Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: JD Wetherspoon

Maldon – Rose and Crown Pub (JD Wetherspoon)

As Liam and I were coming back from London we did our usual thing of visiting a pub from the JD Wetherspoon chain which I haven’t visited before. The Rose and Crown, located on the town’s main road of the High Street has the bonus of being a Good Beer Guide listed pub to add to my little collection.

The pub was operated by Punch Taverns until 2013, but was taken over by JD Wetherspoon in 2014 (opening in June 2015 after they had spent £1.6 million on the redevelopment) and they did an extensive amount of archaeological work and they’ve put a lot of that on-line, once again one of the few pub companies that takes the heritage of their venues very seriously. The structural heart of the building is from the sixteenth century, but it was extensively remodelled in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It has been a licensed premises since around the 1780s, although there’s not a vast amount of information I can find about its history over recent decades.

Part of the beer selection, there were a choice of six different ales when I visited, although there were no darker beers. I liked they must have got bored when putting the little jars with colour samples of the beer in front of the taps.

The rest of the bar and advertising that from this week they’re selling 1664 and Poretti, although it’s unlikely I could taste these riveting lagers from each other. Anyway, there’s something for everyone….

A taster of the Midnight Bell beer from Leeds Brewery which I’ve had before a few times, a dark and malty ale which is rather agreeable.

Half a pint of the Copper Cascade from Stewart Brewing, which I haven’t had before, but was clean, malty, refreshing and it had a slight taste of toffee.

The side of the pub and there’s a beer garden at the rear. The staircase to the toilets is quite narrow and relatively steep, I suspect they must have found it quite a challenge to insert that sensitively into the historic building and there are numerous low ceilings dotted around the place that taller customers need to be careful of.

Since this is a JD Wetherspoon venue, I thought I’d see if there were any reviews that would surprise and delight me. The pub is rated towards the higher end of the spectrum for pubs in the chain and I got a positive vibe about the arrangements. It wasn’t spotlessly clean, but the team members were friendly and engaging.

“Used to be good, I do believe it’s a case of which manager is on, my order was taken correctly then on two occasions it’s came out wrong , had to watch my friends eat , 25 mins later mine comes out. I didn’t eat it as i felt awkward and stressed because of service. No refund given, shame”

I wouldn’t have felt awkward….

“the pub not very comfortable Atmospheric should really be sold on to a freeholders that runs a grate pub with brilliant food and can attract the best out of people not the worst catal grid experience roll on new owners good bye nice but dim tim the present owner”

Hmmmm.

“Staff are dreadful. One of them is a complete liar & behaves inappropiateley. Dreadful place.”

I wish people would give more information when they post reviews like this, a bit of drama is always exciting.

“Rubbish beer, rubbish service by surly children. There are far better pubs in Maldon, spend a bit more and enjoy those instead of this place.”

Rubbish beer? Hmmmm.

“I had to take the seal of the source”

I don’t know how some people manage to be so brave.

“Full of men”

Occasionally this happens in any pub….

“Didn’t go there”

Very helpful.

“My partner food had aluminium foil stuck on the bottom of it, do your staff know how dangerous Ingestion of aluminium foil is !!!!!!! Perhaps Tim Martin would like to reply”

Tim Martin didn’t reply and there was a photo of the foil which was an absolutely tiny piece. And it’s not dangerous at all, it’s non-toxic.

Anyway, I digress once again. I liked this pub, it had a sense of history to it, the team members were friendly and the beers were well-kept. We didn’t have a need to eat on this occasion, but the food coming out look well presented and everything felt well managed.

