The Albion

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The Albion, Upper Gate Street, Conwy

The Albion mostly dates from the mid 1920s, when two pubs on the site were rebuilt in the fashion of the day. Some of the original structures remain inside, but the frontage was entirely replaced.

In 1919, Conwy magistrates fined RO Williams, licensee of the Albion Inn, £15 for selling two bottles of stout for more than the legal price.

Over the following decades, most pubs got rid of open fireplaces and other old features as they kept up with changing trends. The Albion missed out on most of that but remained a popular watering hole with locals until it closed in 2010. It was bought at auction the following year by a London banker, who invited local brewers to run the pub. The pub reopened on 31 January 2012, with the 1920s features restored to original appearance.

There are elements of Art Nouveau, such as the tiling in the main lobby, and of Art Deco, such as the fireplace in the bar room. Four of the hand-pulls on the bar are originals from the 1920s. Original fixed seating remains in the snug and lounge – look out for the buttons which customers used to press to ring a bell summoning a member of the bar staff.

The four breweries involved in the 2012 reopening were: Purple Moose Brewery, of Porthmadog; Bragdy Conwy Brewery, based in Morfa Conwy; Bragdy’r Nant, of Llanrwst; and Great Orme Brewery, of Glan Conwy. This was believed to the first time in the UK that four rival breweries had got together to run a pub together. In 2015 the same breweries took over The Bridge Inn, Conwy, and The Australia, Porthmadog.

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Postcode: LL32 8RF

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