Crosskeys Inn Pontnewydd
Using the census enumerator's route, the original Cross Keys pub was situated between Ty Pwca cottage and the lock-keepers cottage, also known as Canal Cottage, in Five Locks. On the 1861 census it was occupied by John Makeley, 44, who only gave his profession as that of a coal miner, so it may not have been serving drinks at this point. John lived with his wife, Sarah, 42 and sons William, 18 and George, 15. At the time of the 1871 census it was known as Cross Keys Beer House. Again its occupier, Robert Hart, 30, only gave one occupation - that of a bolt maker. He lived there with his wife Emma, 25 and son William, 2. We know that alcohol was being served there in the mid 1870's because of an article in the Monmouthshire Merlin of June 1874 when a man called David Davies was charged with being drunk and refusing to leave the premises. He was fined ten shillings. The inn made the news in March 1883 when James Thatcher, a brewers haulier from Newport was sum...