April 13, 2025
Paignton – Talk of the Town (JD Wetherspoon)

I didn’t get a photo of the exterior, so I’m using one from Google Streetview instead. I hadn’t initially intended on coming here, but Ross went off on some expedition and so that gave me a chance to catch up with some things such as this riveting blog. JD Wetherspoon took this pub over in 2011 and, slightly unusually for them, they kept the name. I’ll use their version of the venue’s history:

“The original Talk of the Town was opened in 1996 by the Elisseos family. The family’s connection with this site goes back to 1945, when Alexander Elisseos bought the Argosy Café and renamed it the Actina Café. The Actina Café occupied 46–48 Torbay Road. In 1959 Mr Elisseos bought the neighbouring Bayside Guest House at 50–52 Torbay Road and converted it into the Hamby cafeteria. Alexander’s son Perry, his daughter Mrs Sandy Purland and his wife Dorothy Elisseos combined both venues in 1995–6 to create The Talk of the Town.”

I’ve been here three times now and this is a photo from a few weeks ago, one of the occasional times that it’s been quiet enough to take a photo without getting people in it. The team members all seemed friendly and on my most recent visit I could only find a table with heaps of empty glasses, but they were quickly and pro-actively removed and everything cleaned up.

This is the Scrum-Half Nectar from Summerskills Brewery, just £1.09 for half a pint. It was light and malty, smooth with a slight taste of toffee. There’s normally around six real ales available here, alongside numerous craft beers and the myriad of other food and drink they sell.

It has about average reviews on-line for a JD Wetherspoon outlet as I couldn’t help myself from checking on Google.

“Lovely place, very busy and great vibe! Prices excellent. But whoever is cooking the curry, uses way too many spices. I ordered a vindaloo, my partner ordered the tikka masala. Both were almost inedible. Way too many chillies and hot curry spices. I’m one for very hot food, and ordered vindaloo many times, but this was over the top. No flavour, just a mouth on fire. Would definitely go back for the atmosphere and service, and other food which is usually good, but won’t order the curry again between us.”

I’m not convinced that the chef out the back has much say in how many chillies are in the dish and I’m struggling to see how the tikka masala would have been so spicy that it was inedible….

“Food and service excellent but all was spoiled because of a table of 2 females and 1 male and young child who never stopped crying. The adults in the end took in turns taking young child out of building walking it up and down for 5mins at a time and while this was going on the adults were still able to order on their app beer and wine. There was no consideration for other people many who were diners having to put up with constant child crying like what happened today. I have been in other wetherspoons where only 2drinks were allowed per person where children were present. Why on earth was this allowed to go on for amount of time that it did??? We come out to have drink something to eat relax and enjoy and NOT to be feeling we sat in a kinder garden and just for the record I do have children but wouldn’t expect others to put up with what’s gone on today. Plus should you really be supplying people with alcohol that are responsible for very young babies”

Or just move table if kids are annoying… I can almost sense the Daily Mail headline of ‘ordered out of pub by staff after baby cried’ which would ensue if that was their general policy….

“Their ramen noodles bowl is actually spaghetti noodles which is not stated on the menu which caused my girlfriend to throw up “

Nice…

“I’m so disappointed that on an incredibly hot day we chose to sit at the front of this establishment with our dog to enjoy some food. I understand dogs are not welcome inside or their pub gardens but to be turned away from open seating on the public footpath in front is very shameful.”

It’s hard to see how JD Wetherspoon could be any clearer that they don’t want dogs inside or in their external seating areas, but yet some customers still think they’re exempt and then leave a 1-star review….

“I ordered egg benedict fir breakfast . The eggs were hard so the waitress said she’d get it redone. The 2nd plate arrived and the eggs were hard ! She insisted I try again and when the 3rd plate arrived . Guess what ? The eggs were hard! I was refunded and ordered a traditional English breakfast instead and the egg was runny .. yay!”

I’m not sure I would have had that many attempts, but I sympathise for the customer, Eggs Benedict should have a runny egg…

This seems to be a very busy venue, even though I’ve visited at off-peak times, so it must be packed during the summer months. The price point is towards the higher end of the scale, but they don’t seem to have problems filling the tables. There are quite a few power points dotted around which was handy for charging devices, although the corridor to the toilets upstairs was a bit tight. Anyway, all rather lovely and a reliable venue to visit.

