The ‘small village pub’ tucked away at the heart of a city centre
CARDIFF has undergone massive change in recent decades.
From towering student blocks popping up and fancy new bar openings, the face of the city centre is constantly evolving.
But tucked away right in the middle of Cardiff is one pub that feels a world away from all the hustle and bustle around it.
The Traders Tavern, near the St David’s shopping centre, is one of those pubs that everyone knows from first glance but most will probably have never been inside.
As you step into the small bar on David Street, the bustling city outside seems to fade away.
It feels more like being inside a small village pub where everyone knows each other by name.
On a cold Friday the pub is already bustling before it’s even 4pm. As night draws in, there’s a steady stream of punters strolling through the door; from tiredlooking young men looking for a quick pint after a day on the building site and office workers celebrating the end of the week, to a loud stag party downing Jaegerbombs and several Freemasons dressed in black-tie drinking quietly in the corner.
The pub is owned by the fiercely proud Nicola McCue, who still works behind the bar and has looked after the spot for the past three years.
Nicola has run the pub with her daughter Amy since March 2017, and they bought it last July.
Forty-three-year-old Nicola, from Splott, said: “It’s got a bit of character here. All the staff are my friends or my relatives.
“The staff love it when it’s busy, and I think that the people can sense that.
“A lot of people have said to me that they can can come in and speak to the owner and get served, and you can’t do that in many pubs anymore.”
She added: “It’s worth all the hard work. We have had some great days, some memorable nights.
“It is hard, though, with the beer tax and everything, it’s just hard to compete.”
The independent family-run pub, which Nicola says is the last of its kind in the city centre, was first opened around 40 years ago.
Previously named the Panorama, after a panoramic painting of the city on the ceiling, the pub now gets its name from an open-air market that was once located nearby and has since closed.
Some of the busiest nights are when a concert is being held at the nearby Motorpoint Arena.
Nicola said they serve everyone from Alice Cooper fans to those going to see an Elvis impersonator perform next door.
She said: “We have to work hard. But we’re lucky to have the Motorpoint. The concert days can make a big difference for us.”
Although the concert nights are guaranteed to be busy for Nicola and her staff, she said they often get a wide variety of people walking through the door on other days of the week.
Nicola said: “It’s very random here – you could be here and there’s 10 people and then a stag party of 30 just walks in through the door.
“We had a stag party from Scotland in here last week. They came in at 11am and they were still here at 11pm. They said they had never spent so long in one pub.”
As Nicola chats away about her love of the pub, she greets several drinkers who seem more like members of her family than customers.
One of the punters who comes over is Rhys Thomas Gallivan. The 27-year-old ended up at the pub when his former drinking spot Gwdihw was closed down and he and his group of mates were looking for a new regular.
Rhys said: “Essentially me and the boys were in the wilderness. We came in here one cold, rainy night and we spoke to Nicola and said we need a pub. And here we are now.
“It’s like home from home here. We all work locally and we come here to kick our feet up. It’s basically like being in your front living room.
“You can put a face to your pint here. Instead of speaking to a name badge, you know the staff.
“You can tell them about your day and that’s what we wanted.”
Rhys said he probably spends “eight days a week” drinking in the pub he travels from Barry to visit.
He likened Nicola the landlady to their “mum” and said the reason people keep