The Sir Samuel Romilly (JD Wetherspoon), Barry

Large Spoons in an imposing building. Usual JDW stylings with the exception being a very attractive bar area featuring some large (original?) cast iron fittings, which may have been part of the old market hall. Pretty dark in most of the inside, bring a torch. An utter snooze on the ale front with just two national stagers (I suppose COVID is the excuse here) so I decided to have another one off Timbo’s world lout menu (Singha – not one I’d have again). Ordered food and all was in order. Given that Barry’s craft bar doesn’t open Tuesdays (even in summer!) and the supposedly open micropub was resolutely shut at 9.30, this one is a bit of a default in a town hardly blessed with quality.

Nothing unusual about the building when viewed from the main street, but the side view tells a slightly different story and the is quite an odd layout inside. The bar and main seating area at the back is housed in the former market hall, but it's rather harder to work out what the front bits were previously used for (although one part was apparently a bank). Usual mix of furniture, but not particularly well lit. Reasonable selection of real ales from the two banks of five handpumps, but being too early in the day to try the Gower Power I went (hesitantly) for My Darlin' Lemontine from Glamorgan Brewing (which thankfully turned out not to be overly lemony flavoured, £2.49).

The building that this one is in has apparently had various uses including a theatre and a bank. If you enter from the main road, after climbing a short staircase there is an attractive mosaic tiled area. The side street entrance only has a few steps. Inside it's a large square room with the bar on one side and a fair amount of dark wood used. The fixtures and fittings are fairly standard. The bar has two sets of five hand pumps which had two available soon, two ciders, the two GK beers, Rhymney King's Ale, Glamorgan Thunderbird & Jemima's Pitchfork and Brain's Bread Of Heaven. I went for the Rhymney King's Ale (£2.49) which was in good nick. I though this was one of the better Spoons in South Wales but Barry is more populated and affluent than the old industrial valley towns.