February 27, 2025
Gainsborough – The Sweyn Forkbeard

This JD Wetherspoon pub is listed in the Good Beer Guide, so that’s another one ticked off my list of trying to visit every one in the country. The pub is named after Sweyn Forkbeard and occupies what was formerly two shops, opening in around 2001.

The inside of the pub, all suitably modern and functional. I appreciate the amount of high seating as well, my personal preference in pubs. The gaming machines are on silent to retain the quiet pub atmosphere that JD Wetherspoon are aiming for. I also like the considerable efforts that they go to with the local history boards around the pub, I didn’t notice anywhere else in the town doing that.

The chicken jalfrezi and large bottle of Elvis Juice which came in at just over £10, all very reasonable. For the price point, the quality was perfectly adequate and everything was at the appropriate temperature.

And the next morning I felt that I should return for breakfast. Being quite picky, I like that the egg is runny and there’s no fat of note on the bacon. I could have gone to the Canute next door to try somewhere different, but they had annoyed me by offering 33% off to groups of two or more, so I didn’t. It’s consistent, reliable and affordable at just over £5 for the traditional breakfast and coffee.

And the carpet, with every JD Wetherspoons having a unique carpet design. There were also plenty of power points available for customers.

This pub has six real ales and the one that I had, the Lincoln Tank Ale from Pheasantry Brewery, was well-kept and priced at £1.99 a pint. The pub’s craft beer range is excellent, including a few regional cans that were of interest such as the Brownie Hunter from Wilde Child Brewing Company and the Tropical Assassin from Roosters. The prices across the board were low, the venue was clean, the staff were friendly and the ordering process efficient. It was by far the busiest pub in the town and it all felt well-managed and organised. A rightful entrant into the Good Beer Guide in my view.

July 18, 2024
Tewkesbury – Royal Hop Pole

Jonathan, Julian and I popped into this JD Wetherspoon operated pub in Tewkesbury which is also listed in the Good Beer Guide. It was a relatively brief visit to this historic venue, an intriguing former coaching inn.

It’s a long building, with wood panelling seemingly everywhere, which dates to the fifteenth century although has some eighteenth century additions to it. It’s been a sympathetic renovation by JD Wetherspoon and it’s also one of their hotels with 28 bedrooms available. The Royal bit to the pub was added after Mary of Teck visited in September 1891. The pub was also mentioned in Charles Dickens’s Pickwick Papers:

“At the Hop Pole at Tewkesbury, they stopped to dine; upon which occasion there was more bottled ale, with some more Madeira, and some port besides; and here the case-bottle was replenished for the fourth time. Under the influence of these combined stimulants, Mr. Pickwick and Mr. Ben Allen fell fast asleep for thirty miles, while Bob and Mr. Weller sang duets in the dickey.”

In fairness, some of the old world charm has been lost, but that’s perhaps inevitable in a busy and modern pub. I’m fascinated by coaching inns as they provided entertainment, hospitality and comfort of some sort to generations of travellers. Tewkesbury was an important location as it was a stopover for travellers from London, Manchester, Bristol and God’s own city of Bath. There were once four coaching inns in Tewkesbury, but this is the only one which remains trading. The railway was the start of an economic boom for some locations, but not for Tewkesbury, the coaching trade came to a near immediate halt in the 1830s.

We visited during the pub’s beer festival, so I went for a third of three different beers. The Quiet Shadows from Fyne Ales was a drab affair with little depth of taste to it, but the Scallywag from Hop Union Brewery had a decent toffee flavour to it. Continuing on that theme, the Steel & Oak Easy Stout was a pleasant 4% beer with flavours of toffee, chocolate and coffee. It cost around £2.50 for these three, it’s hard to deny the value that they’re offering. Jonathan and Julian went for food, but I found some heavily reduced sandwiches in One Stop over the road. I know how to live the decadent life….

As a sense of scale, the rear entrance to the pub is just to the left and the front entrance is all the way back on that road at the rear. It’s a formidable building in terms of its size.

