Windows boarded with metal sheets and weeds growing out of the chimney, The Unicorn Inn is a far cry from how Martin Gilbert remembers it in the 1990s. "The place looks an absolute eyesore," he said. "The car park is just full of weeds, there's awful fencing at the front and these yellow-type security cameras - I don't think they even work anymore."
The pub has stood empty for five years and the Grade II listed building in the Pentwyn area of Cardiff is now boarded up and surrounded by metal fencing. Martin rings the bells at the historic St Edeyrn's church next door, is the chair for the Monmouth Diocese of Bell Ringing, and has sat on the church council for a number of years.
For bell ringers, he says, it is common to have a local pub to frequent and for those at St Edeyrn's this used to be The Unicorn. Now, he says their options are limited. "We've had to travel to junction 30 to the Toby Carvery - it's a restaurant, it's a carvery, so you don't get that same atmosphere that you do with a pub. The other closest one is the Village Inn [approximately a mile-and-a-half away from the church]," Martin said. But, for Martin, the atmosphere isn't the same as a village pub.
