Taking a look up and down your local high streets, there’s one thing you’ll almost certainly come across, a Wetherspoons. The chain is gigantic, and is one of the biggest in the UK in terms of number of premises. They’re absolutely everywhere, and this leaves many of us feeling like they’re getting rid of a lot of history, but behind every Wetherspoons is a story, and some in Cardiff have a fascinating one.
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00:00 [Sounds of a bus driving by]
00:12 I'd be willing to bet that basically everyone watching right now has been to a Wetherspoons
00:15 at some point in their lives. They're a staple of high streets across Wales and the UK, and
00:20 one of the most recognisable brands in the country.
00:24 They're by and large the same anywhere you go. Same menus, with the same food, mostly
00:28 the same drinks. That's the beauty of a Wetherspoons, is that you always know what you're going
00:32 to get, whether you're looking for a quick lunch, a few drinks or a meal out. Any Wetherspoons
00:37 you go to anywhere in the country will provide the same thing. But there's something that
00:41 sets all these pubs apart.
00:46 They're all very much the same, but the big difference between Wetherspoons though, is
00:49 that the buildings they call home, Wetherspoons across the country, can be massively different.
00:54 Some are purpose built, or use new modern buildings, but some, like a few here in Cardiff,
00:58 have a fascinating history before becoming the Wetherspoons they are now.
01:06 Cardiff has no less than eight, yes, eight Wetherspoons pubs, with four in the city centre,
01:11 one a few minute walk outside, and three more dotted around. And while still sticking to
01:15 the foundations of what makes a spoons of spoons, they're all unique and have totally
01:19 different stories.
01:26 On the bay, the Mount Stewart is home in a modern building, overlooking the waterfront,
01:30 while the Aniar and Bevan is smack bang in the middle of a busy road, housed in an older
01:34 building, which has changed hands a number of times.
01:41 Perhaps Cardiff's most famous Wetherspoons is the Prince of Wales just behind me. Many
01:45 a student has started a night out in the pub, and at this point millions of pints have been
01:49 bought through many hundreds of Welsh rugby games on the big screens.
01:57 The site has a fascinating history, dating all the way back to 1827, when Theatre Royal
02:02 was built, but then burnt down. It was replaced over the following decades with the new Theatre
02:07 Royal. How imaginative. The theatre was in use for years afterwards, with hundreds of
02:11 shows from Jack and the Beanstalk to the Arcadians coming to the venue, with big names like Richard
02:16 Burton also performing here.
02:22 Over the following years it became the Prince of Wales Theatre, when live performances slowed
02:26 down and then stopped entirely in 1965, before the venue became an… adult theatre. Permission
02:33 to demolish the building was denied in 1974, and after becoming Caesars nightclub for a
02:37 few years, it became a pub in 1999.
02:42 A pub that eventually became Wetherspoons, and here it is today.
02:46 That was a lot of information in one go, but this place has too much history to begin to
02:50 properly cover. So if you're ever in the Prince of Wales, take a look at the old posters
02:54 and artefacts hung up, and you might learn something new about this fascinating place.
02:58 I'm James B. Jotkins, Local TV, Cardiff.
03:00 [BLANK_AUDIO]