The pub goes back to the River Avon. It’s one of the best reviewed pubs in the chain that I’ve seen, although with such a beautiful building it would be rather a shame if it wasn’t. Some angry or upset reviews include:

“Didn’t like it. It felt rundown. We wanted a hot drink and they give us a mug to fill up in a drinks machine but could have as many refills as we liked. It was just under £5 for 3 of us. Perhaps that is one of the reasons the place looked like it had had better days as it was cheap.”

I’m not sure that warrants a 1 star review, but each to their own I guess.

“Absolutely crazy place to go always spent loads of money and there 14 of us as a family and the pub don’t like big families after 3 drinks were refused a drink even though we spend £300 at a time not a friendly or peaceful place to be what a shame in a little town this could. Be a nice place to go as pricing in good but this place is awful to go with a big family”

Perhaps it’s wrong of me to suspect that there’s a noise related issued here….

“Today I visited this Wetherspoons with every intention of using the app. When selecting Fish & chips it asked me how I wanted my steak done.”

Seems reasonable 🙂

“Food was good but the sign said no dogs, well our cat wasn’t a dog, she was in a cage and we were in the garden but were still abruptly asked to leave!”

There are numerous complaints from people who were annoyed that their dogs weren’t allowed in, but this is the only angry customer that had their cat thrown out.

Anyway, I digress. There were seven real ales, the venue was clean, the team members were friendly and the building was full of period charm. Quite rightly in the Good Beer Guide and a seemingly well managed JD Wetherspoon.

November 8, 2023
Driffield – Benjamin Fawcett (JD Wetherspoon Pub)

On the drive back from the Smuggler’s Trod, we decided to pop into the JD Wetherspoon pub the Benjamin Fawcett, which is listed in the Good Beer Guide. I will take the text from their web-site regarding the origins of the pub name:

“This pub stands facing the well-known Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, a local landmark since 1880. The open area in front of the chapel was once occupied by Benjamin Fawcett’s shop and print works, before he moved to a house and workshop in Wansford Road. Fawcett was one of the great colour printers of the 19th century and a leading employer in Driffield. In 2003, the Benjamin Fawcett Memorial Gardens were officially opened on his Wansford Road works site. Today, Fawcett’s highly acclaimed prints sell for hundreds of pounds.”

This is the breakfast that I was served. I didn’t notice that there was no egg, but the team member came back around two minutes later just as I was about to put pepper on the food and told me it was the wrong meal. He placed my correct breakfast down and then took my plate (and I had removed the butter) away and to my slight surprise, he gave it to another customer. How the pub thought that was acceptable, I don’t know, but it really isn’t.

The set-up here is also odd. My hot drink mug wasn’t brought over, so I asked when the breakfast was served where it was. He told me they don’t bring them, they’re help yourself mugs at the machines, which means customers can easily just take one without paying. It took me a couple of minutes to get a hot drink and then return to my breakfast, although as previously mentioned it was another customer who got my breakfast anyway whilst I got a nice hot one.

I ordered half a pint of the Stag from Exmoor Ales, a well-kept golden bitter which was at the appropriate temperature and tasted as expected. They had a choice of five real ales, although no dark beers when I looked.

The pub was generally dirty and unclean, with no obvious managerial oversight. It seemed in a general state of chaos, with customer issues arising all over the place so there was an element of fire-fighting going on. It might just have been an off-day, as the reviews are broadly average for a JD Wetherspoon outlet. Some random complaints include:

“Always cold and bad drafts due to staff repeatedly propping g open FIRE exits as a means for customers and staff alike to take a shortcut for a cigarette. Hence smoke and smell of cigarettes is blown in, even though they have a smoking area. Very poor”

Seems sub-optimal….

“Dirty cutlery. Disgusting food. Ordered steak and kidney pudding. How they have a cheek to charge what they do for this tiny, revolting meal I do not know. Will never eat here again. Not surprised so many are closing. Who wants to eat this rubbish!”

I actually like their steak and kidney pudding, so it’s me that eats that rubbish 🙂

“Walked in bought a drink , then looked at the menu , all the meals come with a drink !!! As I’d already bought one , I decided not to eat !!!!!!!! Won’t go in there again !!”

