A Tenby Whitsun Wobble

 A Tenby Whitsun Wobble

Image from Visit Pembrokeshire.com 

Could Tenby be the perfect seaside resort? (its not in Yorkshire so my heart still says Whitby) but to put forwards its case:

3 stunning beaches of lovely golden sands

A plethora of independent shops, cafes and restaurants – not a Golden Arch or Chicken Colonel in sight

A castle (quite a small one) with a fantastic view, picturesque harbour, 2 islands – one you can visit on foot (St Catherines) and one by a short boat trip (Caldey) 

Only one small amusement arcade – tucked away in the middle of town 

Rail link and some very nice medieval walls 

Lots of little lanes, passages and a real cornucopia of buildings from the 15th Century Tudor Merchant’s house down near the harbour to the recently constructed South Beach Waters Edge complex with its very own shack where you can buy a pint to sup on the beach (Ok they only offer Phrava or Aspalls)  

Three iconic lifeboat houses – one that was on Grand Designs (the original slightly less iconic is tucked away on Castle Beach under the castle) 

Lots of pubs of all shapes and sizes – CAMRA’s What Pub list 27 pubs in just the town alone, with more in the local villages 

And to top it all, two extremely good town based breweries – both with must visit taps (plural in both cases a tap at the brewery and one in town as well)

Oh and a beer named after a friendly walrus that made the lifeboat slip way its home for a while in the summer of 2021

Lets start with the breweries a little hard to put one above the other – Tenby Brew Co only offer keg no

cask – but a nice range of mainly hazy IPA’s – my favourite was their Son of a Beach – tropical Pale 4.2% very easy drinking – Lil’ Chu a Rye based Table beer 2.8% was good, as was Luminary a 5.4% East Coast Pale. Their Brewery is to the South of the town with its weekend Tap bar and with a couple ore taps inn the area. 

Tenby Harbwr Brewery  seem to focus more on Cask and small pack and I do like their artwork – minor issue that the cask pints soon lost their head – maybe I'm being too northern – pick of their range was Caldey Lollipop – but was only available in bottles when I was down – they did say they rotate the cask  brews they do – quite a interesting range for a smallish brewer – bitter, amber, red ale, lager Pales and a stout – also love the names they give their beers and the explanation on the packs etc – quite a focus on South Wales specialities -  sea and rugby

Loved a picture of former French Rugby Beefcake - Sébastien Chabal on their bottle/pump clips  of Sea Bass – a 3.9% French Pale Ale. 

So I'm going to sit on the fence and say the are both breweries are well worth checking out 

Tenby Brewing Co are based on the Salterns Industrial park just behind the stunning South Beach and

very near the railway station and one of Tenby’s main car parks – they started brewing in 2015 – which must have been a good year for beer in Tenby as Harbwr started the same year – moving to their present site in 2018. Their website gives a much better overview than I could so …….

We've been brewing full flavoured Independent beers since 2015 here in Tenby, on the south west tip of Wales. 

We produce a wide range of styles from our hoppy flagship session Pale ale 'Son of a Beach' to limited edition collaboration brews in all sorts of styles from Imperial Stouts to fruity sours.

Alongside the brewery on the Salterns (typical modern industrial unit with a brewery in side like Roosters, Buxton, Thornbridge et al) is the Tap Yard – Tap room and shop – shop seems to be open normal shoppy hours though the tap room only open at weekend and on Friday nights in the  summer months. A fairly typical industrial tap room – you know the shabby chic scene lots of scaffold poles, barrels for seats around 7 taps on offer plus cans and merch (The merch is also available at all the other taps – definitely recommend the very snazzy none plastic sun glasses – made out of sea grass apparently – everybody wants my pair) 

The Brewery also runs two other Taps – one in Tenby the Tap N Tan (which handily was two doors down from our holiday apartment – planning!) and HwB Tap and food hall in nearby Nartbeth (20 mins by train or 30 mins by car). The Tap N Tan in town is a great venue tucked away off Upper Frog Street in a courtyard with two or three other eating/drinking venues- full description lower down. 

The Hwb at Narthbeth is another great venue and well worth a visit, based in a former school a real pleasure dome of local art work, street food and cracking beers – there are four permanent food vendors (Burger, Thai, Taccos and loaded fries at the moment) with regular pp ups as well – canteen style seating and looks to be open every day 10m till 11pm. 

