'I'm not turning it into a lap dancing club and I'm not turning it into flats!'

Homes Under the Hammer star Martin Roberts has been making progress with his huge Valleys pub renovation project - as property editor Joanne Ridout finds out...

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ALMOST a year to the day that we last visited the former Hendrewen Hotel and Pub in Blaencwm to see how Martin Roberts' latest renovation, we were intrigued to return with exclusive access and see the progress that has occurred over the past 12 months and we're not the only ones.

The popular presenter of BBC's Homes Under The Hammer "accidentally" bought an empty building at the top of the Rhondda Fawr valley after it closed during the Covid-19 pandemic, and has been working hard to transform it with the help of a team of builders and the support of the local community.

But maybe for some local Rhondda residents the project is taking longer than expected, and into the void has appeared a number of rumours swirling about regarding the building’s future.

Martin explained: “As things go on rumours start to get rife so we have to put paid to them now - one is that it's being sold but I am not selling it, I’m not turning it into a lap dancing club, and I’m not turning it into flats!”

There has been a huge amount of work happening over the last 12 months, with stripping out all the interior of the property ‘back to bricks’ to create just a shell.

Martin says: “The biggest challenge has been getting back together, all structurally sound, and it had 150 years of stuff to strip away and it took a lot longer than we thought it would.”

The team uncovered some “horrors” to deal with including a “piece of steel” that was hiding a major problem.

Martin explains: “One wall was held up by a piece of steel, which was supported by a bit of wood, which was supported by a final bit of wood that was holding up everything and it was a rotten piece of timber about an inch thick!”

To the untrained or novice eye, stepping into the pub in its current condition in the summer of 2025, it might appear that not much has happened over the last year, but that could not be further from the actual situation.