Have two drinks 🙂

“Just had well left the 6oz American burger because it was absolutely disgusting it was the smallest burger and I counted 21 chips honestly the kids meals are bigger it was also missing red onion.”

21 chips sounds reasonable to me (credit for counting them) and I’m guessing that the 6oz burger was, er, 6oz?

Anyway, I digress down the rabbit hole of reading reviews and there are plenty of positive ones. The breakfast and coffee was around £4.20 which is ridiculously good value for money, so I can’t complain about that at all. I can see why they’re in the Good Beer Guide, but it doesn’t seem ideal that the team members are taking meals that have been sitting on a customer’s table and then serving them to another customer. I’d visit again for drinks, I might be a little more cautious about ordering food though.

August 30, 2023
Gdansk Group Trip – Day 1 (The Overnight Wait)

As it was now nearly 03:00 we thought that we’d locate from the quietness of Stansted coach station to the rather more busy terminal. This is my first Ryanair flight in years and I’m already pre-annoyed about it, but to be fair it might surpass my expectations.

The barriers were removed and a stampede of excited passengers surged towards the security lines unable to control their excitement at entering the airside area of the airport.

I’ve never noticed this interesting military history which is rather hidden away but contains a list of the units which have been stationed at Stansted when it was a military airport.

The anticipation…… The whole process was efficient and we were through to the airside area by 03:15 with only a brief wait in the queue for security. The staff were enthusiastic and helpful, full credit to them given the early time of the day and the inevitable many hours before their shift ended.

After spending what seemed to be half an hour meandering around the compulsory trudge through duty free we reached what was, for now at least, the tranquility of the airside area.

There were tens of these USB chargers in the seats and I couldn’t find any that worked. Very sub-optimal as I watched numerous people trying each one in turn in the hope of being able to charge their devices. Given how airlines encourage passengers to use boarding passes on their phone, the airport do perhaps need to provide more working charging units.

Here was our plan (which I suspect was mostly my plan that Ross went along with), I spent £3.25 for three hours worth of unlimited hot drinks at the Windmill, the JD Wetherspoon outlet at the airport. More importantly there was a power point so that I could charge my devices to my heart’s content. Everything fully charged for the flight, that’s my nerves settled.

The history of the pub’s name and I remember the old JD Wetherspoon outlet at the airport, it was tiny in comparison to the cavernous pub they have now.

The pub’s interior and it’s located over two floors, with a windmill design in the centre. The service was helpful, immediate and polite, it was all stress-free which is just as I like it.

As my friends know, I’m easily pleased, and I was very excited and delighted to see the cold milk option for the first time. That will save me countless minutes over the course of the year, perhaps as many as twenty, getting the milk jug refilled.

Several coffees later, I was suitably refreshed and recharged. Ross didn’t go for such coffee extravagance, he only likes slightly posh soft drinks. Ross also had to try and avoid the friendly team member at the entrance to the pub who was in danger of making conversation with him, but that crisis was averted by Ross’s sneaking in and out. There’s quite a lot of frivolity at this pub before 5am which I suppose is understandable as it’s a primarily leisure airport, but I’m naturally grumpy in the morning (and indeed throughout most of the day) and it’s all a bit exciting for my liking.

We are now ready to depart for the gate and it’s evident how bored I am by how I’m now writing up the most tangential of things. But, Poland is getting ever closer, it’s light outside and all we have to do now is not miss our flight.

May 10, 2023
London – Hammersmith and Fulham (Borough of) – Central Bar

This is another of my posts trying to tidy up some of the Good Beer Guide listed pubs that I’ve visited but never written up. The downside is that I have very limited photos of them so this is hardly going to win any awards, but there we go, I’ve only got to cater to about two readers so that makes things easier.

