our pub story
Since 2010, pubs have been closing across the UK in their thousands — but we’ve made it our mission to swim against the tide. From saving beloved locals to creating new ones, we’ve built spaces where great beer, conversation, and community come first.
No corporate gloss. No cookie-cutter interiors. Just proper pubs, run by people who love them.
Who knew that a part-time bar job at The Coach in 2006 would lead us to where we are today?
Back then, pulling pints was meant to be a stop-gap - not the start of a full-blown 20 year adventure in saving and creating pubs. But fate (and a fair bit of stubbornness) had other ideas.
In 2010, The Coach was only hours away from going to auction and facing an uncertain future, most likely ending up as flats. We like to think of ourselves as knights in shining armour galloping in to save one of Bridgend's oldest hostelries... but the reality was a lot less glamorous and a lot more like a 24-year-old chancer calling in favours to get an offer accepted. But the rest, as they say, is history.
Since 2010, The Coach has stood for independence, great beer and proper pub culture. With over 15,000 different beers poured, a Best Pub in Wales title, more than a decade in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide and now an award winning brewery within, the achievements are something we're proud of - but they're secondary to the locals, the regulars, the Christmas part-timers and even the Dry Janners!
People are what makes this pub more than a building, more than a premises... we fill it with beer but everyone else fills it with love, with laughter, with stories and with memories.
The Coach has always been about community. Thanks for being part of our journey and long may it continue.
In the deep end
By 2013, The Coach had been crowned Best Pub in Wales, but we were a bit frustrated that when we clocked off, there wasn't anywhere in town serving the kind of drinks we loved.
So - we did something about it. We found an empty office, rolled up our sleeves, dealt with a mountain of paperwork, and six months later opened Nolton Corner.
No grants, no loans, no fancy investors - just grit, graft, and a plenty of maxed-out favours. It became Bridgend's first proper modern bar, and helped be the catalyst to kick-start the evening scene you see today.
Nolton Corner was a Wales winner at the UK National Pub & Bar Awards 2017 and at our infamous "Nolton Comedy" nights - Jimmy Carr gave us a tweet when we named a pizza after him.
On top of comedy, we've hosted everything from weddings and christenings to paint-alongs, open mic and beer pong, not to mention we now have our very own in-house distillery where we make Bont Gin.
Amd to the guy on Facebook who said we'd be "bust by Christmas 2014" because we didn't have TVs, we still don't...
although we did host MAFS UK filming in 2025.
A Cowbridge gem...
In 2017 (and perhaps for slightly selfish reasons) we decided that Cowbridge was missing a slice of Coach-style action. We felt there wasn't anywhere quite scratching our real ale, craft beer itch so we hopped on the X2 and decided to do something about it.
After an extensive renovation, we opened 1 Town Hall Square and with low ceilings, lots of character and stonework, on first visit you'd be forgiven for thinking that the building has been a pub for centuries.
We're incredibly proud to have created a real success story and a pub which now plays a huge role within the fabric of the Cowbridge community.
1 Town Hall Square has gone from strength to strength since opening in 2017 but you might not know - it's hosted 24 hour Guinness World Records, welcomed Sky Sports and has even claimed the unofficial title of Wales' smallest cinema.
The pub has poured thousands of different beers and won special recognition from CAMRA for "Outstanding Services to Real Ale". It's also been an ever present in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide since opening in 2017 and who can forget - this tiny little corner of Cowbridge was awarded Best Guinness in Wales, 2024. We'll drink to that.
History makers...
The Cross Inn has a tremendously rich history and has stood for hundreds of years, but in 2022 it nearly suffered the same fate as so many other pubs & disappeared forever. Closed up, with plans for conversion to houses in motion yet despite public outcry, it sat empty and fading fast.
Thankfully and proudly, we're very glad to say that we played a big part in saving the pub, we became custodians of it in April 2023 and gave it an extensive refurbishment.
Now, thanks to the support it's received from patrons old and new, the pub is as strong as ever and has returned to playing an integral part of the community once again.
What's more - and as fate would have it - The Coach Brewing Co has links with this wonderful pub which run far deeper than first meets the eye.
After digging into the family tree and the licence records, we discovered that our relatives were landlords and landladies here from 1879 to 1951.
When so many pubs are being lost across the land, to return more than 70 years later as custodians of this same inn feels incredibly special. We're very proud to carry on the job they once did, ensuring this wonderful boozer continues for generations to come.
Oh I do like two beers beside the seaside...
Whilst we'd been at the helm of The Coach for 15 years, just down the road from us - Ogmore-by-Sea had been without a pub for more than 20. As big lovers of the coast and with family ties to the area, this was something we felt needed to change.
So when 87 Main Road became available and the opportunity to return a hostelry to the area arose, we grabbed it with both hands.
We set about creating a pub not only to mirror the community mantra of our other venues but one that had to match the top-tier views and sunsets on show daily!
Our name, The Tusker Rock, pays homage to the notorious and treacherous island out in the Bristol Channel - visible from the pub twice a day as the tide retreats. What's more, the building we're now custodians of even traded as Tusker Café in a previous life.
The rock is a true local landmark and coincidentally in 2017 we swam the two miles out to it, taking a Tusker Lager with us to enjoy a well-earned "Tusker on Tusker." The swim home was of course, a bit slower!
Thankfully, since opening the pub just before Christmas 2025, there's now a far less strenuous way to enjoy a beer at The Tusker Rock.
gin for the win
Of course, in amongst all this came The Coach Brewing Co. and Bont Gin — both born from the same spirit (pun intended) that’s driven us since day one. What started as a love of great drinks turned into us brewing our own and distilling our own too. It’s all part of the same story: creating things we’re proud to serve, made properly, and poured in the places we love.
Here’s to the next chapter — and to every pint, pour, and laugh along the way.
