The Halfway

247 Cathedral Road, Pontcanna [map]


What an audaciously inappropriate name for a drinking establishment. It's impossible to look at the signage without instinctively wanting to tag 'house' on to the end of it.

Although if your idea of a halfway house is a pub, you really are in trouble.


There's a certain hazy quality to these pics, as if the famous Pontcanna smog hasn't quite burned off yet.

Still, through the mist, we can just about discern a familiar selection of lagers on tap - which takes care of the principal qualification we look for in a tavern.


The interior is sombre enough that it maintains the aspect of a traditional boozer, although an outsize TV set and quiz machine inevitably make an appearance.


We've often thought of pubs as hallowed ground - but that bloke seems to be having an actual religious experience.


Curiously, this Brains-run establishment is home to exactly the same model of typewriter that Pint of 45 is composed on. What are the chances?


Outside is a miniature courtyard primarily composed of bunting and pieces of furniture so archaic and uncomfortable that they may well have been used as medieval torture devices.