The pub is operated by JD Wetherspoon, who opened it in 2002, and they have two other venues with the same name, the others are in Cardiff and Carrickfergus, but this one relates to the Central Line:

“This pub is on the first floor of the W12 Centre, opposite the Central Line underground station. The railway came to Shepherds Bush in May 1844, to close only a few months later. The first proper local service came with the opening of the Hammersmith and City Line, in 1864. The Central London Railway opened in 1900 and was renamed the Central Line in 1937.”

This was one of the cheap meals that were offered for many years, chicken wrap and chips, but the prices have gone up sharply over recent months.

Back to the venue, and once again apologies for the lack of photos of the interior, but the pub is located in a shopping centre and so it’s quite a generic and dull open plan set-up. For a JD Wetherspoon outlet it’s relatively badly reviewed, although I can’t say that I’ve had any particular problems here during my visits.

One customer has a photo of their food with a comment noting “Steak and pork loin cremated on my mixed grill with zero sympathy from the manageress” and he isn’t exaggerating, the photo shows food which shouldn’t have been served. On this point, there are two reviews of poor food where the customer has eaten nearly all of it and then taken a photo of the now nearly empty plate, I’m always humoured by the those reviews.

A few customers have complained that a QPR ticket is required to enter the venue when the team are playing at home, which is no doubt more for licensing issues but I can imagine it’s a little annoying for visitors who don’t think to check when the local team is playing. The pub serves alcohol from a later time in the morning when QPR are playing, which sounds very sensible to be fair.

“The management was kicking me out because me and my friend ate a burger that was not ordered by us “

I can understand where the management are coming from…..

“Asked for a classic 6oz beef burger with cheese and bacon no salad and the moron behind the bar somehow managed to hear “original gourmet beef burger” instead”

This from a customer who managed to order the wrong thing, didn’t notice they were charged more for the food, didn’t notice their receipt and calls the member of bar staff “a moron”….. I make no comment.

Anyway, I’ve once again digressed. At the time of writing, this venue has seven real ales which are priced between £1.71 and £2.96, very thrifty options there, including Oakham’s Citra and Elgood’s Patron Saint. Just on that selection of real ale and pricing, it’s no surprise that it’s listed in the Good Beer Guide.

April 30, 2023
London – Lewisham (Borough of) – Brockley Barge Pub

I haven’t visited the Brockley Barge recently, this is just something of a tidying up exercise to write a few riveting words about a pub that I’ve been to which is in the Good Beer Guide. It’s a JD Wetherspoon operated venue and they’ve been listed in the Good Beer Guide for several years now. The Wetherspoon history of the pub is quite brief, namely:

“The name of this pub recalls the barges which plied their trade on the Croydon Canal. Opened in 1809, the canal was replaced (in 1836) by the railway line, which was laid largely along the same course.”

A large chicken jalfrezi and I have to note that I’ve only got a few photos here, so excuse the lack of interior shots of the pub. The venue has been operated by JD Wetherspoons since 2000, it was the Breakspear Arms before that which had first opened as a licensed premises in 1868. It closed in 1994 after some turbulent years and was left with an uncertain future for six years until JD Wetherspoons reopened it.

As I have a lack of interior photos, here’s some fish and chips I had in the pub a few years back. The pub has always been busy when I’ve visited before, it’s not that substantial in terms of its size and it is clearly a popular venue within the local community. Incidentally, if I revisit I’ll actually take photos of the interior, rather than having to rely on old photos of food which I accept have rather limited excitement to my large readership of two people.

The reviews for the pub are generally positive but I had a little look through to see what excitement was going on.

“My friend who is heavily pregnant was in urgent need of the toilet. We knocked on the door a couple on minutes after closing to which they heard of her pregnancy and walked away. The manager then came and shouted at us through the window, as I told her by the law an establishment should let a pregnant woman in to use the toilet”.

I’m fairly sure it was never in the licensing rules for the pubs that I had which said it was the law to open up a closed pub to a pregnant customer to use the toilets…… Mind you, there’s a myth that pregnant women have the legal right to urinate in a policeman’s helmet on request, another falsehood that amazingly persists.

