End of a Pub Era

It was in April 2013 that the landlady of the Cross Keys tried to sell the pub as a going concern. The Free Press reported that there was but one viewing. The pub closed in April 2015. Meanwhile, permission for a change of use to a dwelling was granted in December 2015. In January 2016, the former pub went on the market as a residency. The asking price was £325,000 but with work required to convert part of the building. By August 2015, the price had dropped first to £300,000, then to £260,000. Again, there was little reported interest.

In May 2016, the unexpected happened. The Cross Keys reopened as a public house and restaurant, with ambitious plans. It was a father and son affair, with the son, the chef, having served at the Brookehouse Mill and, interestingly, the Farmers, where he ran the kitchen as a separate business and where the food was cheap but of very good quality. The Farmers was perhaps not the venue for an adventurous chef. That son left the Cross Keys and thereafter the food was never quite as good. And, with two eating for £12 between Tuesday and Friday lunch, perhaps this sent a signal that things weren't quite right.

After Christmas, the pub again closed. This time, it was for good. Yesterday, it again found its way back on the housing market, as a four bed house. It is in the process of full conversion, which is expected by the end of March. Meanwhile, the asking price: £460,000.

It's a substantial property and it's elevated. But it's also on nasty series of bends that generate noise.

Thus endeth the long association of the Cross Keys and Llanfwrog Rural. Should we be sad? Yes, I think we should. But, should we be surprised? Probably not. It joins the collection of homes that were formerly inns.