Castleton Walk Arcade in Mumbles is home to a host of businesses - a butchers, dry cleaners, health shop, card shop, toy shop, bakery, coffee shop - and now, a gorgeous new bar and late-night venue. Cu Mumbles opened on the top floor of the mini shopping centre on Newton Road a fortnight ago and is quickly gaining a reputation as being the place to go for a night out with friends or to celebrate a birthday or special event.
Cu Mumbles takes its name from its copper decor - Cu is the symbol for the chemical element copper - and the emphasis on the venue as a place to catch up with friends and loved ones, with Cu Mumbles meaning "see you [in] Mumbles".
The brain-child of local businessman Adrian Evans, the independent venue fits in excess of 100 people and features a stunning bar serving an extensive drinks menu, plenty of tables and chairs to relax and socialise, a stage with pull-down large screen for cinema nights, a good-sized dance-floor area and a "VIP area" with separate bar, bartender and host. For more stories about news and events in Mumbles, go here.
The top level of Castleton Walk Arcade has welcomed many venues over the years. Back in 1926, it started life as The Regent, a cinema which operated for several years until the venue was turned into a base for the Home Guard during the Second World War. After that, it became a local music and entertainment venue and went by a string of different names from the 1950s to 2000s, including The Casino Ballroom, The Showboat, Tiffany's, Nutz, Stud's, Howards and, perhaps the name it's most remembered by, Bentley's.
More recently, however, the venue housed a cafe and children's play area by day and comedy nights, film nights and other events by night. The aptly-named Cafe Play launched in July 2012 as a "light, airy space" for parents to relax and chat to other parents and grandparents. It had a strong customer base for several years but unfortunately, was a victim of the pandemic.
"I took over Cafe Play in 2015, it had a children's play area and cafe during the day and in the night we ran 'Cafe Play By Night,'" Adrian explained. "We had a cinema license for films nights and we ran comedy nights and hosted Britain's Got Talent auditions as well... Then lockdown happened, and we never really recovered."
As well as the stress of managing the business during the tumultuous time of the Covid-19 pandemic, unfortunately during lockdown Adrian had a heart attack. Whilst he has recovered from the ordeal now, he remains on medication.
Adrian, 45, cites his heart attack as one of the reasons for deciding to change the business into a bar and late night venue. "During the lockdown, I had a heart attack, I'm still on a lot of medication. I realised that this [running a bar and venue] is something I've always wanted to do," he said. "So after we [former business Cafe Play] had to stay closed during the lockdown - and the fact that when lockdown lifted, people didn't really want to take their children to play areas - it pushed my hand a bit and I decided to change the venue."
Adrian's wife, Rosa, came up with the new name and Adrian and Mark Thomas, a share-holder, promptly began designing and planning the new venue. They wanted the new venue to look completely different to Cafe Play, but wanted it to pay homage to its prior names.
Locals may recognise the lights above the bar and some of the smaller drinks tables as the originals from when the venue was Bentley's, whilst the unusual dome-shape of the ceiling has been retained. The main bar has been refurbished, VIP bar added in and the whole venue has been transformed - even the toilets have been designed to look as classy as they can be. "I'd like to describe Cu Mumbles as a classy establishment, I think we're the only place in Mumbles people can go for a dance," added Adrian.
On the drinks menu at Cu Mumbles, you'll find beers, wines, spirits and cocktails - and groups that book out the VIP area can order a buffet for their event too, provided by an external professional catering company. As well as focusing on offering a wide variety of beverages, the team at the venue are really prioritising client safety. As well as door staff on the door checking IDs (Cu Mumbles is an 18+ venue) and in the main venue keeping an eye on things, all staff have microphones and radios so they can update each other on anything that needs to be addressed.
"It's a bit of a Tardis here," joked manager of Cu Mumbles, Katharine Gasson . "It's bigger than you expect! It's a really happy environment here and it's the kind of place you can dress up and come for an evening or a night out with friends."
Katharine, 21, has previously worked in other bars in Mumbles and is particularly proud of the measures in place to help keep guests safe at Cu Mumbles. "Safety is a big priority, door staff check IDs, we all have radios so we can talk to each other and staff have all been trained on things to look out for," she added.
Adrian would like to thank his family and friends for all their support, especially wife Rosa and their three children: Zach, 11, Joshua, 13 and 18-year-old Louie, who works as a bartender at the venue. Adrian would also like to thank share-holder Mark Thomas, of Paul Thomas and Sons, for leading all the refurbishment works at the venue, and Dan Faull of Box Furniture for building the bar.
Cu Mumbles is currently open Fridays and Saturdays from 5pm until 1.30am (last orders 12.50am). Happy Hour is 5pm to 7pm with a deal on cocktails: any two cocktails for £12. You can find Cu Mumbles upstairs at 7 Castleton Walk Arcade, Newton Road, Mumbles, Swansea SA3 4AX - the entrance is on the ground floor of the arcade, next to the coffee shop. If you'd like to reserve a table in advance of your visit, you can do so here.
Cu Mumbles will be running special events on Beaujolais Day 2022 and on Halloween, and later in the year, Adrian and Katharine plan to open the venue from Wednesday to Sunday each week - they will announce this on their Facebook page and we will update this line of our article too!
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