Rhyddings at Swansea, Brynmill, Swansea

Hidden away in the backstreets of the student suburb of Brynmill, this is a traditional two bar pub, easily reached from Singleton Park and the university. The public bar is at the front and has bare floorboards and a very long chain of banquettes and pews running around the external wall. At one end of the room there is a pool table and a punchbag arcade machine underneath a huge Allsopp Brewery mirror. On the opposite side of the room there is a famously cramped darts area, constrained by an isolated chimney stack in a central position close to the oche with a working fireplace inside. Large windows on three sides make this a bright, airy space during the day. The bare stone walls have a few photos on them here and there, but otherwise the decor is fairly limited. A connecting porch and rear passageway lead to the lounge which boasts more banquette and standard seating broken up by some stained glass partitioning screens. The room is split level and has several TV screens, all of which were turned off during my recent visit in favour of loud pop music, which was presumably on to entertain the landlady, as I was the only customer. There were two hand pumps in action, but I forgot to note what they were pulling. I’m fairly sure one was Hobgoblin and that the other was from Theakstons, but I’m not sure. All I do know is that neither of them were Brains’ beers and that whatever I ended up with was in good shape. I practically lived in here during my second year at university and have fond memories of long, late-night lock-ins. The place seems to have changed little (apart from the ridiculous addition to the pub’s name) and I’m sure if I was a student living near-by I’d be happy to make this my local. Not necessarily worth making the effort to find, but not a bad one to stumble across.

I regularly visit this pub due to its location near the University and student houses. This pub often has 4 different guest ales as well as other beers, and the prices are average for the area. The staff are always friendly and so are the owners. The food isn't the best of quality, but it does the job, and is served until half past eight (just make sure you correctly read the clock behind the bar). There are often quiz nights during the week and there is a jukebox, which over the past few weeks, someone always puts on a few Pink Floyd tracks... after all, it is a legendary band! The outside seating area is small, but space is limited in Brynmill, anyway. It does the job on a nice day. Though during cold weather, it can get cold inside near the door, as it seems that some smokers are born in barns and leave the doors wide open. During university term times, it can get quite busy, especially during the 6 Nations and quiz nights. Though the place can be really quiet when nothing is going on, which is a shame, really. This pub has a lot of potential.