Yet Another Cycling Forum
Off Topic => The Pub => Topic started by: telstarbox on 05 September, 2017, 08:52:59 pm
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Similar to the Eddington number but it's simply the number* of Wetherspoons you have had a drink in.
I'll open the bidding with 104 - most recent one was the Richmal Crompton in Bromley.
*Spreadsheet for tracking available on request.
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Hmmm... would have said I've been in quite a few, though no idea as to actual number. But probably not approaching 100!
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Only 3 or 4, but one was the original "Martin's"* in Muswell Hill, which was my regular when I lived around there in 1982. (
* as in Tim Martin, Wetherspoons' founder
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A fair few, now that they are also I several airports, but certainly less than a hundred
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What's a 'Wetherspoons'?
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Hold on! To be a proper Eddington-type number, it should be the number of Spoons you've been to, combined with the number of pints you've drank in each. Your W-number is the highest number in both.
So 1 Wetherspoons and 1 pint: W=1
2 W's and 2 pints in each: W=2
5 different W's and 5 pints in each: W=5
100 different Spoons with a pint in each: W=1.
I think mine would be 3.
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2 I think. Carmarthen and Newport. Gastly places.
I've actually drunk beer in the Newport one. Only breakfast and "coffee" :sick: in Carmarthen.
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What's a 'Wetherspoons'?
It's a thing you hang around in when you've got ages before a train. Also a place where sleep-deprived cyclists in search of cheap and nasty fry-ups can exchange funny looks with the early morning drinkers.
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There's a takeaway/cafe round the corner from the shop for that . . .
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I've been in a fair few over the years. My CAMRA vouchers help cheapen my visits. However, I was appalled to read the pro-Brexit content of the in-house magazine. Not just one article/editorial, but several throughout the rag.
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Yeah, Tim Martin was a big funder of the leave campaign. Of course he then turned around and started whining about the difficulty of getting enough bar staff when we leave, the super-twat.
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What's a 'Wetherspoons'?
A place for snuggling up to sheep. Oh no, that's a Whetherspoons.
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I think mine would be 3.
My memories of evenings spent in the Coronet on Holloway Rd in the late 90s are somewhat hazy but I suspect I'm into double figures.
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In those terms, probably about 4-5, the Grimsby weatherspoons was quite good before all this Brexit nonsense
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I've survived the one in South Croydon (I confess I most use it for cheeky toilet breaks when I'm waiting at the bus stop opposite). Oh and Purley, where the vampires live (biggest population of vamps outside of Transylvania, true fact).
Back in the day when we bought our first house we lived for a while in the Brockley Barge (because we bought a house and neglected to buy one with a functional kitchen and were penniless oiks). I went to the one in Oxted the other week (because Southern and it's next to the train station) and that was filled with the renegade teenage population of the town and was about much fun as you'd expect from a pub full of teenagers on a Friday night.
But yeah, the owner is a twat, so I'm not especially keen to give him any of my money.
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Hold on! To be a proper Eddington-type number, it should be the number of Spoons you've been to, combined with the number of pints you've drank in each. Your W-number is the highest number in both.
So 1 Wetherspoons and 1 pint: W=1
2 W's and 2 pints in each: W=2
5 different W's and 5 pints in each: W=5
100 different Spoons with a pint in each: W=1.
I think mine would be 3.
On the Deano definition, I reckon mine is 5 or 6. I'd list the pubs in question, but for some reason my memory is hazy.
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Zero... My objection dates back to years before the
fuckup referendum.
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Wetherspoons have closed the two hostelries that hosted the monthly pre-meeting meals we had. One is now a Nando's and the other is a pub whose food is greasier and pricier than W's.
There is worse than W's :sick:
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2 I think. Carmarthen and Newport. Gastly places.
I've actually drunk beer in the Newport one. Only breakfast and "coffee" :sick: in Carmarthen.
I say sir, you judge too harshly! :-*
There are surely some 'spoons which are great for donating blood - all over the carpet - but all the one's I've been in (and its a few!) have been fine establishments :thumbsup:
I call 'spoons the Tesco of pubs. What you get is of acceptable quality and proper value for money. The food is fine and normally served quite quickly. The beer is most often brilliant; someone told me once that 'spoon cellar training is highly rated in the pub industry and I have rarely had a duff pint. There is normally lots of choice and you'll be charged about £2.50 for a pint of real ale, or 50p less if you have a CAMRA voucher.
Then there are the premises themselves. Each has a carpet woven in a unique pattern. Some 'spoons buildings are a bit hum drum but others are brilliant. The best I've been to the Crosse Keys, Gracechurch Street, City of London; its used to be the HQ of the HSBC; its brilliant!
Oh and they have an app so you can order most things except guest ales from your table, pay with PayPal and a 'spoons person delivers it to your table - what's not to like? ;D
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2 I think. Carmarthen and Newport. Gastly places.
I've actually drunk beer in the Newport one. Only breakfast and "coffee" :sick: in Carmarthen.
I call 'spoons the Tesco of pubs.
... what's not to like? ;D
You answer your own question before you ask it.
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^^^ Cambridge used to be a Cinema, so is huuuuuge. Aberdeen, not sure but it's one of those classic Union Street properties, narrow front and seems to go back half a mile and has three stories.
I have seen some other good re-uses of buildings as well.
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2 I think. Carmarthen and Newport. Gastly places.
I've actually drunk beer in the Newport one. Only breakfast and "coffee" :sick: in Carmarthen.
I call 'spoons the Tesco of pubs.
... what's not to like? ;D
You answer your own question before you ask it.
Your problem Wow is you have standards ;D Standards lead to disappointment.
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One in the Fishponds area of Bristol, the Vandyke Forum, used to be a cinema too. Regular meeting spot for Bristol CTC as their winter club nights happen just round the corner.
All the 'Spoons I've been in seem about as unlikely places for a fight as you'll ever get in the proximity of lots of alcohol. The food isn't particularly good but it's audax standard; stodgy, greasy, usually promptly served and decently priced. And they're good pubs for just a coffee or tea.
My Wetherspoon number would be 2 or possibly 3, maybe even 2.5, on Deano's defo and very unlikely to go higher.
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^^^ Cambridge used to be a Cinema, so is huuuuuge. Aberdeen, not sure but it's one of those classic Union Street properties, narrow front and seems to go back half a mile and has three stories.
I have seen some other good re-uses of buildings as well.
One of our local Spoons, the Thomas Ingoldsby in Canterbury, is a former carpet showroom, and it still feels like a carpet showroom in there. Terrible atmosphere. No wonder the clientele always look so depressed. I go past there on a Sunday lunchtime and marvel at the couples staring glumly at their desultory lunch and pint of Stella, avoiding all eye contact and conversation.
The Spoons that opened in Whitstable a couple of years ago is another former cinema, which is part of the reason they called it the Peter Cushing. The problem with having pubs in former cinemas is the high ceilings which are a nightmare for acoustics. The Cushing is opposite the bus stop so I sometimes go in there while waiting for a bus, but I don't like it because it's always so fecking noisy. Depending on how long I've got before the bus is due, I would rather walk down the road to the 12 Taps - the beer costs twice as much but it's worth every penny.
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There's one in an old cinema near here, one in a former church (with a flashing one-arm bandit nestled by the pulpit), and a vast student pub—The Imperial, if you know it—for which you need a map to avoid getting lost inside. Others are tarted-up existing pubs.
My experience of Wetherspoon food has been getting worse over the years to the point where I now avoid them.
Tim Martin lives near here.
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Deary me, I must be lucky with my 'spoons experiences. One has opened in Maldon within the last couple of years, the Rose & Crown, its great, we (me and a couple of other Mid-Essex yacfers) were there just the other weekend.
The 'spoons in Witham is OK as well. We use it as the start and finish of some of the ACME winter series audaxes, the staff and regulars are quite welcoming to hoards of cyclists.
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The second 'Spoons in Preston is the old TSB. It's unbelievably noisy in there. I don't object to the Wetherspoons formula, which is MacDonalds with beer. It's the joinery I can't abide.
