Unassuming roadside pub gets booked up weeks in advance

TUCKED neatly on the verge as you drive down Neath Road, the Dyffryn Arms doesn’t shout for attention. It's not flashy, not loud, but somehow it draws you in.

- LOIS MCCARTHY

Maybe it’s the quiet charm of the building itself, or perhaps it's the packed car park which, even on a midweek evening, hints at something special inside. That was the scene one Thursday night when I visited the pub which is hugely popular with locals and those from further afield.

I had no special occasion, just that familiar craving for decent pub grub. But if you're local, you know the drill: call ahead or risk turning back.

A table here isn’t guaranteed, even on a weekday. You'll likely find space at the bar, or on a summer evening, in the beer garden. But dining at The Dyff, as it’s affectionately known, takes a little planning.

Inside, the walls are adorned with old photographs and images which suggest a long, storied past. As it turns out, much of that history remains something of a mystery - even to those who work there.

“We know that the Dyff has been here a long time,’ says Luca Rabaiotti, a familiar face to many regulars. “We've got archive images that show it standing here in 1912, and the building still looks pretty similar”

The pub likely takes its name from the Dyffryn area, the locality just on the outskirts of Bryncoch where it’s situated. However, there's also a possibility - though only a theory - that the name has a more historical origin.

One of the photographs on the wall is of the Dyffryn Mansion, which may have had some influence on the pub's name. The mansion was built by Howel Gwyn, who bought the Dyffryn estate from the Williams family in 1853 and constructed a new gothic-style residence, completed around 1855.

Though the mansion was demolished in 1932, it lives on in an image at the Dyff, captured in all its former grandeur.

Wander through the pub and you'll see yellowing photographs documenting its transformation over the years, many featuring surprising details which even some locals (including myself) wouldn't know.