Reincarnation

Change can be good, right?

It was with some disappointment that I learned of the demise of the idiosyncratic stuck-in-time marvel that was Cardiff's Glamorgan Staff Club, as featured in my Achosion I Laweni series and superbly captured by photographer Maciej Dakowicz. But the building has taken on new life as the Urban Tap House, the outlet for Newport brewery Tiny Rebel - and it's marvellous.

Given that Tiny Rebel were only founded in 2012, establishing a pub may have been seen as running before they had really walked, but Saturday's visit confirmed otherwise - a great range of locally brewed beers and lagers plus a hotdog vendor in the corner to satisfy our early evening hunger. Did I want a garnish of pulled pork and jalapenos? Why yes, I rather think I did.

Adjacent to the Millennium Stadium and running parallel to St Mary's Street, where the roads run yellow with cooking lager spew, Westgate Street is fast becoming an unlikely mecca for the craft beer fan. Not only does it boast the Urban Tap House but also a Brewdog outlet (another recent arrival), and a couple of other more established pubs (the Queen's Vaults and the City Arms) that have stepped up to the plate. Long may it continue.

Rock club Fuel, a short hop round the corner on Womanby Street, was our final port of call after spending most of the evening at the Mochyn Du. You can't really argue with free entry, pints of Iron Maiden-branded ale Trooper all round and some frenetic flailing to AC/DC and Guns 'N' Roses in the company of a bunch of blokes dressed as characters from Super Mario. Though my entire body did its best to protest throughout Sunday...