They tend to be fitted out as Victorian pubs, with softwood mouldings, coloured and varnished to resemble hardwood. It takes but a few months for that to wear, and reveal the softwood beneath.
In Preston, there's a pub with a grade II listed interior of national importance. it's the real thing that a 'spoons is imitating. The Black Horse is quiet, with a clientele my age and a jukebox that plays mainly 70s music. The beer is a bit more expensive, and there's no food, but there are betting slips and little pens to fill them in with.
It serves proper beer, from a real brewery; Robinsons. I'd recommend anyone to drop in there if they are in the area. Both Wetherspoons in Preston, and the one in Leyland, are interchangeable.
https://pubheritage.camra.org.uk/pubs/historic-pub-interior-entry.asp?NatPubID=LAW/5289&Detail=full
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The Black Horse, Preston sounds brilliant, I love that sort of pub.
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When I first went to Leominster 4 or 5 years ago, the potentially splendid 'Spoonies had just opened & it looked fantastic. However, as someone else noted above, once the veneer of newness had worn off it looked rather tired.
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The Black Horse, Preston sounds brilliant, I love that sort of pub.
It's opposite a big shopping centre, and you get the occasional shopfitter in there. You can see them look round and cost up the interior. They soon realise that no-one this side of Lloyds of London will ever pay for them to work with those materials.
It reminds me of 'The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists'. Why sit in bodged surroundings, when the real thing is still around?
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If I've been to half a dozen in my life I'd be surprised. Probably never had more than two pints anyway as that tends to be my natural topping up point.
When we saw the pro brexit rhetoric we decided not to bother visiting again - no real hardship as like I say, we've hardly ever stepped through the door anyway.
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The Black Horse, Preston sounds brilliant, I love that sort of pub.
It's opposite a big shopping centre, and you get the occasional shopfitter in there. You can see them look round and cost up the interior. They soon realise that no-one this side of Lloyds of London will ever pay for them to work with those materials.
It reminds me of 'The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists'. Why sit in bodged surroundings, when the real thing is still around?
You need to come down to Mid-Essex and we'll take you to The Odd One Out in Colchester, I think you'd love it.
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I lived directly opposite the Tower Arms in South Weald near Brentwood for six months in 1986/7. That's a nice exterior, but it's been buggered about with inside. Like so many rural pubs, it's been on a rollercoaster of gastropub development, and is currently shut, although it's in a great location. http://www.essexlive.news/tower-arms-in-south-weald-for-sale-for-650-000/story-30030890-detail/story.html
I went to university in Canterbury, and we used to go out to various country pubs. I visited East Kent recently, and lots had gone, or were shadows of themselves. They can't compete with the big chains. Preston's pubs are supported by a large student population.
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The one in Forest Hill is an old cinema. It's interesting inside, though I would have preferred the cinema. The one in South Croydon is an old theatre. I'd have... you get the idea.
Beer, I suppose, is cheap and the selection is better than the average and they're a step above those cooking-lager-and-packet-of-crisps pubs that leave you wishing someone would put them out of their misery (it's behind you, what? a supermarket beer aisle, that's what). I'm not sure I'd go to one on purpose, don't let my avocado-dodging ways fool you, nor the fact that I ate so many fish fingers as a child that I'm now a faintly orange colour like I spent the first sixteen years of my life marinating in Tizer, I'm a snob. I had some food there once or twice, it's the sort of uninspired mass-produced microwave, oven, and deep-fried crap that really only works if you're desperate for calories which I don't think the average Wetherspoons customer is. Thinking about calories, I think think they print the calorie counts for each menu item. Who the fuck wants a menu that tells you that? You're faced with a choice of industrially processed food and what little joy they've not managed to squeeze from it they further sully by telling you just how fat it'll make you. But hey, you could just order some soggy broccoli to go with your tears. I suppose on the plus side they probably don't feel the need tell me about their artisanal ingredients and serve me a burger on a slate (from Cornwall, terroir is so important).
Mind you, their success is a reminder of how crap many pubs got (and still often are). They weren't exactly raising the bar, so to speak. That said, the pubs here in the deep, dark jungles of Surrey are so shit*, I think a Wetherspoons would be welcome.
*Slight lie, there's a decent micropub now that gets in some good stuff on keg, and the landlord was serving some it so cheap I had to tell him to check he wasn't undercharging, everything else seems to be chav-a-geddon.
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I went to university in Canterbury, and we sure to go out to various country pubs. I visited East Kent recently, and lots had gone, or were shadows of themselves. They can't compete with the big chains. Preston's pubs are supported by a large student population.
Do you remember the Red House in Tyler Hill? It was rebranded as the Tyler's Kiln a couple of years ago and given a hugely expensive makeover - running to several million, by all accounts. I assumed it must have been taken over by a chain but it I can't find any evidence of it being anything other than independently owned. It has no individual character at all, just a highly polished blandness that I find thoroughly disheartening.
And yet it gets rave reviews on TripAdvisor and is always packed, so clearly they are giving the punters what they want. Ho hum.
(ETA: just checked it on the Companies House website and it is indeed listed as privately owned. The owners appear to have a background in IT, which may explain the pub's slick yet vacuous website. Apparently, Wetherspoons has become a paradigm for aspiring young publicans.)
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Just did a quick count probably heading for 50
When I lived in NW10 25 years ago I waited ages for one to open and it hadn't by the time I moved; I finally got to go to it a few weeks ago to find it's closed as has the one in Neasden!
I think not even being worthy of a spoons is a bit of an damning verdict for any town.
Former buildings now spoons I've visited include a church, cinema, opera house (in Tunbridge Wells although rumour has it that it was more of a Burlesque dive when it opened in Victorian times) railway station car showroom jail police station post office and a garage
I generally avoid all other pubs these days if possible as the main reason for going is food and I'd rather get a meal and a pint of beer for a fiver than a pint of beer....
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Both Stanmore and North Finchley have lost their Spoon's. Maybe the locals aren't great beer drinkers.
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I think not even being worthy of a spoons is a bit of an damning verdict for any town.
I won't use the one in this town because I want to support the other pubs.
And I don't see the point of going out for a meal, then choosing a venue solely on the basis of cheapness.
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I wouldn't choose a Wetherspoon's pub for a romantic tête-à-tête but it would be the right place for a few friends to eat, meet and drink without spending a fortune.
We've lost various local venues now.
AIUI they have been popular watering holes for those doing various Audax rides.
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I went to university in Canterbury, and we sure to go out to various country pubs. I visited East Kent recently, and lots had gone, or were shadows of themselves. They can't compete with the big chains. Preston's pubs are supported by a large student population.
Do you remember the Red House in Tyler Hill? It was rebranded as the Tyler's Kiln a couple of years ago and given a hugely expensive makeover - running to several million, by all accounts. I assumed it must have been taken over by a chain but it I can't find any evidence of it being anything other than independently owned. It has no individual character at all, just a highly polished blandness that I find thoroughly disheartening.
And yet it gets rave reviews on TripAdvisor and is always packed, so clearly they are giving the punters what they want. Ho hum.
(ETA: just checked it on the Companies House website and it is indeed listed as privately owned. The owners appear to have a background in IT, which may explain the pub's slick yet vacuous website. Apparently, Wetherspoons has become a paradigm for aspiring young publicans.)
I remember it, from going in to UKC on the motorbike. We tended not to go down the Thornden Wood Road at night, after a few pints, with 6v Wipac lighting, for some reason. When I lived in Herne Bay we went to the Hampton, The Dolphin, the George IV and the Divers Arms.
On trips out on our Nortons, Triumphs and BSAs, we'd don our Barbours and Belstaffs and ride down the Thanet Way, to the Three Horseshoes at Staple Street, to sip Real Ale, and play Scrabble or Mastermind. It seems to have had a revival. It's probably now full of 60 year olds, doing exactly what we did when we were 20.
I was living in the past then, and now it's become the present.
http://www.threehorseshoesfaversham.co.uk
I could go back there tomorrow, but for the work I've taken on.