Tenby HARBWR Brewery  (Harbour- I note there is another Harbour Brewery down in Bodmin so in Tenby Harbwr/Harbour is used on signage and labels etc) is a Craft Brewery and Taproom, brewing a range of core cask ales just above the historic and very picturesque Tenby Harbour.

Established in 2015, HARBWR Brewery is situated in a refurbished premises in Sergeants Lane. Their website evocatively states;  The brewery is steeped in history, and is designed to portray the rich heritage of Tenby as a seaside town. Conversely, HARBWR Brewery’s modern brews bring guests right back to the present.” They also claim to be Tenby Harbour’s first-ever brewery – though my research suggest that both Harbwr and Tenby Brewing Co were set up in 2015.

The Harbwr Brewery Bar

They have done amazing things with the brewery building, shop/café and court yard style seating especially when you look at what state the building was in in 2019 – it now is home to a a state-of-the-art 5-barrel brewery, which you can have a good look at behind the takeaway bar and windows around the 18th Century warehouse – if the weather is nice sitting in the lane drinking beer made literally yards away is a pretty awesome experience- note that the brewery bar shuts early in the evening and you will need to move upstairs to the Buccaneer or the Hope and Anchor a couple of doors down.

All of HARBWR’s ales can currently be purchased within the brewery itself, in its sister pubs, The Buccaneer, The Hope & Anchor, HARBWR Bar & Kitchen in nearby Saundersfoot (didn’t get to visit here) – see below for a report on the Hope and Anchor 

Best Pub in Tenby 

Tenby Harbour Brewery Tap & Kitchen (formerly Buccaneer Inn)

Pembrokeshire CAMRA Pub of the Year 2018. The Buccaneer/Tap 7 Kitchen is onSt Julian Street which links the town square to the harbour. Large indoor bar is very cosy with beams, stove and Tenby memorabilia adorning the walls. A huge beer garden and covered area at the back has been put over Covid times there is loads of seating is to the rear with heating for those chilly evenings - including little sheds 

The Buccaneer acts as the main tap  the brewery tap for the Brewery down stars and all the pumsp ( and there area few are Tenby beers - no other cask offer when I was there for the week.

There is/was a smaller Tap Room in between the back of this pub and a set of stairs that takes you down to the Brewery Lane – though open this appeared to be being used for pre-booked parties and gatherings and we didn’t get in there all week.  A great place to visit - great beer, good food really good young staff - when ever we went day or lat night was the same.

Closely followed by the Tap n Tan – as mentioned above this is the Tenby Brewing Co tap in the town and open most of the week apart from Mondays when I was down – they do also tend to shut a bit earlier than advertised so get there before 9pmish to be sure of a drink – they also suggest that when its silly season, get there by 4:30 if you want to eat as they don’t reserve tables. Originally called the Sand bar and you may still see this name in some of the review sites the Tap n tan offers a variety of seating outdoors in the courtyard, tall communal tables or the more regular pubs style tables – whilst tucked away a bit down a court yards its next door to the very yellow Coach and Horses Pub (see below for description) so if you look up Frog street you will work out where you need to be – there is a burger (Indie Burger) and a tapas place (Bar 12) in the first part of the court yard then Tap N tan take sup the re st with a vacant unit in between – there is also a popular Caribbean restaurant next door and the De Vallance Pavilion which hosts a range of shows, gigs etc

At least 6 Tenby beers are normally available (all taps in the wall no cask)  with a good handful of other localish beers and a solid range Ipas of all shades, table beers sours ad stouts – I put the beer board

Tasting paddles in the Tap n Tan 

below to give you an idea – the offer changes quite a lot – I eve managed to get the brother in law (a solid Thatchers/Strongbow man to try Strawberry Sour from Farm Yard Brew Co that was on the first couple of times we visited. 

Their current food partner is Feast who specialises in Live fire BBQ – their counter is to the right of the bar and got to say though we just drank the food looked mighty fine – but again very popular with short serving hours.

