accommodate a wide-range of clientèle if those activities do not suit the customer.

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