I'd go back to the Gate, at Boyden Gate as well.
http://www.gateinnchislet.co.uk
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AIUI they have been popular watering holes for those doing various Audax rides.
That's cos they're usually the cheapest place in town.
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AIUI they have been popular watering holes for those doing various Audax rides.
That's cos they're usually the cheapest place in town.
The ambience does usually surpass a garage forecourt or even a 24-hour Tesco, to be fair...
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I think not even being worthy of a spoons is a bit of an damning verdict for any town.
I won't use the one in this town because I want to support the other pubs.
And I don't see the point of going out for a meal, then choosing a venue solely on the basis of cheapness.
I don't choose spoons over restaurants of course they just offer good value for basic food they are never a proper meal out. In contrast food in most other pubs is extremely expensive and the portions are tiny (there seems to be a wish to leave the customer wanting a dessert)
Former premises I'd like to see spoonsified are a water tower petrol station lighthouse ferry and Homebase
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I have to confess that there's something dispiriting about pubs that shout 'two meals for £5.99' at me. Oh, and 'we'll give some booze to go with it.'
That said, I've been enough 'gastropubs' where the burger comes up at the better part of £15 (it's just fucking meat sandwich) and it still comes out greyer and chewier than a week old corpse. A cow died for this. I hope it haunts your kitchen and leaves behind a lot of ectoplasmic manure. Reminds me, I've not ranted about kasha for a while.
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I've just remembered that I've been to the one at the station in Aberystwyth a couple of times while waiting for trains.
I don't think I've ever been in one in an evening. My experiences are usually of the all day drinking clientele.
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The Weatherspoons in the centre of Southend is called "The Last Post". In another life, the building was a sorting office. It's huge. You can go in one end, walk all the way through, and come out in another road altogether.
I have been to the WS in Shoeburyness a couple of times this summer, when there has been a late morning tide on a Thursday. After a swim, my pal Mel and I have gone there for their ridiculously cheap curry. That one is nowhere near Tesco, but it is in the same complex as an enormous Asda which, if anything, is worse. ::-)
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Jeez... 'Spoons are such forgettable places, how can you possibly remember them all?
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I used to pop in the Tunbridge Wells one on the regular in my Saturday days. It's one of the more historic/glamorous ones. The ones near me in SE London tend to be a bit more run of the mill - but always busy so clearly filling a need.
@Chris - I've been in enough of them to know that some of them stand out in terms of architecture or setting in a way that McDonald's or Starbucks outlets don't. They are also good at supporting local breweries which adds variety. That said I wouldn't want them to be the only pub in (a) town.
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A year or two ago Canardly and I found ourselves in Carlisle. There were two Weatherspoons very close to one another, one of which seemed to be shut. There were 4 ales on offer. I'm trying to remember what they were, but none was brewed within 300 miles of Carlisle. They were something like Youngs, Doom Bar, Greene King and something from Hampshire, possibly Ringwood.
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They specialise in buying near to end date batches at a reduced rate. They know they can turn it over at their prices.
Beer. That is.
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Thinking about calories, I think think they print the calorie counts for each menu item. Who the fuck wants a menu that tells you that?
Audaxers.
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@Chris - I've been in enough of them to know that some of them stand out in terms of architecture or setting in a way that McDonald's or Starbucks outlets don't. They are also good at supporting local breweries which adds variety. That said I wouldn't want them to be the only pub in (a) town.
Don't get me wrong - they clearly fulfil a role; I've eaten in, and drunk in, many, as the need arose. But they're nearly always forgettable. Some aren't. The one in Bury St Edmunds is great; Sleaford - less so.
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Life is short and there are Wetherspoons in Hell. Leastways there was one in West Abyss the least time I was there. You don't want to meet the daytime drinkers there. There's damned and there's really fucking damned.
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They are also good at supporting local breweries
This is true. The Cushing usually has a good selection of local beers in its line-up, and for that I applaud them.
They're a bit like Halfords, though, in that it's pot luck if you find a branch that's run by people who know what they're doing, or care. I've had some very good pints in Wetherspoons, and some very bad ones. The beer in the Cushing is usually excellent, which is the only reason I ever go in there. I certainly don't go in there for the food, or the decor, or the company, or the atmosphere.
They specialise in buying near to end date batches at a reduced rate.
I've heard this rumour many times but I've never seen any evidence that it's true.
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On his pricing policy he laughed again and, before I could pose the question, said: “You’re going to ask me about ‘short dated beer’ – well, we don’t do it.” This is the persistent rumour that Wetherspoon buy beer that’s close to its sell-by date from brewers. “The beer we sell is the freshest you can get. We buy 90 to 95% per cent of Greene King’s production of Ruddles. Beers from micros sell faster than anyone else’s and we take beer from 50% of the country’s micros.
“Our margins are half what Greene King or other pubcos charge. We make less profit per barrel but we sell a lot of barrels per pub. So do Sam Smith’s and Joseph Holt but they have less ambitious opening plans.”
http://protzonbeer.co.uk/features/2012/09/16/beer-taxes-stop-crippling-pubs-says-w-spoon-boss-in-plea-to-government
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I'm just back from the Eagle and Child, in Leyland. A pub I've been going in since 1974. It's a 16th Century building by origin, and always been real ale. It used to be Burtonwood, a Warrington Brewery. It's now Marstons. I've always rated Pedigree, it's on a par with Bass as the archetypal Burton bitter.
Marstons are the unsung success story of the pub business. They're bigger than Wetherspoons, and have a more diverse estate, with proper old tied houses in their portfolio. They also do Sunday lunch destination pubs on retail parks.
https://www.ft.com/content/d9aab1b4-4795-3600-9b35-cc95cbfb4a9a
I want my regular beer to come from a large brewery in Burton-on-Trent, and to be consistently kept. I'm pretty happy with Marston's stewardship of th'Eagle. The Old Original Ship, in Leyland, is now an electrical wholesalers, and an ex-pub in Bamber Bridge is now a funeral directors, and another an accountant's office.
The worst I've seen was in Barnoldswick, where the superb, stone-built, Seven Stars is now also a funeral directors. https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.9152899,-2.1894783,3a,75y,315.21h,76.66t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s0bRhsVKGsFFmW9PBo9I7hQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en
Ironically, one source of income for the Eagle and Child is funeral teas, as it's next to the church, and there's huge amounts of free car-parking in the middle of Leyland.
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Thinking about calories, I think think they print the calorie counts for each menu item. Who the fuck wants a menu that tells you that?
Pizza Hut1 customers on this side of the pond, apparently.
1: There are some days when only the filthiest of Dirty Pizzas will suffice. Last week contained about three of them.
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The one in Forest Hill is an old cinema. It's interesting inside, though I would have preferred the cinema. The one in South Croydon is an old theatre. I'd have... you get the idea.
The only two I have ever been in: The Picture House Stafford and the one on the hill in Redditch (can't remember its name) both used to be cinema's. As I don't drink alcohol, I don't really have much call for entering pubs but I do have a thing for old cinema's, hence my interest.
This is a most interesting website, if you have some hours to spare.... http://cinematreasures.org/theaters?status=closed
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I go past there on a Sunday lunchtime and marvel at the couples staring glumly at their desultory lunch and pint of Stella, avoiding all eye contact and conversation.
Audaxers?
I reckon I've been in more than a dozen- but I'm neither a beer snob drinker, nor a hypocritical Waitrose-loving left winger who hates the working class jobless.
[I'm a different kind of hypocrit]
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I've survived the one in South Croydon
The Skylark?
I went there yesterday to see the local games club in progress (A friend told me that one lot would be playing Scythe, a game I own but haven’t played yet and I wanted to watch a few turns in progress to get an idea of the flow of the game and which of my friends would like it).
On the way in a bloke on the way out asked me “You’re not going in there are you?”
“Yes” I said because I was.
“I wouldn’t mate, it’s a c**t pub”.¹
I’m guessing he is barred or something. What on earth do you have to do to get barred from Wetherspoons?
1. Ironically one of the games group was the ex-partner of a friend of mine and I’ve been trying to avoid him for about sixteen years so the angry chap wasn’t 100% wrong.