Hope and Anchor – just a couple of doors down from the Harbour Brewery Pub – again a split inside and smaller outdoor seating area – the outside bit sits right next to the road down to the harbour so a great place to watch the world go by -for Whit week this was mainly reserved for dining (at busy times and especially 5 till 7pm most tables in most pubs were reserved for dining 

I tweeted during the week, a slight frustration that some of the nice looking pubs/venues in Tenby were a little blighted by the ubiquitous Molson Coors range on every bar Sharps Atlantic, Madri, Carling, Phrava and Aspalls – a couple of saviours if you fancied something not brewed in Tenby(or a drink with a very continental name but brewed in Burton/Tadcaster like the new beer that’s everywhere Madri Madrid Exceptional with a taste of the Trent! – were a pint of Brains SA Gold in the Crown and Tribute in the Tenby House Hotel.

Saved- a creamy pint of Brains SA Gold in the Crown 

 

And Tribute in the Tenby House Hotel 

The Crown – a very solid beer only Brains (Marstons) Pub tucked away a bit down near the Imperial Hotel and bottom Gate of the town walls – Rev James and SA Gold were the cask offer – with Barry Island IPA on draft which I am a bit partial to – the Gold was creamy and lovely and served like ‘oop North’ with a tight head – feels like more a local pub this one – Juke Box was popular – don’t see these in pubs much these days and telly always seemed to have some for of motor sport on,

The Tenby House Hotel – which weirdly was closed for a couple of days we were down there – go in the pub rather than the drinking area to the left and side WhatPub give a sound description: 

“A smart building on the town square built in 1821 by Sir William Paxton in the style of a regency town house on the site of the former Globe Hotel (according to a blue plaque on the wall). This is a deceptively large bar comprising several sections. The comfortable sofa seated lounge near the front is decorated by framed caricatures of folk in their day, whereas the rest is more basically furnished leading to a games area at the rear with old brewery memorabilia.”

The side drinking area has a sign outside stating Griffin’s Bar? Not been able to fine out about this –  a family run independent they seem to have a Cornish theme to their Cask offer – on my visit Sharps Atlantic and Doombar – along with St Austell Tribute – you can guess my choice and a very good couple Tributes were had in the rear bar.

Best of the rest 

Cove Inn – more of a bistro than Pub and the Molson Coors T Bar is the only beer option – think I went for a drinkable Guinness in the end – food good and not to badly prized but probably not the place to pop in for a drink around peak meal times and not the kind of place where you can stand at the bar.  

The Lifeboat Tavern – very central and usually a good throng sat outside – worth going in to have a look at the front bar – made out of an old rowing boat – do have a couple of handpumps – the ever present Doom Bar and a pump labelled as Cwrw Tenby  - which according to What Pub is rebadged Hancocks HB a 3.6% session beer. A common back story re Hancocks Brewery for some reason I always though they were Midlands based – but the brewery was based in Cardiff  and for some years they were Wales' biggest brewer, the brewery was founded by William Hancock in , bought out by Bass in 1968, Brains bought Hancock's in 1999, but initially Bass kept the rights to the brands, Brains then took the brand back to Cardiff but then Hancocks branded beers were brewed by Coors Brewers at their Burton plant under license from Interbrew UK. In about 2016 production moved back to Brains. But it now looks like Hancocks HB is brewed by Glamorgan Brewing Co in Llantrisant – though Untapped still as it down as brewed by Molson Coors in Tadcaster – bit of a mystery.

Three Mariners and The Tavern are both on St Georges Street, again very central to the town – On George and Bar 10 are also on this street, beer available in both though Coors Keg offer again (Bar10 does still have Worthies Cream Flow if you fancy a trip down memory lane but nit sure how much of it they sell). The Tavern is a free house that that tends to offer Sharps on Cask – Three Mariner both are quite lively – Karaoke, live music most clientele tucking into continental lagers  brewed in Burton or Tadcaster – The Mariners does have at least on Keg Tenby beer on offer.

Also on the far end of St Georges Street is a quirky, if dark and dank, pub The Bush  - literally built within the Town walls indeed the entrance on South Parade is through the Walls a next to Tenby landmark the 5 arches – which is fairly easy to recognise. What Pub report that at least 2 cask ales on – including a Tenby beer – though no sign of these on my visit.

The Bush next to the Five Arches

The side door of the Bus in the Town Wall

 

The Twisted Shamrock is another ‘dark and dank pub a bit further up the parade – situated on one of

the intriguing passage that go through the wall and meet up with upper and lower Frog street (told you Tenby was quirky)- definitely not a place for a quiet pint of real ale with the paper – I’ll share the description from Pubgalore.co.uk 

This is a small bar tucked down an alleyway. It's a long narrow split level room with pool and darts on the lower level and the bar on the upper level. There are TVs everywhere.

