If you’re getting bored of reports from isolated village pubs, hankering for photos of tat shops and misspelt advertising in quirky towns, your wait will soon be over.
But for now, a few more rural Gwent gems.
That OS extract captures the variety of Wales perfectly. Posh Abergavenny with its pashmina shops, scruffy Blaenavon with its World Heritage mining sites, and the impenetrable network of villages either side of the river Usk.
Folk rave endlessly about Devon and Greater Coalville, but there’s not much better than the footpaths between Blaenavon and the Goose and Cuckoo in Upper Llanover.
You can’t miss it; the high tech signage makes sure of that.
This is the view from the garden.
But the views from the front door would be even better on a fine day.
No-one but me and the owners, sitting at a table in conversation but clearly pleased of the visit, and delighted the Beer Guide had brought me there.
The young man pulled the Rhymney through, I approved, and went “Mmmm”. I didn’t tell them I scored it 3.5.
I had a good chat with the Landlady and her son (I guess), so I didn’t take many photos in what felt more like her home than a pub. In fact my only note says;
“Something else” which I guess isn’t a Sex Pistols reference.
Trade is a bit unpredictable and weather dependent but clearly geared up to cope with folk dropping in at all hours. Top website, too.
A must visit, I’d say. Walk there if you can.
And for our fans of filtered images, here’s some empty beer barrels;
retiredmartin 
That Rhymney Brewery sign must be from before it was taken over by Whitbread in 1966. It’s of a similar shape to those I’ve known outside Robinsons pubs since I were a lad.
“What felt more like her home than a pub” is what I think of as a homely pub, not that I often find them nowadays.
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I think you mean fan.
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Oh you meanie. I’m going to start photoshopping in pictures of Jacob Rees Mogg next.
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The Moggster photoshopped would definitely have to be in sepia …
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Love the first photo but I suspect you are still doing the other thing just to annoy me now !
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Ok, fun’s over.
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Don’t stop on my account -as they say, I can just “scroll on ” & ignore -you have the technology to create these clever effects -whatever makes you happy !
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Isn’t “Something Else” Eddie Cochran?
That logo was known as the Rhymney hobby horse.
Goose & Cuckoo sounds like a modern affectation, but according to WhatPub it dates back to the 1880s.
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The thing is , is WhatPub to be trusted ?According to the pubs time line on their website, it changed name from The New Inn to The Goose & Coockoo in 1947.
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Cuckoo even.
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Until today I hadn’t heard the Sex Pistols’s version .Pretty good karaoke.
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Sid’s version is definitive mate.
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I grew up with the Pistols version, but then I grew up with Sid’s version of My Way.
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You may be right.
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No mirrors please for the Moggster’s photo, although I’ll gladly supply the silver bullets!
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Isn’t it great when you can leave a political comment on someone’s beer blog and it’s not removed by the blogger because he doesn’t agree with the sentiment ….
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I don’t actually read these comments, I have a Russian bot (£18 from Amazon) which auto-generates these witty comments, ensuring this is the only blog where you’ll always get a personalised and pointless response.
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“That OS extract captures the variety of Wales perfectly. ”
Look, I’m being nice! No mention of (either) too many or the lack of vowels.
(and that Blorenge rings a bell)
“This is the view from the garden.”
The fields are still showing signs of the hot dry summer I see. 😦
“Rare cloud cover”
(slow golf clap)
“No-one but me and the owners, sitting at a table in conversation but clearly pleased of the visit, and delighted the Beer Guide had brought me there.”
For some reason that makes me smile.
“A must visit, I’d say. Walk there if you can.”
Agreed… squared. 🙂
Cheers
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Some pubs just have the look of a classic…and this is one. Sid’s version is better than Eddie Cochran’s although Eddie’s shaking all over is bizarrely better than The Who’s version…..
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