Pubs in Cwmbran

Gate

Caerleon Road, Cwmbran NP44 8DQ

In an extraordinary reversal of the trend which has seen many pubs converted into restaurants, the Gate, on the outskirts of Cwmbran, bucked the trend. It was once a traditional two-room village inn owned by the old Rhymney Brewery before being taken over by Whitbread and eventually being extended to become a dining pub as part of the Beefeater chain. It later became an up-market Asian restaurant before re-emerging as a village pub and restaurant. The interior retains its smart appearance from its former guise with low beams (tall folk look out!) in a pleasant bar that is broadly divided into two sections with a fireplace between them; sofa seating adds additional comfort while the log fire provides a warming focal point in cold weather. The spacious restaurant offers pleasant surroundings where diners may enjoy freshly prepared food selected from a menu of tempting dishes among which are a range of steaks the pub claims to be among the best in Wales, cooked on what is described as a "Jasper" grill. The pub sign in the form of a hanging gate states "This gate hangs high and hinders none, refresh and pay and travel on".

Redz

6 Oldbury Road, Cwmbran NP44 3JU

A snooker club with 17 full size tables with coaching sessions available for youngsters on Saturday mornings. Add in American pool and 2 high-tech virtual golf simulators, this is clearing for indoor sports lovers. Open 7 days a week with a fully licensed bar and catering for "stage nights" and birthdays, its popularity is understandable.

Croesyceiliog Cricket & Rugby Club

The Highway, Cwmbran NP44 2HJ

A smart sports club situated beside a well-maintained cricket ground (the rugby team plays at the Woodland Road centre). The bar is popular having games and sports TV. Here can also be found an honours board listing the past First XI and First XV captains alongside a board with the names of the life members. The "Villars Lounge" is a comfortable room displaying mainly local cricket memorabilia plus in a cabinet a strikingly coloured cockerel. Although this building was built in 1974, the cricket club is very much older having celebrated its centenary in 2005. Both bar and lounge give access to a terrace from which cricket can be watched on match days. Note the Double Dragon is a keg beer. Access is open to all apart from when there are members only events.

Cwmbran Working Men's Band Club & Institute

Oldbury Road, Cwmbran NP44 3JU

Large club comprising a concert/entertainment hall, public bar, sports bar and function room. The ubiquitous Sharp's Doom Bar is the house ale of choice and they sell loads of it!

Pontnewydd Royal British Legion Club

The Laurels, 53 Station Road, Cwmbran NP44 1NZ

This well-established club offers a traditional public bar with a pool table and a pleasant lounge bar with darts and several TVs dotted around the room. The lounge gives access to the garden at the rear of the premises. Visitors are expected to be signed in although this rule may be relaxed at quiet times.

Pontnewydd Working Mens Club

Chapel Street, Cwmbran NP44 1DL

Cwmbran Town AFC Sports & Social Club

5-7 Commercial Street, Cwmbran NP44 3LR

The hub of local Welsh League side Cwmbran Town, inaugural winners of the Welsh Premier League.

Greenhouse

Newport Road, Cwmbran NP44 3BP

Brains Brewery breathed new life into this roadside inn (a building thought to be 400+ years old) with extensive structural repairs and a tasteful refurbishment in late 2007. This saw the interior opened out to link the former public bar, that latterly included what was once a separate men only smoke room of 40+ years ago, with the lounge that was extended in December 2011. The roadside entrance of the bar has an old plaque above it depicting two tail-coated pipe-smoking gentlemen sat at a gate-legged table with a Welsh inscription 'Y Ty Gwyrdd, 1719, Cwrw da, A Seidir i chwi, Dewch y mewn, Chwi gewch y brofi' meaning 'The Green House, 1719, Good ale, And cider for you, Come in, You shall taste it'. This section is now a cosy drinking area with a brick fireplace as its focal point with exposed stonework and a combination of floorboards and floor tiles underfoot. It extends into the carpeted low beamed area that is the domain of diners. The menu offers a wide choice of dishes with occasional themed nights. The garden is a big attraction in fine weather. Look out for the spring bank holiday beer & cider festival. One of the three regular ales get replaced by another from the Brains stable from to time time. Cask Ale Club on Monday sees a big reduction in real ale prices. Quiz on on Sunday evenings. Llantarnam is a historic area with its old Cistercian abbey, now a convent, the old church of St Michael and All Angels next door to the pub where John Fielding (aka Williams) VC, hero of Rorke's Drift lies buried. Opposite the former post office bears a plaque commemorating the arrest in 1678 of St David Lewis, a local catholic priest who was executed a year later in Usk.

Be:Vito

89 Springvale Industrial Estate, Cwmbran NP44 5BH

Smart new Brewpub/Cafebar on an Industrial Estate! Coffee & cake also available. No facebook or twitter yet, but https://www.instagram.com/bevito_brewing/?hl=en