A new independent bar and entertainment venue offering live music performances, comedy shows and a place for people to drink, dance and socialise is being built in a shopping arcade in Mumbles and aims to open later this summer. Cu Mumbles has replaced Cafe Play in Castleton Walk Arcade in Newton Road, which was well-known locally for offering a cafe and childrens' play area in the day-time and comedy and music events by night.
Whilst Cafe Play had been popular before the pandemic, with countless parents and grandparents visiting with their young children and grandchildren every year, post-pandemic, far fewer mums and dads had been taking their youngsters to the softplay area, owner Adrian Evans told WalesOnline.
With this in mind, and knowing how popular evening events were at Cafe Play since they began in 2017, Adrian and fellow business shareholder Mark Thomas decided to remove the soft play area earlier this year and convert Cafe Play into an evening and late-night entertainment venue. You can read more stories about Mumbles here.
Read more: Two bed cottage for sale on a colourful hidden street in Mumbles
"It's been a venue for decades, before becoming Cu Mumbles it was Cafe Play for seven years and many people remember it as Bentley's nightclub [years ago]," Adrian said. "We've decided to take the softplay out - after Covid not many people were wanting to use it. It's going to be an evening venue, we've already got all the licences we need like a cinema licence, late night music licence, bar licence." To get the latest WalesOnline newsletters emailed to you directly for free click here.
"There isn't really anywhere you can go out for a dance in Mumbles and there's nowhere like this, so it's something a bit special," he continued. "A copper bar is being built currently and a stage is being built. Other work will take place over the next few weeks. [When complete], the venue will fit around 240 people, there will be a stage, a 150" cinema screen - which will be in collaboration with Mumbles Development Trust - which will be able to show big sporting events and things like that.
"There will also be a VIP area at the top [higher floor overlooking the main area] which people can book for parties and work dos. Comedy events will be reintroduced and we'll have a place people can dance - there's no other venues like this in Mumbles."
Over the last 90+ years, the venue where Cu Mumbles will open - inside Mumbles' Castleton Walk Arcade - has had many names and functions. Back in 1926, the venue started off as The Regent Cinema and operated as a cinema for several years until it became a base for the Home Guard during the Second World War. Following that it became a local music and entertainment venue and has operated under a range of different names over the years including The Casino Ballroom, The Showboat, Tiffany's, Nutz, Stud's, Howard's and, perhaps the name it's most remembered by, Bentley's.
More recently, Cafe Play launched in July 2012 as a "light, airy space" for parents to relax and chat to other parents and grandparents with a bite to eat, whilst their youngsters enjoyed exploring and playing on a two-storey indoor playframe. Five years after its launch, Cafe Play launched its "Cafe Play By Night" programme and began offering comedy nights, film nights, jazz nights, pop-up kitchens and other weekend events aimed at local residents in the Mumbles area. Cu Mumbles takes this successful concept and makes it the focus for the venue.
The new venue takes its name from the chemical symbol for copper (Cu) - a nod to the copper furnishings and copper bar at the venue - as well as reading as "C u Mumbles" meaning "see you Mumbles," a name reflective of the venue being a place to meet up with friends or make new ones.
Cu Mumbles owner Adrian would like to thank the business's shareholder Mark Thomas of Paul Thomas & Son for doing "all the building work" at the venue. "We're using things from the venue's past, we've got lights from when the place was a nightclub and lights, spotlights and retro poser tables [from previously] - much of it will be upcycled!" Adrian added. "We're aiming to finish the venue in three to four weeks."
Cu Mumbles is set to open in Castleton Walk Arcade in Mumbles in late Summer, 2022. When it does, we will have a visit and share what we think with our readers. Keep an eye on the Mumbles page of our website for the latest stories, or follow Cu Mumbles on Facebook here.
READ NEXT
- The big names backing Cardiff to host Eurovision 2023
- Designer glass-fronted home inside exclusive development with a hidden corridor to bonus annexe
- Anger as people raising thousands for cancer charity charged extra to park by council
- The glorious Welsh beach named one of the UK's best which is actually pretty hard to get to
- Inside the new look Joe's Ice Cream Parlour as the Swansea institution marks its 100th birthday
