The Greyhound Inn Llangunllo

Every village needs a pub and in Llangunllo, we are fortunate to have The Greyhound Inn. Real ales and live music together with a welcoming open fire in the colder months plus a warm welcome from the hosts make it the ‘go to’ pub in the area. In the summer months, there is outside seating where you can enjoy the beautiful surroundings of the village.

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Love to stay in mid Wales? If you would like to stay in Llangunllo we have plenty of local holiday cottages to choose from.

A Brief History of The Greyhound Inn Llangunllo

The present building has seen several additions and improvements over the years. The back part possibly dates from the middle of the 18th century with evidence of timber framing inside and signs of an oversized doorway, suggesting it was once used for animals, perhaps as the village pound. This is now the public bar area and clay tobacco pipes c 1760 have been found.

On the front wall are railway bricks stamped with the words “Westbury St’n – did The
Greyhound Inn have a face lift around the time the railway came to Llangunllo?

Quite how and why it got its name is not certain. In the 1819 church records, it is entered as “The Inn, Llangunllo”, on the baptism of the daughter of William (Inn
Keeper) and Mary Jones.

It was not until the 1851 Census, with Abraham Davies of Llanbadarn as Inn Keeper, that The Greyhound Inn was named. Publicans from Beguildy and Nantmel followed and by the beginning of the 20th Century David Evans was in charge.

By the 1920s, the landlord was Mr L A Davies. The wood hauliers wood stop by for a drink when they were possibly on their way to the village Lugg Valley Saw Mill of Richard Faulkner, general carpenter and wheelwright.

Traditionally the local hunt met in the village centre and enjoyed drinks served by the landlord. In the field behind The Greyhound Inn, was a donkey belonging to the West family who kept the village shop.

On the subject of donkeys, Mr Bryant, owner of the pub in the 1940s, apparently came to an untimely death, as while riding his donkey, he
fell off and drowned in the gutter — perhaps he had sampled too much of his own ale!

No account of The Greyhound Inn is complete without mention of Bill Matheson, landlord from 1959 to his death, aged 92, in 2006. Descended from the Lloyd Family of Whimble and Larch Grove, “Bill the pub/Bill the Greyhound”, was born and brought up in Manchester, later coming to live in Llangunllo with his wife and family. During his time as the publican, the darts, dominoes and rounders teams were very successful and won numerous competitions

After the closure of the village shop in 1996, The Greyhound Inn housed the Community Shop for a number of years and has also “starred” in the movies with the filming in the village of ‘Second Best’ (1993) and ‘You Should Have Left’ (2018).

In January 2009 The Greyhound Inn was purchased by the current licensees, Paul and
Jake (pronounced ‘Jackie’). A lot of work needed to be done to the interior and exterior to get the pub, living space and surroundings back into shape. This included ripping out the old bar. The new, wooden bar, skilfully crafted by the late Paul Northwood, now stands as a lasting legacy to a man who regularly shared a
pint there and was such a big part of the community in Llangunllo.

Finally, after much hard work and careful renovation, The Greyhound Inn re-opened its doors, once again, in July 2010. It did not take too long before Open Mic sessions became a regular event, on the first Saturday of each month. It celebrated its 100th anniversary in December 2021.

As well as continuing to host the dominoes team and live bands, Paul and Jake have also held many charitable events over the years, including rounders matches, a pantomime horse grand national and barbecues. A friendly welcome and fine ales are always on hand and a warming, open fire during the cooler months, greets visitors from near and afar.

*** Source: The Radnor Magazine February 2022 ***

You can be sure of a great time whenever you visit the Greyhound Inn. Apart from the real ales and a fine selection of other drinks, there’s often live music with ‘Free Admission‘ which is a rare thing these days. Here’s a selection of photographs from New Year’s Eve 2023.

See New Year’s Eve Celebrations at The Greyhound Inn, Llangunllo. 2022