I went along to one of my favourite Cardiff City pub (after the Goat Major), The Old arcade on monday, thanks to Brains for the lovely half of dark and the snacks on the house

Anyway the book is a great celebration of pubs with interiors of special historic interest that are still with us, it’s mad that Wales has over 4000 pubs but only just over 100 with original features.

The book is A5, so handy for your man bag when you are traveling around Wales looking at these great pubs.

Each entry for the pub contains a great photograph taken by Michael Slaughter, a potted history of the pub with info on the interior and facilities ie does the pub do food, its not a replacement for the Good Pub Guide but a great addition if you are on the lookout for a pictorial guide to the best old boozers in Wales.

A bargain at £6.99

Of course my mate Rob is a one man old pub photo machine with his Travels with Beer be good if he put a book out as well

Some great Beers on the list from Wales and beyond, more info on the Cardiff Festival here

There are quite a few breweries I have not tried, so not sure which to try with my lack of time, it may be ArfurD and the old glassworks boys recommendations.

If it’s on then I will be having a half of Bullmastiff Welsh Black as its a custom of mine to have one of bob & pauls excellent brews every Welsh festival… so hopefully one of their brews will be available on the thursday.

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The Otley arms does not pull any punches it serves quality real ale and all the favorite keg beers to an audience that’s either students and locals or the odd person who pops in depends on the time of the year.

If you like an old fashion pub then you may think you are getting one from the outside

But the Otley has gone through so many internal changes over the years that It does not really know what it is.

But I think that’s what gives it its unique charm, Pool for the students, great jukebox, good food the Sunday lunches are what you would expect and more – many tellys and a biog screen for football/rugby when the big matches on… and some great odd regulars who never seem to leave.

The saving grace and the reason I always seem to return if I get off the train at treforest is the quality of the beer, there is always at least two award winning otley beers on tap (yes they brew their own up the valleys) – mostly the excellent O1 (£2 a pint currently) and whatever they are brewing at the moment like OG a stronger brother to O1.

The guest beers they have on are normally of good quality and wide ranging but the price is something you would be-used to in the city unless you are a holder of an Otley card or a O badge were you will get a discount.

One of the beat beers they do is called ColumbO but this was not on on my recent visit, in fact it’s one of my favorite beers from the last few years, if your local serves it then grab a pint.

If you want a proper history to the Otley then beer “know it all” Arfur Daley has a post somewhere online

In search of the perfect pint? Toby Green presents the experts’ guide to crisp and clear lagers, hoppy ales and brilliant bitters

The STRONG category
Otley O8
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‘O8, from stylish new Welsh brewer Otley, is a heady beer that combines the zing of summer ales with the richness and depth of barley wine,’ says Pete.

Brewery Otley Brewing Company (www.otleybrewing.co.uk)
How much £3.34 8% ABV – 500ml

and in the DARK ALE/STOUT Brains Dark

‘Finally achieving widespread recognition as a minor classic, this dark ale is chock full of coffee, chocolate and liquorice flavours, along with a faintly briny savoury note,’ says Zak.

Brewery Brains Brewery (www.sabrain.com)

They have a system called Dollar Bin, where the unloved and unsold photos go to die and hopefully someone gives them one last chance, here are some examples that have recently done there, as you can see little use as stock but I try

You can see and hopefully buy some of my snaps here, of course there are lots of much better photos on sale there for a great price.

being a very amateur snapper, its good to see what people don’t want, so you can think about other ways of seeing things for the next time you have your camera out.

Ironically my most sold Image was taken before I had a DSLR… but that help pay for it!

I do use Flickr as well but that’s mainly for photos from my mobile and it seems to consist of Beer Pumps and dogs.