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I want my regular beer to come from a large brewery in Burton-on-Trent, and to be consistently kept.
I want mine to come from a micro-brewery, as close to the pub as possible.
I love the ascent of the micro-brewery, it's made our Thursday evening pub rides a joy. No longer faced with the same 4 choices in every pub, most pubs around here now have an ever changing choice.
As for Wetherspoons, our local one doesn't inspire me to go in any more of them (although I have) although it's handy if you DO want to sit outside with a breakfast lager before the betting shop opens I suppose.
They do keep some nice/historic buildings open that an independent couldn't afford to. That in itself is a good thing and is one less Poundshop or boarded up shop.
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Yes, that's it, The Skylark. It's not that bad, it's the 'nice' part of Croydon. I'm not sure I'd brave the one on George St. I've had the occasional drink in there, mostly because the only other pubs in the area are the £6 for a pint of Stella variety or feature a changing selection of Croydon's wayward youth. Plus it has a handy toilet (for reasons, I occasionally swap buses at the stop outside, and there's a couple of decentish restaurants thereabouts).
Like I say, Wetherspoon's success seems to be mostly down the dire state of pubs in general, they don't really have to try that hard. Admittedly they do save a number of buildings from turning into another block of contemporary, luxurious lateral living spaces.
I'm liking our local micropub, offers a good selection of ever-changing beers. Those and taprooms are my bent these days, fresh, decent beer, at reasonable prices. I find ordinary pubs a bit grim. Cheap food and expensive generic beer. Or the trendy THUMP THUMP YOU WHAT? PARDON? THUMP THUMP.
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I've tried the two micropubs in Leyland, and they seem to sell beers in two styles; sludgy, or tasting of grapefruit. It's at room temperature, as they don't have cellars.
I assume that the glorified home-brewers who make this stuff are out to avoid comparison with the bitter from established breweries.
Pedigree is creeping up in price, I paid £2.80 a pint last night, a scandal.
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Yes, that's it, The Skylark. It's not that bad, it's the 'nice' part of Croydon.
The Dragon a bit further up the High Street is nicer but more expensive.
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Keykegs and a Lindr machines are a cheap way (well, <£1500) for micropubs to serve non-cask, chilled beer.
Does the world need more generic lager and bitter? I doubt it. Bring on the those grapefruit IPAs, I say.
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They specialise in buying near to end date batches at a reduced rate. They know they can turn it over at their prices.
Beer. That is.
I think that this is how they started out and it has remained as a generalisation of how they do business.
No company of that size could offer continuity to the huge number of customers by following that model on a long term basis. As they seem to be the major outlet for beers such as Doom Bar (which I only ever see in 'Spoons), my guess is that they have some pretty tasty deals with a few breweries and they perpetuate the myth to cover their tracks.
For the breweries the deals will not be overly profitable but they will secure a core volume of production meaning that fixed costs are covered.
The profit comes from selling to other outlets at higher prices than they would to Tim. W.
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Does the world need more generic lager and bitter? I doubt it. Bring on the those grapefruit IPAs, I say.
Tbh, I don't think the world needs any more generic grapefruit IPAs either.
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Does the world need more generic lager and bitter? I doubt it. Bring on the those grapefruit IPAs, I say.
Exactly this. I like the surprise of trying something new. "Ale of Wight" last week (OK, the Isle of Wight is not local ...but it's still Hampshire).
Grapefuit, Lemon, sludgy...bring 'em on.
Having said that I've never knowingly walked past a pint of Timothy Taylor's Landlord.
A couple of weeks ago we were camping in Devizes in Wiltshire which made Wadworth beers "local"..no bad thing.
My home town of Stockport gave me a taste for Mild (Robinsons Brewery) as I grew up although "Bitter" & "Mild" had been replaced by more marketable names, like "Dizzy Blonde", last time I was up there and I couldn't find one that was like the Mild of my formative (and rather blurry) years.
I'm proud to have a very high "Robinsons Number".
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my guess is that they have some pretty tasty deals with a few breweries and they perpetuate the myth to cover their tracks.
For the breweries the deals will not be overly profitable but they will secure a core volume of production meaning that fixed costs are covered.
The profit comes from selling to other outlets at higher prices than they would to Tim. W.
Wetherspoons' success is down to undercutting the traditional tied house model, where the brewery decides the price at which it sells beer to its landlords, usually somewhat inflated. And the landlord doesn't have any choice but to pay it.
Being freehouses, Wetherspoons can afford to shop around for the best deal, and being a large chain selling in vast quantities, can afford to cut their profit margins to the minimum. It's a simple yet highly effective business model.
The guff about buying short-dated beer just doesn't stand up to scrutiny - not on the scale that Wetherspoons operate at. They don't perpetuate the myth, they actively deny it, as per the interview I quoted earlier.
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my guess is that they have some pretty tasty deals with a few breweries and they perpetuate the myth to cover their tracks.
For the breweries the deals will not be overly profitable but they will secure a core volume of production meaning that fixed costs are covered.
The profit comes from selling to other outlets at higher prices than they would to Tim. W.
Wetherspoons' success is down to undercutting the traditional tied house model, where the brewery decides the price at which it sells beer to its landlords, usually somewhat inflated. And the landlord doesn't have any choice but to pay it.
Being freehouses, Wetherspoons can afford to shop around for the best deal, and being a large chain selling in vast quantities, can afford to cut their profit margins to the minimum. It's a simple yet highly effective business model.
The guff about buying short-dated beer just doesn't stand up to scrutiny - not on the scale that Wetherspoons operate at. They don't perpetuate the myth, they actively deny it, as per the interview I quoted earlier.
Exactly, Wetherspoons operate a "stack it high, sell it cheap" model. Nothing wrong with that at all, but people can't simultaneously complain about the village local closing down whilst supping in Wetherspoons. It's like shopping in Tesco and moaning there are no traditional Butchers any more.
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I'm happy if my brewery is visible from space, and has at least one cricket pitch. It comes from growing up surrounded by mega-factories.
(http://www.burton-on-trent.org.uk/wp-content/images/Above/1921Marstons2.jpg)
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Exactly, Wetherspoons operate a "stack it high, sell it cheap" model. Nothing wrong with that at all, but people can't simultaneously complain about the village local closing down whilst supping in Wetherspoons. It's like shopping in Tesco and moaning there are no traditional Butchers any more.
Village locals are often tied houses with little choice over the beers they sell, and no opportunity to compete with the likes of Wetherspoons on price. The death of many village pubs is down to short-sightedness on the part of the breweries that own them.
One of my locals was a Shepherd Neame tied house that always served an excellent pint and had a lovely atmosphere. They were also one of the few remaining pubs to still have a bat and trap pitch in the garden. Some people might be a bit sniffy about SN beers, but there's nothing wrong with a well-kept pint of Master Brew. But SN refused to invest any money in the place, and when the landlady of 30+ years retired, didn't bother to replace her, just sold it off.
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I'm happy if my brewery is visible from space, and has at least one cricket pitch. It comes from growing up surrounded by mega-factories.
Is that Bass?
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Thinking about calories, I think think they print the calorie counts for each menu item. Who the fuck wants a menu that tells you that?
Audaxers.
Exactly. Though I think 1000+ calories for scampi and chips was optimistic given the portion size.
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A few years ago spoons started selling Greene King IPA for 99p; GK were not best pleased as they charged upwards of £3 in their own tied houses. So they started brewing Ruddles again (for spoons only AFAIK) which is now their bottom end bitter in spoons along with Carlsberg and the preferred glug of the "day care" clientele
I remember Sainsbury's Rutland Bitter (Ruddles) which came in 2l brown PET bottles
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I have been blessed to have this place re-open, within about 40 minutes of lovely cycling from my house.
The Wonston Arms (https://www.facebook.com/thewonston/?rf=374477889281325). A boarded-up village pub, bought by Matt (a Hampshire local ...from Barrow-i-F) and run like a Local pub should be.
Our cycling club refer to it as "HQ" now. The only food is imported from a take-away or sold from a Mobile Chippy (on certain days only) but he changes the beers regularly and has about 90 Gins available.
