Pink Geranium Village Hotel, Swansea

It's been a fair number of years since I was last in Pontardawe. I returned yesterday to visit a couple of pubs that have appeared in the Good Beer Guide since my last trip. The Pink Geranium appeared in the 2011 Good Beer Guide. Cask ale has disappeared since. So, I appear to have missed its zenith. The keg selection yesterday was Carling, Carling Black Fruits, Stella Artois, Thatcher's Haze, Madri, Heineken, Guinness, Coors & Worthington's. Shots appear to be extremely popular here with multiple offers listed on blackboards. A strange feature was a cabinet of sweets and chocolate on the bar, with more bags of Skittles hanging next to the spirits. Do they just have a sweet tooth here or are they somehow mixing the sweets with spirits? The pub could be best described as rough. Locals arrive and start shouting immediately to announce their arrival. It's certainly quite boisterous. The gents toilets had a squelching noise underfoot. Even the pub dog had to bark loudly to make him/herself heard in an effort to get out of the madness and into the private quarters. I don't think I've ever seen anything so small make so much racket. There are a couple of rooms. The one on the left stretches back quite a bit to an outdoor area. A live act was preparing with a few pints to loosen the vocal chords. Luckily we didn't stay long enough to hear Laura perform. She was giving the pub dog a run for its money as we went past the pub again later. The bar is on the right-hand side as you enter. It had a couple of TVs - one was off and the other was showing golf without sound. The volume would have to be switched up pretty loud for anybody to hear anything in here. The Pink Geranium looks quite respectable from the outside but it gets very boisterous inside. I'm not saying I dislike this pub. It's all about horses for courses with pub choice. I'm not necessarily the right horse for this course, but it clearly appeals to a certain type of local drinker, especially if you're out for a lively venue and an excess of alcohol. In fact, it is the variety in UK pubs that makes them all so fascinating to visit.

Quite a good selection of beers, and reasonably priced. The inside is cosy, but can get crowded during live music nights. There is a large room at the back for bands, and a smoking area 'under canopy', which is like a seperate room for smoking...