“They didn’t answer the phone when I called to wish them happy new year”

Hmmmmm. That’s as exciting as the reviews get to be fair…..

At the time of writing the pub is offering six real ales, priced between £1.71 and £2.78 per pint, including Sambrook’s Wandle Ale and Sambrook’s Nightshift Mild. A pub with a mild can’t be a bad thing. Although it’s important to mention micropubs and other independently run pubs, it seems to me a real positive that this venue has been saved by JD Wetherspoons as there would otherwise have been a realistic possibility that it would have become another outlet of Tesco Express.

April 30, 2023
Wombwell – The Horseshoe (JD Wetherspoon)

Just as a separate post as not to upset the flow of my beautiful prose (ahem) on the LDWA 100 posts. I’ll keep this post short to avoid any one of my flights of fancy.

This is the Horseshoe pub in Wombwell, which was built in the 1930s and more recently taken over by Wetherspoons. There was also a pub on this site before then, dating to around the early nineteenth century.

As an aside, Wombwell is a small town located not far from Barnsley, with coal mines once providing its wealth. Unfortunately, the good times seem to have faded somewhat and the town is need of some funds to restore some of their grander buildings. The local press are saying that this building may now be redeveloped, after ten years of mostly standing empty.

Arguably slightly underpoured, but this is the Gorlovka Imperial Stout from the nearby Acorn Brewery, very keenly priced at £1.20, especially given it’s 6% ABV. Well-kept and suitably delicious, no complaints from me about that.

It was busy on a Saturday afternoon and had something of a community feel, but the pub’s location means it’s unlikely to get too many visitors from outside of the area as I’m not sure that Wombwell is known for its tourist industry. It’s relatively well reviewed on-line for a JD Wetherspoon pub, with everything seemingly well managed. I did quite like the recent review of:

“Youth club. Full of bratty teenagers strutting around, thinking they own the place. Staff couldn’t care less. They congregate in the toilets. Going to the bar and sitting with free coffee refills for hours and on end. Obviously been dragged up. Zero manners. Why in earth the staff don’t throw them out is totally beyond me. If I was the manager they wouldn’t step one foot over the threshold. Spoilt the enjoyment of the evening (from a hard full time working adult).”

I’ve heard complaints of younger adults getting drunk in pubs and causing a nuisance, but not so frequently of youngsters binge drinking coffee and being annoying. I was quite disappointed to miss out on this extravaganza though as it wasn’t taking place when I was visited. It’s quite a large pub with one of the more modern interiors, it feels like they have the best maintained building in the area in terms of the exterior. It can’t have impressed enough local CAMRA members though, as it doesn’t feature in the Good Beer Guide.

June 24, 2022
King’s Lynn – Re-Opening the Globe

I’m conscious that there are many smaller independent pubs that are in need of support now, but my favourite ones were still closed and I wanted to pop in to see how JD Wetherspoons were managing with the re-opening of their outlets.

There’s a little welcome station with hand sanitiser and paper menus, along with a large sign telling customers what to do. I must admit I read the sign and forgot that I was meant to write down my name, which they didn’t make very clear and I’m easily confused at the best of times. It didn’t much matter as they took that information via the App when I ordered, but otherwise, it all looked organised.

There are protective barriers in the pub now and the self-service coffee machine has distance markers to keep people suitably distanced. I must admit, this is probably as much as they could have done, although some of the barriers weren’t ideally placed and people snuck between them and then brushed past other customers at tables. The best-laid plans of any pub are usually circumvented by some customers though….

I hadn’t expected the unlimited coffee to be back, but it’s all working as usual. I ordered via the app, which is the preferred method, and it was brought over soon enough. There’s a new policy where customers can’t re-use a mug and they have to get another one, and I never worked out the most efficient way of doing this and where to stand. The pub was well-staffed though, so my standing awkwardly seemed to work sufficiently well.

The pub was relatively busy in the afternoon and I suspect they’d have been better having someone at the door to explain what was going on, but it’s good that there is some vague notion of normality returning now to the pub sector.

July 7, 2020