It's visible from Space (using The Hubble) and is close to a Cricket Pitch ......probably (So ESL should be OK) but it's not tied to any Brewery thank God.
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Does the world need more generic lager and bitter? I doubt it. Bring on the those grapefruit IPAs, I say.
Tbh, I don't think the world needs any more generic grapefruit IPAs either.
Hmm, we might have reached peak grapefruit. That said Juicebox is rather lush.
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Lee. When you're up here in rainy land again, seek out a J W Lees pub and try a pint of 'Brewer's Dark'. A very acceptable dark mild.
When we're in the pub for the quiz, if we have a voucher we drink the bitter, if we have to pay we have the mild...
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I'm happy if my brewery is visible from space, and has at least one cricket pitch. It comes from growing up surrounded by mega-factories.
Is that Bass?
That one's Marston's, they brew Bass now anyway, and a lot else. They do lots of different 'craft style' beers, all of which taste of grapefruit for some weird reason.
The Marston's brewery is small beer compared to our local one in Samlesbury. Which has only been going for the last 45 years.
Sven Kerstens said: “It’s a proud day for everyone.
“Although technology has moved on the brewing process is much the same. But the consistency and quality of the beers is superb these days.
“You can taste it time after time . We produce some of the best beers in the world and we are proud that this brewery has been recognised as producing the best Stella in the world.”
Part of reason Samlesbury was chosen as site for the brewery is the quality of water nearby and in particular the underground wells.
It is reputed that the water in the wells has been found to be 10,000 years old.
The brewery can produce 3.5 million bottles, 1.7 million cans and 17,000 kegs of beer in a single day.
http://www.lep.co.uk/news/business/raise-a-glass-to-45-years-of-brewery-1-8481997
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Marston's are holding an event at their brewery in Burton on the 23rd. What could go wrong? http://www.marstonsbrewery.co.uk/brewery-bash/
Pedigree is the only beer still brewed by the Burton Union system, in wooden barrels, and Marston's are the world's largest brewer of cask ale.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marston%27s_Brewery#Marston.27s_Pedigree
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I'm happy if my brewery is visible from space, and has at least one cricket pitch. It comes from growing up surrounded by mega-factories.
Is that Bass?
That one's Marston's, they brew Bass now anyway, and a lot else. They do lots of different 'craft style' beers, all of which taste of grapefruit for some weird reason.
The Marston's brewery is small beer compared to our local one in Samlesbury. Which has only been going for the last 45 years.
Sven Kerstens said: “It’s a proud day for everyone.
“Although technology has moved on the brewing process is much the same. But the consistency and quality of the beers is superb these days.
“You can taste it time after time . We produce some of the best beers in the world and we are proud that this brewery has been recognised as producing the best Stella in the world.”
Part of reason Samlesbury was chosen as site for the brewery is the quality of water nearby and in particular the underground wells.
It is reputed that the water in the wells has been found to be 10,000 years old.
The brewery can produce 3.5 million bottles, 1.7 million cans and 17,000 kegs of beer in a single day.
http://www.lep.co.uk/news/business/raise-a-glass-to-45-years-of-brewery-1-8481997
That's not a brewery,it's a chemistry set.
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That's not a brewery,it's a chemistry set.
To be fair, that's all that any brewery is. The microbrewery revolution is based on the miniaturisation of large-scale brewing, and the same spreadsheets predict the viability of a pop-up alehouse, as define the chances of any new-build food-destination pub next to a branch of Tesco or B&Q.
Wetherspoons was seen as a maverick operation when it started.
The R&D departments of the mega-brewers can turn out craft beers with better results, and more consistency, than any of the microbreweries. I can see the appeal of 'small is beautiful', but I'd look behind the curtains to see who's pulling the strings.
On a brighter note, Wetherspoons are increasingly moving into the hotel trade, although they tend to be town centre, and not that cheap. https://www.jdwetherspoon.com/hotels
Marstons are also taking the same path, but some of theirs are on major road junctions. They have one in Thorne, which is well located for a number of Eastern England/Scotland rides. It has a Wetherspoons type of food offer, and in my opinion, the beer is better. Don't just think that Travelodge and Premier Inn are the only option.
http://www.marstonsinns.co.uk/inns/default.aspx?inDo=1&inFId=1&st=20
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I don't really like Wetherspoons. I can tolerate them - which I often do, seeing as so many people on this very forum seem to like them, but I wouldn't choose to go to one if it was my choice.
The one in Chelmsford is possibly the most desolate, depressing and soulless pub I have ever had the misfortune to set foot in. There actually used to be two, but spoons sold the other one as its location drew in all the voilent alcoholics from the council estate. It was a blood bath in there. You know it must be bad if Wetherspoons actually get rid of a pub.
Shitholes IME....
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I regularly pass a spoons locally. From early in the morning there is a whole rank of mobility scooters scattered across the pavement whilst their owners tussle to get to the bar.
Most unseemly.
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Spoons are good for low-budget meals and hot drinks.
They provide warm shelter.
Pensioners aren't fools and few public libraries have survived the cuts.
They're not a bad place to sit if you can hardly afford to heat your home.
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To be fair, that's all that any brewery is. The microbrewery revolution is based on the miniaturisation of large-scale brewing, and the same spreadsheets predict the viability of a pop-up alehouse, as define the chances of any new-build food-destination pub next to a branch of Tesco or B&Q.
The founder of Otter Brewery down here learnt his trade in Burton.
Fullers operate quite a few good pubs, mostly in the London area. They have an eye for conservation which means that historical interiors are restored rather than butchered.
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had a pint in the fullers pub at Kings Cross yesterday, very good it was too. Good selection of in-house and guest ales, maybe London prices, but much steeper than 'Spoons.
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I don't really like Wetherspoons. I can tolerate them - which I often do, seeing as so many people on this very forum seem to like them, but I wouldn't choose to go to one if it was my choice.
Shitholes IME....
I'm no fan of them but I have to admit I've been in a couple of decent ones without realising they were 'spoons.
The Andover "branch" is totally soulless. A bland building, formerly the local newspaper office, with little to no natural light or ambience, it's an Alcohol vending facility, nothing more than that.
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The Black Horse, Preston sounds brilliant, I love that sort of pub.
yes it's wonderful. Though last time I was in they had, horror of horrors, stopped serving Old Tom on draught. Criminal.
You could sit with a pint* of that or more on a wintery afternoon in that wonderful interior and contemplate the world, its glories and idiocies, while floating to heaven.
* they seemed to sometimes have a house rule to only serve it in halves but would sometimes give me a special dispensation.
Ps - don't be tempted to get up to any high jinks, sexual or otherwise, upstairs. Walls have eyes.
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On the original post and point telstarbox i am impressed. Very.
I have been in a fair few north and south and find them handy when out and about in odd towns and when cycle touring.
Well more than that, I am a fan for all sorts of reasons.
Not sure i need a spreadsheet but i would be interested in your top 10.
I can recommend this thing of wonder on a sunny day on the sun terrace:
https://deserter.co.uk/2017/09/the-biggest-spoons-in-the-world/
On the same cycling trip i popped in the one in Margate. Characterless downstairs but a half decent lounge upstairs with a great view of Margate beach. I had a nice hour or so up there drinking nice beer, filling up on cycling snack, catching up on the wifi and recharging my front light. All alone. I asked one of the barmaids why no one was up there and she said the regulars didn't like to walk too far for their beer :)
Finally, am encouraged by the relative lack of snobbery in the thread. I asked a purely techie question about a spoons POI file a while ago and some of the usual sniffy rot was trotted out. You can tell a lot about some folk from some of their views on spoons. Even if they like to think of themselves as enlightened lefties.
Long may they prosper.
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. You know it must be bad if Wetherspoons actually get rid of a pub.
Shitholes IME....
For your information spoons have been shutting a few pubs (while opening others) lately for all sorts of reasons.
Perhaps you should look a little deeper.
They have been trying to dispose of the lease on one of my favourite ones.
Which is very definitely not a shithole.
