ReviewInside the city walls, on a prominent street corner in the centre of Conwy, is The Albion Ale House, a pub that proudly displays a prominent banner proclaiming it as “CAMRA North Wales Pub of the Year 2015”
Externally the pub still retains some evidence of former Ansells ownership with the old trademark squirrel logo and several branded Ansells lamps still in evidence. The pub sign features an old sailing ship and merely refers to the pub as “The Albion”, although I gather that the pub’s official name is now The Albion Ale House – a name it took on when the pub reopened in February 2012, following an 18 month or so period of closure.
The pub is jointly owned and run by a consortium of 4 local Welsh breweries – Great Orme, Purple Moose, Bragdy Conwy and Bragdy Nant. Staff wear black T shirts with these names listed on the back to remind us of this.
The pub features in CAMRA’s National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors for its unspoilt 1920’s interior which was lovingly restored and enhanced as far as possible by the new partners. It is said to be the best example of an inter war pub in Wales
There’s 3 separate rooms with the Lounge (formerly the Smoke Room) on the left as you go in being visually the most impressive. Here we see a fine large brick surrounded fireplace in a wide inglenook straddling almost the entire length of one wall with several small circular Art Nouveau stained leaded windows here. There’s an unusual alcove by the door with a double length seat. A number of old framed black and white photos and fixed seating around the wall with old bell pushes still in situ add to the fine traditional feel of this room. Heavy looking dark ceiling beams complete the picture here. There’s a separate entrance to this room direct from the street corner which features an Art Deco style curved top and some etched glass.
The bar servery is in the room on the right, which is effectively the public bar, seemingly being the favoured room of the regulars and features the original counter and a fine original mirrored bar back which prominently incorporates in the centre an old round clock. A good number of framed CAMRA award certificates are on display here, as is, high up on a shelf behind the bar, an old miniature Watneys Red Barrel
Behind this room, accessed via a corridor with green tiled walls and a quarry tiled floor, is the Snug, a room in similar style, with old bell pushes and fixed seating and a small serving hatch in the wall allowing service direct from the main bar. In this room we see a display of framed match books and a picture of a ship – Dryden ( Lamport and Holt Shipping Line ) – whose bell, we are told, is behind the bar in the Public bar and is still rung at closing time. A few photos of Conwy lifeboat crew also feature here.
There’s a small outside covered patio at the rear.
I think that this is probably the first pub where I can ever recollect seeing a substantial separate menu of dog food displayed on the tables – and I’m not talking about free dog biscuits and bowls of water here. A colourful “Great British Pub Dog Food” menu features such delights as Lamb and Rice Kibble, or Salmon and Potato which, for a standard 250g portion, will set dog owners back the princely sum of £ 2.99p. And all this, somewhat unusually in a pub, not on the South Downs or in The Lake District, where one might expect a good number of dog walkers, but inside the old town walls in the picturesque tourist destination town of Conwy. Not being a doggy person, I was not exactly disappointed that no dogs were present during the course of my visits
Pleasingly, us mere mortal humans are also catered for, food wise, with a range of cold snacks including pork pies, pasties, pickled eggs, nuts, crisps, olives etc being on offer. Potato crisps using 100% Welsh potatoes are supplied by (and I kid you not) a firm called Jones O Gymru.
There’s no TV or fruit machines here, just good beer, cheer and conversation. Notably, and pleasingly, on both of my visits, a small group of overseas visitors had specifically sought this pub out for its beer range and were suitably impressed.
There’s 10 pumps, of which 2 are used for Welsh ciders. A range of real ales are offered, featuring prominently, but not exclusively, those of the 4 brewing partners and other Welsh breweries. On my visits on 2 consecutive days, breweries featured included Great Orme, Bragdy Conwy, Tiny Rebel and Waen amongst others. Beers on at any particular time was listed on a blackboard in the corridor with gravities and prices listed, along with details of what’s coming soon. Whilst there’s no beer taste or style details given, a small jam pot by each pump clip shows you the colour of the beer and the enthusiastic and willing staff will gladly give you a taster on request. Prices varied between £ 3.10p and £ 3.30p depending on gravity.
The CAMRA Good Beer Guide 2016 sticker is prominently displayed on the bar counter. It goes without saying that beer quality was top notch. If I have one negative, it is that there appears to be a disproportionate emphasis on higher gravity beers with, on my second visit, 4 of the 8 beers having gravities of over 5% (this later increased to 5 out of 8) and the weakest beer being 4.2%. A selection of foreign and craft beers are also available.
This is definitely a destination pub when anywhere near the vicinity – I really hope to get here again sometime
