London Welsh Centre, Bloomsbury, WC1

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The London Welsh Centre is a charitable organisation that offers a meeting place in the city for Welsh expats and looks to promote Welsh culture and language across the city. This mighty fine building was constructed especially for the organisation upon the recommendation of David Lloyd George and was formally opened by his wife Margaret in November 1930. Today, the centre is used by a range of Welsh societies and its bar is open to the general public Tuesday - Thursday evenings. It’s a mighty fine building that merits a bit of external appreciation before you enter - don’t be deterred by the locked door, as a press of the buzzer should see you let in. The bar occupies the whole of the first floor, in what was originally designed as a billiards room and became a services club for Welsh and Canadian soldiers passing through London during WWII. in fact, the bar was only installed in 1971, with the first pints poured by comedian and singer Harry Seacombe. The room today has plush patterned carpet, low wall panels with white uppers, plain front windows and nice leaded rear windows, and a bar and kitchen down the last two-thirds of the tear wall. The room’s main focal point is undoubtedly its remarkable, high gabled ceiling which my words can hardly do justice to - suffice to say it’s all very grand. There are plush velvet-effect banquettes along the front wall and the remaining section of the rear wall, supported by some rather plush chairs. To the left, the end wall acts as a huge screen which Welsh rugby internationals are screened on (the only time the bar is open at weekends, albeit matches are ticketed). The bar and kitchen were built to look like a cabin, with a beamed ceiling/roof that roughly mirrors the room’s actual ceiling, smart panels on the counter front and a bar back that includes various Welsh heraldic shields. To the right, there is a smaller TV screen, not in use on this visit as 70’s rock tunes were playing instead, plus a chalk drawn map of Wales on the wall next to the bar.
The bar has three handpulls, but they were sadly all out of action, as were three of the five keg taps, due to supply issues. This left a choice of Brains Lager and Big Hug What The Helles, both on keg dispense, from which I chose the latter, which turned out to be a very smooth drinking example of the style. Cask ale is normally available and all beers are unsurprisingly from Wales. The barmaid wass super friendly and apologised profusely for the lack of choice on the bar before going on to relate much of the history of the centre and chat about various other pubs in the local area. Only a small crowd were in on my Wednesday evening visit, but they also seemed very friendly and one of them invited me to join them in the theatre downstairs, where they would be rehearsing as part of their male voice choir.
This might not really be a pub as such, but it certainly ticks a few of the necessary boxes for a good ‘pub’ visit, thanks to incredibly friendly service, the prospect of some interesting beer and of course, the spectacular building. I really enjoyed myself here and could well imagine it would be a great place to come and watch some rugby or take Welsh friends visiting the city. I might never make it back here, but this was a memorable visit nonetheless.

On 15^th February 2022 - rating: 6
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