Baglan Hotel, Treherbert

Baglan Hotel, 30 Baglan Street, Treherbert, CF42 5AW

Open all day

The Baglan Hotel is a stone-built pub on the outskirts of Treherbert, close to the train station of Ynyswen and with bus stops nearby. Dating from 1855, this pub was originally owned by the David John Brewery of Ton Pentre who were bought by Webbs brewery of Aberbeeg and who, in turn became part of  Welsh Brewers. For a while, Ushers Brewery of Trowbridge owned the pub but the Baglan is now a freehouse. An old sign from the former Crown Buckley Brewery hangs outside the pub. The pub has been in the same family for over sixty years and the current landlord was born in the pub.

The central doorway leads to the stone-flagged bar on the left-hand side of the pub, this room is decorated with pictures of the many celebrities who have stayed at this pub over the years as well as  old photographs of the pub. One unusual visitor to the bar was a horse which was sold in here, only for the buyer to later discover it had not been broken in. Another photo is of the current landlord's father who is pictured behind the bar wearing his tie and braces with the Webbs Brewery pumpclips on the handpumps. There are also pieces of old brewery memorabilia including a rare Webbs mirror and a large collection of beer bottles. 

Around the corner from the bar is a dartboard and there is also a large flat-screen television, as horse racing is popular with the locals who drink in here. However it is conversation that dominates in this Rhondda Valley pub. There is plenty of seating, from high chairs at the bar to settles and traditional pub couches with the three-legged cast iron tables to rest your drinks on.

Four real ales are served from gleaming chrome handpumps, as this is a freehouse the beers change regularly but beers from Brains, Tomos Watkin , Felinfoel and RCH breweries feature regularly on the bar. Two draught ciders from the award-winning South Wales cidermaker Gwynt-y-Ddraig are also available together with a range of their bottles.

The Baglan Hotel also serves food, from a traditional pub menu and breakfasts are available from 0730 in the morning. The more comfortably furnished lounge bar is used for dining. Booking is advisable for Sunday lunch.

 Above: the landlord of the Baglan Hotel

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Traveline Information:
The Baglan is a short walk from Ynyswen train station or there is a bus stop (No 130) Pontypridd - Blaenrhondda nearby.

Treherbert, the home of Welsh Vodka?

Well this story from the BBC has certainly put Treherbert on the map. Someone who invented paper from sheep shit has blown his house up attempting to distil alcohol.
 Packed full of inaccurate reporting from the start, the hapless BBC reporter and Police spokesperson both seem a little confused as to what caused the explosion and the legalities involved.
NB - if the inventor was making vodka he was more than likely to be distilling alcohol, rather than just brewing it.
Brewing is relatively safe - the danger arises when you concentrate the alcohol by distillation - which is illegal, even if it is for personal consumption. The law is more concerned with avoidance of alcohol duty than the safety of distilling. And there is the problem which the BBC have overlooked - why was someone distilling alcohol in their home? Was it anything to do with the high rates of duty we have in the United Kingdom? Governments forcing up prices will not stop people from drinking, it will however drive them to underground methods such as using stills to get their fix. Something that the taxpayer-funded fake charity Alcohol Concern and their boss Dong Shaker fail to see in their calls to Government for more tax on alcohol.
Daily Mail have the story here  and the reporter is intelligent enough to know the difference between distilling and brewing.
Leg-iron also has his take on the story
The inventor should have stuck to making paper from sheep shit. Let's hope he wasn't making his vodka from the same stuff!