In fact their business issues with it are to do with complications caused by the fact that it is a rather wonderful listed building.
Which they helped preserve.
And no i'm not telling you where it is in case you bring a bad smell with you and spoil its ambience and the relaxed live and let live attitude of its extremely mixed and often very interesting clientele
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And no i'm not telling you where it is in case you bring a bad smell with you and spoil its ambience and the relaxed live and let live attitude of its extremely mixed and often very interesting clientele
Why on Earth would I be bothered with where it is? "I'm not telling you where it is" is like saying "I'm not telling you where I took a wild turd".
As for bad smells - the cheap beer, the awful food, drunks and pensioners piss should keep any sane person firmly in the proper pub down the road....
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On the same cycling trip i popped in the one in Margate. Characterless downstairs but a half decent lounge upstairs with a great view of Margate beach. I had a nice hour or so up there drinking nice beer, filling up on cycling snack, catching up on the wifi and recharging my front light. All alone. I asked one of the barmaids why no one was up there and she said the regulars didn't like to walk too far for their beer :)
The Mechanical Elephant? I've been in there a few times but I didn't even know it had an upstairs!
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In our local 'spoons recently a mother changed an infant's nappy and left the soiled one ON THE DINNER PLATE . . . :sick:
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I go past there to get our dinners at Appleby's - more likely to have eaten the child and left the wrapper on the plate.
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I think I've been to 2 Wetherspoons pubs. it's hard to summarise either. They both started out as pubs I'd go to, before becoming pubs I'd been to. One was a bank. Despite how I feel about banks, it was a lovely building.
So, anyway: 2.
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I wouldn't generally choose to go one these days, mainly because I object to giving Tim Martin my money, but on the whole they're fine, especially when compared to Harvester's or other chain pubs. There's a decent range of beer, passably kept, it's cheap, and the buildings are often interesting. I wouldn't go to a city-centre one on a Friday or Saturday night, but then I'd avoid other chain pubs as well. As for the food, I don't understand the snobbery - it's not exactly great, but it's no worse than anywhere else using the same boil-in-the-bag outside-catering fare, and what do you expect for five or six quid?
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In our local 'spoons recently a mother changed an infant's nappy and left the soiled one ON THE DINNER PLATE . . . :sick:
Are you sure it's not Bobb's patent 'wild turd'?
The best reason to go to Wetherspoons seems to be that it's not as bad as many of the alternatives, which I suspect says a lot about the British pub industry. There's two pubs in town and one is middling (they have a nice beer garden in summer, but it soon becomes a fog of cigarette smoke, so no thanks) and the other is one of those that seems to change its name every six months sells Peroni for six quid and seems to attract all the feral youth. We only went once and I swear there were more kids in there than the local school. It might have been the local school.
There's a couple more spread around (and consequently require driving). I can't say any are superfantastic, mostly indifferent pub food and an occasional interesting selection of beer. Of course, I'm a snob. But I can't say my heart flutters when I see a board advertising two meals for £5.99.
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The Mechanical Elephant? I've been in there a few times but I didn't even know it had an upstairs!
Ah you must have been one of the ones chained to the beertaps downstairs.
Here you are:
View from a table on the thin terrace outside the lounge.
www.flickr.com/photos/37034456@N06/37479763644/in/dateposted-public/ (http://www.flickr.com/photos/37034456@N06/37479763644/in/dateposted-public/)
In truth i was in there twice. Once all wonderfully alone, second time a couple were having a quiet chat on the sofas.
Twas during their recent beer festival, but as an open minded writer from the telegraph once said, they are a permanent beer festival on the high street. That's what keeps me going back. May return with more comments and maybe extra pic later.
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I wouldn't generally choose to go one these days, mainly because I object to giving Tim Martin my money, but on the whole they're fine, especially when compared to Harvester's or other chain pubs. There's a decent range of beer, passably kept, it's cheap, and the buildings are often interesting. I wouldn't go to a city-centre one on a Friday or Saturday night, but then I'd avoid other chain pubs as well. As for the food, I don't understand the snobbery - it's not exactly great, but it's no worse than anywhere else using the same boil-in-the-bag outside-catering fare, and what do you expect for five or six quid?
Thanks for the positive tone of your post but got to stress that they are on totally different planet to harvester. Does anyone go in them for beer? The range, and ever changing range, of beer in spoons is excellent. And very well kept. They often refuse to serve a pint they don't have confidence in. And they let you taste the beer which is mightily civilised and welcome since i very often don't know the beers. Agree with you about the food. No one would claim it is a great gastronomic experience but it is damn handy in a strange town. As for the snobbery about the food, agree with you but in this me me social media self image world some folk clearly feel the need to broadcast thier position in the world and fine fine taste. And very probably some just don't like appreciate good beer and have other interests.
And if anyone can remind me how to embed an image in a post i'll buy them a spoons pint.
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I wouldn't generally choose to go one these days, mainly because I object to giving Tim Martin my money, but on the whole they're fine, especially when compared to Harvester's or other chain pubs. There's a decent range of beer, passably kept, it's cheap, and the buildings are often interesting. I wouldn't go to a city-centre one on a Friday or Saturday night, but then I'd avoid other chain pubs as well. As for the food, I don't understand the snobbery - it's not exactly great, but it's no worse than anywhere else using the same boil-in-the-bag outside-catering fare, and what do you expect for five or six quid?
Thanks for the positive tone of your post but got to stress that they are on totally different planet to harvester. Does anyone go in them for beer? The range, and ever changing range, of beer in spoons is excellent. And very well kept. They often refuse to serve a pint they don't have confidence in. And they let you taste the beer which is mightily civilised and welcome since i very often don't know the beers. Agree with you about the food. No one would claim it is a great gastronomic experience but it is damn handy in a strange town or when you are too lazy to cook and fancy a bite with your fine pint. As for the snobbery about the food, agree with you but in this me me social media self image world some folk clearly feel the need to broadcast thier position in the world and fine fine taste. And very probably some just don't like appreciate good beer and have other interests.
And if anyone can remind me how to embed an image in a post i'll buy them a spoons pint.
Ps, still waiting for OPs top ten from that mightily impressive resesrch.
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IME beer in spoons is as variable as anywhere else. E.g. I remember being terribly excited to hear that the new spoons opening in Horley would be smoke free. After six months barely able to contain my excitement The Jack Fairman opened, after 3 visits I gave up and put up with the smoke elsewhere for that last year or so before it was banned. In the years from then to leaving Horley I went to the Jack maybe 3 more times and the beer was rank every time. Friends who still live in Horley say it is just as bad to this day. That is the stand out worst by a mile.
At the other end of the scale the cellar keeper at the Herbert Wells in Woking is a god of his craft.
35% of the visits to The Rodboro Buildings in Guildford will see a pint sent back but there's always enough alternatives.
Mostly though in a spoons I find a good selection1 2 and it's perfectly decent beer.
I've turned around and walked out of pubs many times in my life upon finding only electrically delivered generic beer. I've never walked out of a spoons. If you want a guaranteed shit selection of shit beer go to an O'Neill's
1 I have to mention at the point the Sovereigns also in Woking. 8 hand pull pumps and always well kept yet it's always such a disappointing place to visit. There will be Doom, Harveys, and Pride on plus four others indistinguishable from those three.
2 I also have to mention the 3 Horseshoes at Irons Bottom. 8 hand pulls again of which 4 never changed, Tanglefoot, Doom, Harveys and I can't recall the 4th. Of the other pumps minimum 3 would be on serving my absolute favourite beer - one I've not seen before. Lots of lovely lights in the summer and darks in the winter. Terrific pub that one.
W= around 20 at a guess.
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Too lazy to google sore.
Those pubs you mentioned spoons?
Spoons pubs generally decent to great for choice, and often, despite the fact that some folk see them as A CHAIN often have local beers. Was in (ok outside) a norwich one on a cycling trip recently and they had a nice beer from a norfolk brewer which i had only had once before at what was virtually the brewery tap.
