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WEST WALES - Llandovery, Red Lion National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors Part One 2 Market Square, Llandovery, SA20 0AA Tel: 01550 720813 Public Transport: Railway Station: Llandovery Listed Status: Grade II View this pub on a local map
This is a no-frills market-town time-warp pub without a bar counter. There are only 11 pubs left in the whole of the UK without a bar counter including the other Britain's Real Heritage Pubs the Cock, Broom, Bedfordshire; Kings Head, Bootle, Cumbria; Millbank Arms, Barningham, Co. Durham; Red Lion, Ampney St Peter, Gloucestershire; North Star, Steventon, Oxfordshire; Tuckers Grace, Faulkland, Somerset; Rose & Crown, Huish Episcope, Somerset; Coopers Tavern, Burton Upon Trent, Staffordshire; and Kings Head, Laxfield, Suffolk; Manor Arms, Rushall, West Midlands.
Tucked away in the corner of the market place with no inn sign to help you, this is the Red Lion, Llandovery. Please note that you will not find it open often either. The building itself is 18th-and 19th-century and part may be older still. It has a two-storey, symmetrical frontage to the Market Square and has the attractive feature of a pentice roof supported on iron columns running the whole length of the building and sheltering the ground floor. The front door leads to a red quarry-tiled passage and, just past the inner doors, the bar is a small room on the right with a small alcove at the front called 'the lounge' which is filled with bric-a-brac.
The public bar is a simple affair with dado panelling and movable tables and seats and a fireplace. One bench has a high back and there is no counter. There is a small hatch and a door leading to the cellar servery at the rear of the bar room and you can see a stillage with a few casks of beer sitting on it. Find a seat around the large square table and landlord John Rees (who is likely to be sitting amongst you) will take your order from a limited range of drinks. Please note the wit of John Rees is not for the faint hearted! The pub has been in his family since 1871 and very little has changed in that time. There was another public room - the smoke room - which is on the left of the passage and has a '1' on the door but it is no longer in use and is used for storage. Only open Fri. from 5.30 to 10.30; Sat. from 12 to 2 and 7 to 11.
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