The Welsh village pubs in the Clwydian range were some of my favourites when our boys were young. Family friendly, low pashmina count, menus in English, a small hill to walk off the pudding, and traditional Welsh pub games like Splat the Rat (vegan alternatives available).
The Kinmel Arms in Llandyrnog (or possibly Waen) looked set to continue that trend, and had large plant pots which could come in useful later.
It’s an unfussy sort of place, the type of family pub you get in De Beauvoir Town except there it’s a bit artificially unfussy.
Pool table rendered unusable by toddlers toys, toddler on the charge round the pub. Don’t complain, you were young once (perhaps not Old Mudgie to be fair).
I hoped I wouldn’t have to wait too long while the family at the bar decided between pheasant casserole and leg of lamb, but the portents weren’t good.
The Old Boy(o) at the bar would have won my best dressed customer award if I’d had one, though his rendition of traditional carols left something to be desired.
Ooh, look. First Pedi, now the Burton.
Great handpumps too, another thing you get round here as well as the BBBs.
The printed lunch menu was looking a little crumpled as Gareth or Emily had been attempting to eat it as their parents dithered over pate. In the end they all had something different, but as they probably put a £100 more than me in the till I can’t knock them.
The Burton was rich and foamy, perhaps a bit too foamy (NBSS 3). But, as often, the ash tray is the star here.
retiredmartin 
Always great when you weave the pub articles into the storyline. That sweater can’t hold a candle to the black and red stripped one!
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Looks like Rick Wakeman from the back 🤔
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Rick’s been off the beer for years!
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Curvature of the spine is one of the ailments I suffer from but thankfully I’ve not got it as bad as “The Old Boy(o) at the bar”. I didn’t know Rick Wakeman had got a sweater like that.
Did you find the old ashtray and old Marston’s pumpclip somewhat reassuring ?
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Yes, there’s hope for mankind.
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It could be Catweasle in Rick Wakemans coat!
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A lot of closed pubs in that part of the world, and ones that no longer open at lunchtime, so good to see one that does. Plus, according to WhatPub, it maintains the traditional afternoon closure.
Also good to see the Burton Bitter pumpclip – none of this Saddle Tank nonsense!
I officially became a Boring Old F**t in 1977 before I could even legally drink.
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Anyone miss Greenalls? Purveyors of tank beer to the masses.
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Only caught it in a few Warrington pubs in mid 90s. Uninspiring.
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Yes, it was the beer I grew up on, and most of their pubs in North Cheshire had real ale, including many in Chester. Never in the Premier League of brewers, but a very decent pint when well-kept. By the mid 1990s it was being brewed by Tetley’s, first at Warrington, then at Leeds.
Not seen the bitter for ages, but I think the mild lingers on as a keg beer.
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No, nor Wilson’s or Webster’s for that matter Paul.
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I’ll spell my own u/n right one day
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Oh, you spoil us Eut.
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Don’t mention it! 😀
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Paul,
No I don’t miss Greenalls but I do miss the tasty beers from their Wem Brewery subsidiary.
Much Greenalls was tank – not unusual in the Midlands and North then – but their cask beer was still from the wood when they opened the Staffordshire Bull not far from me in 1978.
I heard from one much more local to Warrington that me that Greenalls beers were actually very good after conditioning in the pub cellar for at least a week but that this very rarely happened.
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Same as Bass or Landlord or Doom Bar, then.
I don’t get the acclaim for Landlord. I bet it would have been good in Slubbers but routinely dull (and expensive) as a guest beer.
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Martin,
Yes, indeed, especially for Draught Bass.
And yet there were some beers, such as M&B Springfield Bitter, where it was the fresher the better.
I don’t know the science behind it all.
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It’s magic.
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What are Marston’s playing at with these new fangled pump clips? What was wrong with the saddle tank 😄
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I miss Saddle Tank. Tempted to join those CAMRAs and campaign to get it back.
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