Doom vastly overated over marketed (hint, it has about as many cornwall links as i have) beer which they try to charge more for. Always amuses saddens me that folks will go in a spoons and pay more for global lager fizz when they could drown in british beer wonder for less dosh. Maybe they are the relatives of similarly doltish folks who frequent high class hotel bars - in my experience often palaces of bad beer.
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Yeah sorry, not clear.
Jack Fairman, Herbert Wells & Rodoboro Buildings = Spoons
3 Horseshoes & Soverieigns not.
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I've been to many more 'Spoons than I would have liked to. Viz, none. It really is a last resort.
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Spoons pubs generally decent to great for choice, and often, despite the fact that some folk see them as A CHAIN often have local beers.
That's no guarantee the beer will be kept or served in good condition. As noted earlier, the beer quality in the Spoons in Whitstable seems quite reliable, but the two Spoons in Canterbury are wildly variable in my experience - admittedly I've not been in either for some time, but that's largely because I've had very disappointing experiences in both in the past and Canterbury has plenty of alternatives serving reliably good quality beer in a more pleasant environment so there's no impetus to return.
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One of Wetherspoon's "customs" is to localise the pub with a connection to a local character or building
They then have "educational" displays linking that with other local history
In Fareham we have the "Lord Arthur Lee"
Named after a local who had a glowing military and political career Amongst his other acts gave his country house "Chequers" for the use of the Prime Minister for meetings in a more informal environment
The one thing they don't mention is that he was a supporter of the temperance movement
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... and do you get points for driving in?
A drinker thrown out of a pub took revenge by smashing his car through the front doors and driving around inside the bar, causing £300,000 worth of damage.
Customers dived for cover as Stephen Lewry reversed his Vauxhall Cavalier into the pub and crashed into the bar.
Today Lewry, 36, admitted in court that he drove into the Lord Arthur Lee pub in Fareham, Hampshire, destroying tables, chairs and glasses.
Lewry had been barred from the JD Wetherspoon pub the night before for begging for drinks from other customers. Before he crashed his car into the pub he had broken 12 of the building's windows with a large weightlifter's dumbbell.
Witness Chris Diamond, 42, was in the bar at the time. He said: "It was terrifying. The car flew across the entrance and smashed into the bar.
"He was driving around the pub for what seemed like five minutes, pulling three-point turns and taking out pillars.
"I have never seen anything like it. If the pub had been busier he would have killed someone."
It happened half an hour after opening, and only four customers were in the pub. None of them was injured.
Lewry, of Fareham, attempted to escape from the pub in West Street but members of the public restrained him until the police arrived.
Appearing at Portsmouth Crown Court, he pleaded guilty to four charges relating to the incident in May including two of damaging property being reckless as to whether life was endangered, and one of dangerous driving. The case was adjourned for reports and Lewry was also placed under an interim driving disqualification.
His driving could see him jailed when he reappears at Portsmouth Crown Court for sentencing in October.
After today's hearing, Inspector Simon Wrigglesworth of Fareham Police said: "It was a completely bizarre incident and a very serious and frightening one.
"It caused complete mayhem.
"Had there been more people in the pub there was a distinct possibility that someone could have been killed."
Alan Shorthouse, 23, duty manager at the Lord Arthur Lee, arrived at the scene 15 minutes after Lewry rammed his car into the building.
He recalled: "When I got to the pub there was a car in the middle of the room and wood was everywhere. You couldn't tell whether it was chairs or tables. It was all smashed up. It was horrendous."
Mr Shorthouse said one of the members of duty staff was so traumatised she asked for a transfer.
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(Wonders whether Robyn Hitchcock had this in mind when he wrote "The Wreck Of The Arthur Lee")
["No. No, he did not." - Ed.]
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I've been to many more 'Spoons than I would have liked to. Viz, none. It really is a last resort.
So you have never been to one of these resorts?
Your considered opinion is based on what then?
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One of Wetherspoon's "customs" is to localise the pub with a connection to a local character or building
They then have "educational" displays linking that with other local history
Yes they can be quite interesting/fill an odd spare moment in a strange town. The Denmark Hill one has an info panel on Havelock Ellis and Ruskin amongst others though they skip over the influence of the former's nurse on his sexual pysche.
By the by, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor at the height of their global fame went for a sunday lunchtime drink at that pub. Pre spoons of course butt the beer is probably better now.
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By the by, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor at the height of their global fame went for a sunday lunchtime drink at that pub. Pre spoons of course butt the beer is probably better now.
I bet if it had been a spoons back then, Richard would have fingered Liz in the bogs before returning to his pint - downing it, then vomiting on the carpet.
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I've been to many more 'Spoons than I would have liked to. Viz, none. It really is a last resort.
So you have never been to one of these resorts?
Your considered opinion is based on what then?
Zero is the number I wish I had been to. Umpteen is the number visited.
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One of Wetherspoon's "customs" is to localise the pub with a connection to a local character or building
They then have "educational" displays linking that with other local history
In Fareham we have the "Lord Arthur Lee"
Named after a local who had a glowing military and political career Amongst his other acts gave his country house "Chequers" for the use of the Prime Minister for meetings in a more informal environment
The one thing they don't mention is that he was a supporter of the temperance movement
In Streatham, they have named one after a local artist, Holland Tringham.
Mr Tringham suffered some calamitous life events, and became an alcoholic before ending up in an asylum.
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I just looked up Thomas Ingoldsby, after whom one of the two Spoons in Canterbury is named. Apparently he's the fictional author of a collection of myths and ghost stories.
I don't know what his connection is with the building that now bears his name. It used to be a carpet showroom before Spoons bought it and it still has all the atmosphere of a carpet showroom.
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The author was a cleric born in Kent. Probably Canterbury, but I don't recall.
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The author was a cleric born in Kent. Probably Canterbury, but I don't recall.
He's linked to Tappington Manor, apparently, which is in Denton, just a few miles down the road from Canterbury.
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Blimey The Resolution in Middlesbrough is grim, properly squelching carpet. Mind the whole town is a shit hole so it fits in perfectly. Beer is great though and £1.75 a pint. Only went there as I needed a small feed, spoons is good when you don't want a full meal.
The Infant Hercules (micro pub) is lovely in every respect.
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I've been to many more 'Spoons than I would have liked to. Viz, none. It really is a last resort.
So you have never been to one of these resorts?
Your considered opinion is based on what then?
Zero is the number I wish I had been to. Umpteen is the number visited.
Well in view of your (clarified) extensive experience, i am tempted to ask for individual branch details. But since your experience seems to have been so universally miserable I musk ask why.
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The author was a cleric born in Kent. Probably Canterbury, but I don't recall.
He's linked to Tappington Manor, apparently, which is in Denton, just a few miles down the road from Canterbury.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Barham
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The author was a cleric born in Kent. Probably Canterbury, but I don't recall.
He's linked to Tappington Manor, apparently, which is in Denton, just a few miles down the road from Canterbury.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Barham
Not to be confused with Richard Denton who lived in Barham.
#localhumour
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I've been to many more 'Spoons than I would have liked to. Viz, none. It really is a last resort.
So you have never been to one of these resorts?
Your considered opinion is based on what then?
Zero is the number I wish I had been to. Umpteen is the number visited.
Well in view of your (clarified) extensive experience, i am tempted to ask for individual branch details. But since your experience seems to have been so universally miserable I musk ask why.
Shite food, bigoted owner, poor employment practices, shite food, smell of stale beer, sticky carpets, shite food, entrance full of fag fumes, overall ambience of despair...
Tbf, and in the context of the discussion upthread, I am teetotal, and therefore have no experience nor opinion on the beers available.
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I have experience of two.
Moon on the Hill in Sutton was one of my formative drinking haunts. Theakston's XB was consumed and fun was had, at least until the smoking section (we all sat in the non smoking bit) randomly split into two parties and started throwing furniture at each other. Not that this is abnormal for pubs in Sutton- its only saving grace being that it is not Croydon.
JJ Loons in Tooting was one of the many pubs we visited whilst at Uni. Mainly for the cheap booze and 2 for £5 minted lamb burgers- romantic dinner as always. It was mainly frequented by the residents of Springfield Hospital, the local mental health establishment and therefore could be quite colourful. They often went there to meet the local drug dealer to buy crack and cannabis. They would smoke the crack in the car park before taking the cannabis back to enjoy on the wards. Our mental healthcare at its best.
