White Swan Inn
Address: Stry-yr-ysgol, Llanon, SY23 5HY. Tel: 01974 202721
[gmap] Last APG visit: Never!
A pub we'd never have discovered, being off the main road, and I have Anon on the
Central's page to thank. Up a short hill, this doesn't look exactly like prime pub territory!
There's a clip
here of Llanon through stills, White Swan comes in at 00:53.Some pics below are screen grabs from that.
The pub is a multi-roomed affair. A small public bar greets you on arrival, seemingly unaltered since 1967 - love the floor-to-and-including-ceiling wood panelling! There was telly in here and all the customers were watching the footy. A friendly barman greeted us (we were expecting a few issues in Llanon so this was a nice surprise). No real ale so I plumped for a Brains Dark on keg - which was truly vile. It takes something special to serve a keg beer badly but somehow they managed it. I decided to grin and bear it...
There's a games room to the rear, which has a pool table, dart board and projector.
And to the side of that is a funny little room (a lounge bar I suppose) that clearly was the extremity of the pub many years ago until an extension was added. So you get the joy of a weird internal window looking out into a corridor (which in turn leads to a large function room at the rear and the toilets). There's plenty of nik-naks in here with a nautical theme and we settled in here as it was quite characterful and cosy. Plus I could scribble my notes in peace.
Note the impressive collection glassware, most of which is for stuff that rarely gets drunk - port, brandy, sherry etc. APG Agent Duck commented that it reminded him of cross-channel ferry bars from the 80's. Note the yard of ale - try that with the Brains Dark we were served for an experience you won't forget in a hurry.
Below is a pic of somewhere called the Commercial Inn which was in the lounge bar - the White Swan in a previous life I assume as it certainly sits on a sloping road. Should have asked about the picture at the bar but forgot.
Oddly we encountered two Hearts fans in the pub, confusingly watching the play off final and I mistook them for West Ham fans. Which was lucky as I loudly expressed disappointment at the Hammers successful promotion at the expense of the Tangerines.
Anyway, whilst the beer was abysmal, the place had a bit of character. Assuming you've got an hour in Llanon, you can do the two pubs here very easily.
