Pontypool

Canal-side and town pubs

The Open Hearth sits directly on the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal at Sebastopol, close enough that on a summer afternoon you can eat overlooking the water while barges pass a few feet away. The grounds run to a decked area beside the towpath and a children's play area, and the pub is set up for the walkers, cyclists and barge-going folk who use the canal. The kitchen groups its menu into headings that include Little Italy, Burgers and Dogs, and Pie Corner; the lamb and goat's cheese burgers and the duck bon-bons come up often. There are usually three guest real ales alongside the draught lager and cider. One regular put it plainly: "Small friendly pub with a huge selection of real ales + beers - also serves excellent cider for us apple lovers!!!"

Back in the town, the Unicorn Inn stands just off the main road near a large Tesco, a short walk from Pontypool Park. In summer the entrance is festooned with greenery, and inside there is a sofa area with a collage of wine corks and framed beer coasters. The food runs to steaks, chef's specials and homemade desserts, with generous portions, and the owner, Ashley, gets named repeatedly for the way he runs the place. There is live music, big-screen sport and a weekly quiz. Out toward the valleys, the Little Crown Inn does home-cooked light bites, pub classics and homemade curries; it stands on the site of the old Elled Level drift mine. On George Street, the Royal Oak keeps a traditional bar.

The Victorian market hall

The Indoor Market is the town's other constant. A market has stood on the site since 1690, and the present covered hall is Victorian and Grade II listed. Under its roof you will find Up Market and Marks Mobile butchers, Warren's Wholefoods, O'Connell's Bakery, Jon's Sweet Shop and Rachel's Cafe, along with a barber and craft stalls. It runs Monday to Saturday, with periodic artisan food markets and street-food Saturdays.

Park recreation and industrial craft

Pontypool Park spreads across the eastern side of town: a maze, pitch-and-putt, bowls, a bandstand, and a dry ski slope built in 1975 and still running. The free Torfaen Museum occupies the Georgian stable block, its 15,000-odd items including the national showcase of Pontypool japanware, the lacquered tinplate the Allgood family developed here in the early 1700s. The town made iron from around 1425 and in 1720 became the first place in Britain to produce tinplate.

Shell Grotto and Folly Tower

Behind the park, a steep footpath climbs the wooded ridge to the Shell Grotto and, at the summit, the Folly Tower. The War Office ordered the tower demolished in 1940, fearing it would guide raids on the ordnance factory at Glascoed; it was rebuilt and reopened in 1994. On a clear day it is said to command views of seven counties.

Rail, Blaenavon and rugby memory

Pontypool and New Inn station, on the Welsh Marches line, has a Park and Ride and step-free access, just off the A4042. Blaenavon and Big Pit are a few miles up the valley. The rugby has never gone anywhere either: the Pontypool Front Row, Faulkner, Windsor and Price, still turns up in conversation here as though the seventies never ended.