Bank of Conwy, Conwy

This is a fine building, and makes an impressive pub. They advertise 250 additional seats in the vault, but there was no need at 6pm on a Thursday in March, as the maximum drinker count in the time it took me to drink my pint of Tatton Best Bitter (NBSS 3.5, £3.90) was four. Maybe it gets busier later, in which case, lucky me for being able to drink my beer in comparative peace.

You can probably guess what this pub used to be in its previous life. These days it is a decent bar/restaurant veering more towards craft beers than real ales, but with a good selection of both. It was fairly popular on my weekday afternoon visit, with more people coming and going. One customer seemed disappointing after enquiring whether it was a Wetherspoon's or not and being told no. Luckily the town does not possess one. The 3 real ales were 360° Fastback, Mobberley Brewhouse Concept #39 & Big Hand Solaris. A 4th handpull had Gwynt y Ddraig Black Dragon. Convenient for the Castle and the station, you might as well visit here if you're here for the nearby Albion.

An impressive conversion of an old bank building containing expressive modern features (see the massive £50 note wall decal as an example). Two rooms via a wood and glass partition. Keep an eye out for the fantastic light fittings. Four pumps, with Tiny Rebel Cwtch (NBSS 4.5) Oakham Onferno, Cross Bay IPA and an Elderflower beer from Prestatyn as well as a number of craft keg lines. A great line-up and an almost perfect pint for my troubles delivered by a young and well-drilled member of staff. Another good reason to do a trip to Conwy that isn’t just for the castle.

No prizes for guessing what this building originally was as it's also very obvious from both the exterior and interior of this listed building. I turned up here early on a Friday evening to find it very busy with mostly braying and guffawing younger folk. It's not that large a building and 25 or so years ago might have made a nice little JDW but they would never go for such a small venue today. It's an L shaped room that also includes a downstairs area that was presumably the bank vaults. The gents toilets are halfway down to this area and are woefully small. I managed to note the four cask ales but not much else. they were Heavy Industry 77 & Freak Chick, Cwrw Ial Apache Line and Blackjack New Deck. I went for the Freak Chick (£3.40) which was in good nick. I got the impression that this place would be much more enjoyable on a weekday afternoon and would gladly return to see if it is. It's GBG 2018 listed.