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HISTORY

The Coach & Horses Inn, Llangynidr

Llangynidr - Sir William Herbert, Knight of Raglan Castle, was granted the manors of Tretower Castle and Crickhowell just after the accession of Edward IV in 1442. At that time this village was part of the manor of Tretower.

The land was then in the ownership of the Earls of Worcester until the nineteenth and early twentieth century when much of Llangynidr was part of the Glanusk Park estate.

Little is known about the Coach & Horses prior to becoming an Inn, apart from it was built in the 1600 as stables, you can still see remains of the stables throughout the Inn, especially the “CWTCH” ..

Like most Inns at the time, stage coaches would stop off and rest their horses, whilst travellers obtained a drink and meal or room for the night before their onward journey.

On the moors to the southeast of the village lies the Chartist Cave, the name of which derives from 1839 when Chartist rebels used the cave to stockpile weapons in advance of their march on Newport. There is a plaque at the entrance of the cave commemorating their actions.

Perhaps the strangest incident recorded at The Coach & Horses Inn was during WW2 with the sudden disappearance of the two suspected ‘spies’, who for some time had come regularly to stay at the Coach and Horses. One of the men was thought to be secretary to the other. One morning the villagers noticed two police cars parked outside. News broke out that the two men had been taken away and had been found to have a carrier pigeon. No-one ever heard what happened to them, but it seemed significant at the time that ‘Lord Haw Haw’, an English defector who broadcast anti-British propaganda in English for the Germans, had been making several references around that time to things happening in the Llangynidr area, such as a shortage of water at the Glan Usk camp, which only local people would know about. Had the carrier pigeon been carrying messages? The two men never returned.

In 2014 The Coach & Horses Inn was taken over by Shaun, Donna & Sophie Ellis. As well as offering a friendly welcome to customers the family and team at The coach & Horses Inn pride themselves in providing excellent customer service and quality food..

Monmouth to Brecon Canal

Being a contour canal, locks are in short supply on the Brecon & Abergavenny stretch of the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal. And then at Llangynidr five come along, all at once. It's a beautiful spot, right in the heart of the Brecon Beacons National Park, and there's a pub, the Coach & Horses, by the bottom lock.

Nearby attractions include Talybont Reservoir, famous for its water-based sport activities, and the fascinating Tretower Court & Castle Historic House,

As well the many great attractions nearby, each year the area is host to popular festivals and shows, such our very own Llangynidr Agricultural Show which is held each year in August as well as Brecon Jazz Weekend, Brecon County Show, Hay Festival, Green Man Festival and the Royal Welsh Show, and lots more to see and do!

A few miles away to the west is Blaenavon. In the 1860s this designated World Heritage Site was at the centre of the largest iron producing region in the world, using new techniques for smelting and rolling.

The remains of the blast furnaces and works can be seen and here also is the Big Pit Mining where you can go underground in a former coal mine.

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