Beer, darts, and a century of stories: Inside Splott’s last proper boozer

As Cardiff’s pub culture fades, The Cottage defies the odds

FOR more than a century, one pub has weathered the changes that have shuttered all the others in Splott.

The Cottage is the last pub remaining in Splott and regulars want to keep it as a cornerstone of its community.

“Ninety-nine percent of the people in here, I have known for years,” said Nathan Gilbert, a regular at The Cottage. “This is my second family. Six out of seven days a week there is something going on and that is what I love.”

Situated in the heart of Splott on Sanquhar Street, The Cottage’s red exterior makes it unmistakable – although in 2015 it was bright pink for a while.

The interior has all the hallmarks of a traditional pub, with pool and table tennis tables, a dartboard and televisions streaming sport.

“It’s somewhere for people to meet up and chat about the community,” said co-partner Danny Dod.

“My favourite thing about the pub is the customers’ characters. One gentleman, we are kind of his family. So, I enjoy that part of it,” said Mr Dod.

Taking a closer look around, there are caricatures painted on the walls, showing regulars who drink there.

Daniel J Anderson, who lives above The Cottage, painted them five years ago.

Mr Dod joked: “Daniel said the other day, ‘why aren’t you on the wall?’ and I said ‘everyone on the wall dies, so it’s kind of like a jinx’. So, I don’t wanna go on the wall.”

Co-partner at the pub, Dane Welsher and regular Rob Mitchell, aka “The Fish” dispute this as they both have their paintings on the wall.

The Cottage has a weekly poker league, pulling in over 30 people. The darts team, the Cottage Pies, play weekly too, home and away, and there is a skittles alley,

“We do Sunday lunches, but during the week we don’t do food. We feed the darts teams when we are at home though.

“We have open mics on a Thursday, karaoke on Fridays and the last Sunday of every month we have a live act,” said Mr Dod.

“We love a good sing and stomping along. It’s how most of our evenings here go,” said customer Mr Gilbert.

The Cottage is the last standing pub in Splott and it is also the oldest.

“So many have closed in the last 20 years. This is when the pub closures accelerated hugely,” said Dic Mortimer, a customer at The Cottage.

Of around 29 pubs and clubs that have existed over the years in the Splott and Adamsdown combined, only six are still open.

The Cottage began as a hotel in 1870 and has been running as a pub for over 100 years, according Mr Dod.

Mr Welsher takes care of the licensing, and Mr Dod is the premises supervisor. Mr Welsher has been at The Cottage for nine years, with Mr Dod joined for the last three.

Mr Dod grew up in Lower Splott. Previously, he ran the Splotlands, in Adamsdown, and the Rompney Castle, in Rumney, before they both closed down.

Mr Welsher is also born and bred in Splott and “makes an amazing Sunday dinner,” according to staff.

“We are technically the last pub in Splott because the others are clubs,” said Mr Dod.

Ocean Park Brewers Fayre is technically a pub but most locals count it as more of a restaurant attached to the Premier Inn rather than a traditional neighbourhood pub.

The green dots in the map symbolise the pubs that have closed; the orange dots pubs that are still open. The blue dots show the closed clubs and the red dots are the closed clubs. The map includes the Adamsdown area because it was part of the Splott ward until 1890.

The challenges of keeping The Cottage running

“(Pub culture) started going downhill since they did the smoking ban, about 20 years ago. Since then, pubs have been dying a bit. People can sit at home and buy cans cheaper and smoke away,” said Mr Dod.

The drug culture pursued by some young people is also a challenge. “A lot of youngsters now, make it worse, because they have no respect. They are scallywags,” he added.

The Cottage has been registered in the Local Heritage List, in an attempt by Cardiff Council to recognise historic assets and preserve them.

“It is harder to knock [the Cottage] down or build it into flats. You can’t touch the façade,” said Mr Dod.

It does not offer the same protection as buildings listed by Cadw, however. Consent is not required to alter or extend locally listed assets or change interiors.

Updating the Local Heritage List came about because of a campaign from the Cardiff Civic Society and CAMRA, the real ale group, in 2023.

“Thanks to the campaign, we have been able to lobby the council, to bring in the local listing of pubs. There is now more protection against pubs being demolished or being converted to flats,” said Cari Williams, a spokesperson for Cardiff Civic Society.

“People are social animals, and they still have a need for connection. Pubs are a really important part of working-class life. There is a big decline in these areas though.

“The Landlord Association have said that pubs are in competition with supermarkets and the cost-of-living crisis is still causing problems for pubs,” said Mr Williams.

Another factor Mr Williams highlighted was a change in people’s habits, ranging from people working from home and not going for a drink at the pub after work, to young people being more inclined to reach for non-alcoholic options.

Mr Williams suggested the council needed to go further to make streets safer so that people feel more inclined to go to pubs. Another suggestion he made was for community leaders to take lessons from rural areas by running community pubs.

“Cardiff is not at the use it or lose it stage,” he continued, because most areas still have at least one pub, but he said it could be heading this way.