The Three Eagles, Llangollen

In the centre of Llangollen is The Wynnstay Arms, a 17th century former coaching inn. A small plaque on the wall by the original coaching inn entrance tells us that it was known as The Eagles Inn until the mid 19th century. Rather off puttingly, an inappropriately large banner draped across part of the frontage tells us that Sky Sports are televised here nowadays. From the street a few steps, which formed a mounting block for horse riders in olden times, lead into a traditional multi roomed interior. Immediately on the left of the central entrance is a basic games room with a snooker table and a seriously large flat screen TV, which really does dominate the room when it’s on. The walls are decorated with some attractive photos of the famous aqueduct nearby and Llangollen in winter. There’s no bar counter in this room, service being through a small hatch from the small public bar across the passageway. This small public bar is a traditionally furnished simple room with fixed original padded seating around the edge of the room opposite the bar servery. On the wall is an old framed invoice dating back to the days when the establishment was The Eagles Inn. This public bar is the only room with a bar counter. Straight in front of us down the passageway is the larger main seating area. This is a comfortable and attractive, traditionally furnished area featuring an impreesive brick fireplace with built in seats, a black beamed ceiling, walls decorated with large copper plates and traditional spindle backed chairs and padded seats. On the right of this area is a small snug room with several large wooden settles and cushions and walls decorated with some horse riding equipment – stirrups, harnesses etc. Customers in these areas must walk through the narrow entranceway into the public bar to be served or, alternatively, use the hatch in the main passageway. The pub features in the Welsh Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors. Outside, where the horses would have been once stabled, is a large seating area with the usual picnic style tables and parasols, together with the outside gents toilets ( the ladies are inside ). Several former outbuildings here have been converted into bunk house accommodation – popular apparently with weekend stag parties. On my recent September evening visit, a Mexican evening with cocktails, music and Mexican cuisine was being advertised for the next evening. A Spanish evening had been held the previous month. The three handpumps are situated in the public bar and Doom Bar, Black Sheep and Everards Sunchaser were advertised, but with only the first two actually being on. I’ve never detected much real interest or commitment towards real ale from the management, but a CAMRA discount of 20p and 10p per pint and half pint respectively is offered. Unusually, this is limited to the first pint only. It’s a pleasant enough pub, with the adjoining different areas designed to cater for most tastes, but the beer range is invariably disappointingly.

A traditional 17th Century coaching inn in the old centre of Llangollen. The well worn railed steps at the entrance shows the passage of millions of customers over the centuries. Five small rooms await from the cramped entrance of the main bar to the small restaurant at the back. This old beamed pub has been carefully refurbished to bring it back to its original quality. Three Real Ales are served and meals are availale all day.