I can't say I have been in one since.
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Tbf, and in the context of the discussion upthread, I am teetotal, and therefore have no experience nor opinion on the beers available.
But what do you think of the food? No sitting on the fence now...
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More of a vintage inn drinker myself. I don't recall entering a wetherspoon. Ever.
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Shite food, bigoted owner, poor employment practices, shite food, smell of stale beer, sticky carpets, shite food, entrance full of fag fumes, overall ambience of despair...
Tbf, and in the context of the discussion upthread, I am teetotal, and therefore have no experience nor opinion on the beers available.
Well honest of you to eventually say so but in view of the fact that you don't like beer, fresh, stale or otherwise, I'm not sure that pub criticism is your patch.
A very strong and vulgarly expressed critiique of the food which I find bizarre/odd - no one on here has claimed it is restaurant food and few would. It's just handy at times. With a good pint. And in truth most of it is stuff a large part of the Brit population, and doubtless a fair lot of folk on here, eat day to day - supermarket packaged food. And Chicken. Eggs. Bacon. Baked beans, various sandwiches, steak and chips, jacket potatoes etc etc etc. Hardly deserves the S word.
>>bigoted owner
A serious charge.
Can you substantiate this?
As a it's a publicly listed company he isn't the "owner" surely?
By the by, telstarbox is clearly keeping his list to himself.
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http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/wetherspoons-pub-deansgate-joshua-fox-8388002
http://www.mancunianmatters.co.uk/content/271159477-%E2%80%98i-know-what-you-queers-are-like%E2%80%99-manchester-wetherspoons-barmaid-refuses-serve
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/uk/irish-travellers-win-case-against-jd-wetherspoon-1.2216603
https://network23.org/wsol/2014/10/29/pubs-to-avoid-prince-of-wales-st-marys-street-cardiff-welcomes-fascists-and-turns-away-the-opposition/
https://network23.org/wsol/2014/12/30/an-open-letter-to-jd-wetherspoon/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3205984/Horrified-Wetherspoon-customer-finds-racist-Lord-Kitchener-style-poster-pub-s-noticeboard-telling-Muslims-f-countries.html
http://www.itv.com/news/2015-05-29/wetherspoons-in-10k-payout-after-another-pub-discriminates-against-travellers/
https://twitter.com/peteiwwcymru/status/526034460320747523
http://zelo-street.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/wetherspoon-boss-all-wind-and-piss.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/comment/wetherspoon-boss-tim-martin-should-shut-up-and-pay-his-taxes-a7622736.html
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<non-Wetherspoon content>
Wall of links from Clarion, clicked on the network23 at random and... "Wessex Solidarity", that's probably the first time outside Thomas Hardy I've seen "Wessex" used in non- let alone anti-EDL type way!
</sup up>
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I've only been in about 3 Spoonses but I'd say the beer is good (and sometimes very cheap), the food is not good but it's not expensive, served quickly and predictably. Atmosphere varies but reliable pubs for a mid-audax feed rather than a pub to visit as a pub.
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A very strong and vulgarly expressed critiique of the food which I find bizarre/odd
What I find bizarre/odd is how keen you are to defend Wetherspoons against dissenting opinion. I'm starting to wonder if you're not a disinterested party...
Whatever you think of his choice of words, Clarion's opinion on the food is not in my view unjustified. The few times I've eaten in a Wetherspoons I've found the quality to be below even the low standard I was expecting. I understand the breakfasts are popular with some of my fellow audaxers but I would need to be in a situation with no/worse alternatives before I would consider eating in a Wetherspoons again. (Based on my experience, if the choice was between Wetherspoons and McDonald's, I'd go for the golden arches every time.)
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http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/wetherspoons-pub-deansgate-joshua-fox-8388002
http://www.mancunianmatters.co.uk/content/271159477-%E2%80%98i-know-what-you-queers-are-like%E2%80%99-manchester-wetherspoons-barmaid-refuses-serve
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/uk/irish-travellers-win-case-against-jd-wetherspoon-1.2216603
https://network23.org/wsol/2014/10/29/pubs-to-avoid-prince-of-wales-st-marys-street-cardiff-welcomes-fascists-and-turns-away-the-opposition/
https://network23.org/wsol/2014/12/30/an-open-letter-to-jd-wetherspoon/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3205984/Horrified-Wetherspoon-customer-finds-racist-Lord-Kitchener-style-poster-pub-s-noticeboard-telling-Muslims-f-countries.html
http://www.itv.com/news/2015-05-29/wetherspoons-in-10k-payout-after-another-pub-discriminates-against-travellers/
https://twitter.com/peteiwwcymru/status/526034460320747523
http://zelo-street.blogspot.co.uk/2016/11/wetherspoon-boss-all-wind-and-piss.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/comment/wetherspoon-boss-tim-martin-should-shut-up-and-pay-his-taxes-a7622736.html
Care to answer the points and use your own words?
The vast majority of those bits don't relate to the "owner" as you call him.
The wessex piece is clearly fevered to say the least. I've rarely seen such blatant editorialising.
I see no signs of "bigotry" from the owner.
Hell one of the blog writers even seems to be blaming mr martin for making him drink quickly. I trust this wasn't you.
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Indeed, citoyen, many pubs can provide decent food (even if only Brake Bros fare). Marstons seem to be particularly good in this respect. And even Toby Carvery has more vegetarian options than Spoons. As for children's menu - forget it!
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So, evidence that the chain is a recidivist racist, that the working conditions are terrible, and that they discriminate against gay people is just coincidence across the several branches involved?
OK, Martin only owns 25% of the business these days, but he is certainly its controlling influence, and is completely devoid of reason in his frequent fevered Brexit pronouncements
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A very strong and vulgarly expressed critiique of the food which I find bizarre/odd
What I find bizarre/odd is how keen you are to defend Wetherspoons against dissenting opinion. I'm starting to wonder if you're not a disinterested party...
You think i am mr martin? Or have shares? Or handle their PR? None true.
I just like good beer. And if it's cheap all well and good.
They serve it well.
I like their easygoing air.
If you need to plug something in for a while they are easygoing about this and their new wonder in ramsgate even has power sockets and usb charging points at many of its tables.
I am also aware that there is abroad what can only be called snobbery about the places.
Which i find sad. And worse.
My local one is a worthy successor to the now largely lost idea of the "local". All sorts in there.all ages, range of backgrounds, all races, clubs having post meeting feeds there, kids running around.
So no conspiracy or hidden agenda whatsoever.
Oh, their cider festival, tbough it was rather weak this year.
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So, evidence that the chain is a recidivist racist, that the working conditions are terrible, and that they discriminate against gay people is just coincidence across the several branches involved?
OK, Martin only owns 25% of the business these days, but he is certainly its controlling influence, and is completely devoid of reason in his frequent fevered Brexit pronouncements
No evidence for him being racist.
Ah, brexit. I read one of his bits in the runup. There was nothing racist in it as i recall. He's entitled to his opinions. As was tony benn who he quoted a fair bit in it.
I do recall that he didn't use that awful word chav. Which you have in the past.
I fear that there is a circularity to all this.
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Some people like 'spoons. Some people don't. I wouldn't go to war over it. They vary, I'm sure. I wouldn't class them as a destination. I imagine that a faux posho like me would be on the menu in some of them. They'd smell the stink of Waitrose on me.
I celebrated my entry into debt bondage at The Capitol in Forest Hill (we arranged our first ever mortgage in the KFH branch down the road, it was one of the dullest experiences of my life). We often commiserated there after another evening or Saturday afternoon viewing houses that barely qualified as habitable. Intact roofs aren't fucking optional.
I think we should agree on Tim Martin being a bit of a cunt though.
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A very interesting piece by the FT on how Spoons targets its prices by location (incredibly precisely & in complex ways): https://amp.ft.com/content/acf3d457-c787-3a51-b265-cb607c7e2ecb