North Wales' best pubs - Douglas Arms, Bethesda
‘THAT’LL be £2.40", the lady behind the bar informs me as she places my pint of cider on the sliver of a counter created from one of several serving hatches surrounding the sizeable central servery.
View ArticleCross Foxes, Erbistock
THERE’S just something about pubs on riverbanks that even ardent landlubbers like me find irresistible. Especially when they lie on such a majestic waterway as the glorious Dee.
View ArticleBrigands’ Inn, Mallwyd
A SEA of faces – mostly young – turn to see who’s making an entrance into their local through the driving rain this windswept Saturday night.
View ArticleThe Old Ship Inn, Trefriw
THE name of the Old Ship Inn, and the painting of a sailing vessel surfing the waves on the pub sign, can be very perplexing when you’re ensconced as far from the sea as this.
View ArticleGlasfryn, Mold
YOU’RE more likely at lunchtime to spot a member of the legal profession at Mold’s Glasfryn gastro-pub than when it was built at the turn of the 19th century.
View ArticleShip Inn, Llanbedrog
THE hordes hurtling towards Abersoch each summer with jet-skis in tow will be well acquainted with the Glyn y Weddw Arms in the centre of Llanbedrog, often taking a pit-stop in its well appointed...
View ArticleBlack Boy, Newtown
TO walk down Broad Street towards the slumbering Severn might not be quite the tippler’s dream it once was, but you’ll not go thirsty nonetheless.
View ArticleYe Olde Bulls Head Inn, Beaumaris
THE quartet of afternoon drinkers – male, of course – chortle their way through a rambling discourse that rides in huge waves from politics to football in mere seconds.
View ArticleLlindir Inn, Henllan
THERE’S just something about thatched pubs that draws the curious into their welcoming bosom.
View ArticleDovey Inn, Aberdyfi
WHILE other places have suffered since the kiss-me-kwik approach fell out of favour among today’s more discerning tourist, Aberdyfi’s star still shines bright.
View ArticleCottage Loaf, Llandudno
THE man in the Wales T-shirt doesn’t even raise his head from the Daily Post he’s perusing to see who’s intruding on his territory as I share his table totally uninvited.
View ArticleTal y Cafn Hotel
THE empty windows of the forlorn former post office and village shop rattle in frustration as a single train carriage rolls slowly into the station.
View ArticleTy Gwyn Hotel, Rowen
I WAS off for a quick, lunchtime drink in surely one of Conwy’s most picturesque rural villages. I say "quick", but a visit to the Ty Gwyn Hotel in sleepy Rowen on a Tuesday afternoon defies speed.
View ArticleOld Station Hotel, Llandudno Junction
THE ragamuffin boys and girls stare back insolently from the sepia-tinged, turn of the 19th century photographs on the wall.
View ArticleSun Inn, Llanengan
A SLIGHT chill sets in as the evening sun dips behind Mynydd Rhiw, sending a cooling zephyr through the trembling hedgerows.
View ArticleThe Old Stag, Llangernyw
THE old place creaks its welcome as I click the latch open and gingerly make my way in. A deafening hush rushes across to embrace me.
View ArticleBridge Inn, Chirk Bank
THERE was a time when the Bridge Inn used to boast on one side of its sign that it was the "last pub in England", and on the other it was the first.
View ArticleBryngwna Inn, Caeathro
THE essence of a thriving village pub is that it remains unspoilt, a social centre for its locals, but still able to offer a warm welcome to visitors.
View ArticleDyfi Forester Inn, Machynlleth
DYFI Junction used to be a name to conjure with. It’s the railway junction in the middle of nowhere, sitting smack amid a peat bog and its warbling and croaking wildlife, only approachable – other than...
View ArticleVale of Clwyd Real Ale Festival, July 19
GETTING to rural pubs on a summer Saturday evening by bus can be a nightmare – so when a group of North Wales landlords decided to launch a new real ale and cider festival, they knew where to start.
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