Micropub plan for old post office
A FORMER post office is being turned into a micropub.
The branch at 109 Crwys Road in Cathays, Cardiff, has been empty since it closed in January 2017 but now, council planners have given permission for the building to be turned into an off licence and micro pub.
The provisional name for the venture is Cathays Beer House and it will sell beer from local producers.
Martin Holmes, who currently works at city bar Hopbunker and has previously worked at the City Arms and The Cottage, is behind the scheme.
“I’ve always been interested in beer and breweries and always dreamed of opening a bottle shop,” he said.
“It’s going to be a micropub style, similar to St Canna’s with a few cask and few keg beers with a range of bottled beers from local producers too.”
A bar will be installed with racking for the cask beers, and fridges for bottles and cans with some seats along the bar, and tables in the rest of the premises.
Martin, 50, who is from Cathays, hopes the bar will open in early to mid-October. He had seen the building empty and wanted to bring it back to life.
He said: “We were looking for something in this area as I live nearby. But there’s very little like this on this side of the city. There is the Crwys and the Heath but not a huge choice for people as far as craft beers or small producers are concerned.
“I’d used the post office before and I knew it had been closed for a while. It’s a nice spot right in the middle of Crwys Road and a lot of restaurants and cafes with a good food trade but nowhere for a nice decent beer”.
The new pub premises will have a capacity of about 30 and will be dog friendly providing water and treats, according to the planning application.
There will be no games machines or TVs but it will have a fish tank. Work to convert the inside has begun.
It will be open from 10am until 10pm Monday to Saturday with reduced hours on a Sunday, said Martin. One of the breweries it will stock will be Ollies on Newport Road. The brewery, set up in 2016, donates 10% of profits to Friends of the Dogs Wales and the intention of the bar’s owners is to expand charity fundraising via the business.
The landlord, local councillors and neighbours have given their backing. It will create two full-time and two parttime jobs, according to the applicant.
Members of the local Camra branch have said they support the type of premises it will become. In the application, it says: “They have already asked to use the premises for private meetings in the future and enquired into the storing of some campaign literature on the premises.”