The bar has a limited choice of mainstream keg stuff. I had a pint of Stowford Press cider which was quite uninspiring. The only good thing here was that some decent background music was playing. I wouldn't return.

I have also seen it billed as having the cheapest beer in Tenby so maybe worth a visit

Other pubs/drinking venues on Frog Street (The best at either end really the Tap n Tan and the Crown) include 

The busiest always seemed to be the Rugby Club – with its large outdoor seating area rammed pretty
much all day every day -  Tenby United RFC Social Club is open to all – lots of screens showing sports, Brains Bitter and Doom Bar on cask – serves food from Breakfast onwards.

The Normandie – Hotelly/foody spot but nice bar area and at least one ‘macro’ cask on the bar.

The Normandie also has a door through the Wall 

The Coach and Horses – Tenby’s oldest pub which makes you wonder why it painted bright yellow – certainly stands out and there is an interesting mural on the South side explaining that Dylan Thomas once stayed there and got hammered – Doom Bar on the bar and Thai food a speciality

Billy Can on lower Frog (on the way to the crown) modern bistro/craft bar – this was the former British Legion Club transformed into a modern Bistro – though one of the walls commemorates the building’s military past and the name is said to be linked as well – armed forces being the foremost users of billycans. You can just drop in for a drink and WhatPub mentions 2 hand-pumps but I just saw Neck Oil and Lugnitas that seem to be permanents on Keg(some of the publicity pics show Hobgobby goblin and Sharps Sea Fury on handpull)  – though its is again mainly food orientated as in many Tenby spots you are unlikely t o get a walk up table during feeding times 

Mentioned in the intro above – a very modern ‘Waters Edge’ complex down on the edge of South Beach  – a mix of residential apartments, bar/restaurant and Beer Shack – Salty’s Beach Bar and Restaurant offers some good sea food (can highly recommend the mussels and prawns) offers limited choice of Molten Coors Macros – but the advantage of taking your pint onto the beach and reasonably priced around £4:50 for a cider/Atlantic pale- research suggest this was originally a Brains Brewery outlet – but with Marston taking over their estate guessing it was an early victim of post take over rationalisation.

And finally – wished I’d gone here but the brother in law bit of a local steered me away – at the very top of Frog Street is the Red Lion Hotel – with a very enticing door to the lounge – with an interesting Stage Door Café etched window – its does look like its closed from the outside – though a Molson Coors neon sign shines brightly from one of the side window – worth a check in on Trip advisor to get a feel for the place. Most saying you have the choice of just 2 beers – Worthys cream flow or Guinness, others talk about bottles of lager who use by date is the week after – I'm defiantly going in there next time I’m in Tenby to give a proper review.W hat Pub gives a little more info- The Stage Door takes its name from the Old playhouse opposite, now Poundland. Shabby chic interior with dark wood paneling.

Whats Pub also list the following possibilities in Tenby 

Cube – in the central area just down from Tesco Express – family orientated no real ale

Clarence House Hotel – on eof the grand Victorian multi coloured hotels on the Esplanade over looking South Beach – large hotel lounge that welcomes non residents and usually offers a Tenby brew – also has a very nice beer garden across the road on the cliff edge – with an outdoor bar in the summer months – a very pleasant place to sit and drink if you can get a table (especially after a walk up from the beach)

Fourcroft Hotel – this one over looks the North Beach – Hollywood Bar again open to non residents 

Evergreen Inn – in a row of cottage son the Green as you come into Tenby – more of a back street local – Banks and Hobgoblin listed as their regular beers – it does come up as Marstons managed pub (possibly Ex Brains) so other beers may be on offer.

Really enjoyed my week in Tenby and definitely a place I would recommend and go back to – we didn’t leave the town all week and didn’t use the car – though we were blessed with great weather – everything is walkable – the one big supermarket Sainsbury’s on the edge of town had a great selection of welsh beer – I picked very reasonably pries (around £1.80) bottles of Gower Gold Glamorgan Welsh Pale (and a couple of Proper Jobs!)  and of course having tow cracking but subtly different breweries in the town is also a great feature 

Iechyd da! (Yaki Da!)