Griffin Inn, Hendreforgan

Behind the modern front extension you will find two bars with Victorian fittings and a till dating back to c.1870 with a special slot for guineas. A tucked away pub – it is just off the A4093 and if travelling from the Cardiff direction look for the bus stop just after the village sign and turn left, then drive down a road between modern housing to find it in the valley bottom. Its remote location is due to the existence of an exploratory coal shaft close by, as well as the railway running through the valley, so the coal board applied for a license on a building they owned.

Built in 1881, it has been in the same family since 1961. Walk into a tiny bar still with its old bar back featuring a glass panel in the centre; original counter, dado panelling and a heavily carved settle. A door with the figure '5' on it leads to the public bar, which is an L-shaped room and incorporates part of a former kitchen. The public bar has a Victorian counter and bar back, a hatch facing the former kitchen part with a red-Formica shelf, a stone fireplace, old benches and a carved settle. There is a lever at the top of the historic till that moves from side to side and as it does it rings a bell. Through a glass panel you can see the guineas as they roll from side to side down into a drawer.

There is also a lounge (now games room) on the left side of the pub. The toilet block on the front was added in the early 1960s and a skittle alley above the pub was converted into a flat in 1995, otherwise little has changed.