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Category: UK

Bournemouth – The Moon in the Square

Here’s the exterior of the Moon in the Square pub from when I visited last November. I’m currently back here again, so I felt the need to write something about it. I’m always keen to surprise and delight my two loyal blog readers….

As I usually do for pubs in the JD Wetherspoon chain, I’ve taken the history of the venue from their own website:

“This is one of several Wetherspoon pubs with ‘moon’ in their name, linking them with the ideal pub described by George Orwell. He called his fictitious pub ‘Moon Under Water’. This one stands on the site of Victoria Villa and Library – the home and business premises of TJ Hankinson, who was Bournemouth’s first mayor, elected in 1890. Around that time, the buildings were replaced by King’s drapery store which traded here for several decades.”

And, courtesy of the JD Wetherspoon website, here’s the link to the area to Tony Hancock.

The interior of the pub, which was all clean, tidy and organised. It’s about half full on a Friday afternoon and it’s the tail end of the JD Wetherspoon beer festival. I still haven’t found the cucumber beer from Adnams…… They did though have seven real ales available, all reasonably priced.

I went for half a pint of the Dark from Exmoor Ales which cost just £1.08. It was a malty and rich beer, even slightly decadent.

Also, as usual, I felt the need to have a look at the reviews for the pub, which is rated highly for the chain.

“Fully booked up. Streams people. Often over crowded. 3 nights out of 4 couldn’t eat here on our stay”

It feels unfair to rate the venue 1 out of 5 for that.

“Beer is tasteless, I had thatchers gold cider and it was tasting flat.”

They sell over 50 beers across keg, cask and can so it’s hard to understand how it’s tasteless. Unless they ordered Bud Light, but it’s meant to taste like that.

“***** is an absolute jobsworth. Because he’s got an ear piece in thinks he’s something important, runs away and hides in the kitchen, sends his bar staff out to deal with issues and hides 🤣. Nice pub, cheap and cheerful but jobsworth management”

This sounds like a former staff member who is annoyed at the manager in question…. And, as I know from Norwich Beer Festival, anyone with an ear piece is important.

“Refused to serve us at outside table, they seem to think dogs are unacceptable but smokers are OK! No dog sitting quietly ever caused lung cancer 😡”

An angry dog owner is never far away….

“We were kicked out by bar staff me wife dog out side drinking said drink up dogs not allowed”

There’s a Brewdog opposite which loves dogs to be fair….

“Terrible service, the person at the bar didnt even know how to use the till!”

God forbid they have a member of staff being trained…

“absolutely dreadful wasn’t allowed to drink my pint for some reason which i had every right to drink and paid for with my hard earnt money”

I suspect that there was a reason.

“Was locked in mens cubicle as door locks malfunctioned and used my mobile phone to call bar for help. Staff arrived with screw driver to hand to me as lock wouldn’t undo from outside of door so removed screws on lock and door fell open. All door locks on public toilets should have opening device”

This feels like a proper, valid complaint. At least it added some exciting drama to this customer’s day.

Anyway, I’ve digressed and got distracted once again. I’ve been to this pub a few times and it does get busy in the evenings, but the service always seems friendly and sort of efficient. And there’s a decent amount of real ale available, although unfortunately neither this pub nor the other nearby JD Wetherspoon have made the Good Beer Guide….

October 10, 2025
Wembley – England vs Wales

The excitement of Wembley Stadium ahead of the friendly match between England and Wales.

The crowds slowly starting to form for the match, which was in aid of the Alzheimer’s Society.

The stadium before the crowds arrived.

Getting busier. Apparently matches can have as many as 2,000 stewards and everything felt organised.

The players arrive. I hope no-one is expecting a detailed summary of the players, their performance or anything substantial about the football.

And we’re off. Well, the players came out to have a little kick about before going back in for a rest, or whatever it is that they do.

Getting ready to lay the FA flag onto the pitch. They didn’t use kids for the mascots and instead had 22 fans who were living with dementia, something that I thought was a rather lovely idea.

The flag in place. I did a video of the pre-match excitement….

Players walked onto the field and then they played the national anthems. The Welsh fans were very vocal and energetic during the match, they did their team proud.

There were three goals in quick succession at the beginning of the match, so England were 3-0 up after 20 minutes. Apparently the players who kicked the ball into the net were Morgan Rogers (3 minutes), Ollie Watkins (11 minutes) and Bukayo Saka (20 minutes) with the last one being quite good I think. I was pleased that no-one in the area near me felt the need to jump up and down a lot (or actually at all) as I find it easier to stay sitting down.

Thomas Tuchel, who I understand is the England manager. He also seems very good and I rather like this European approach of the FA.

I was puzzled as to why the players didn’t have their names on their shirts during the second half as I was sure that they did in the first half. It transpired that this was to fit into the theme of Alzheimer’s and it aimed to raise awareness of how the illness impacts memory. I must admit that is lovely, although it had the side issue that unless it was Jordan Pickford (I find it easy to identify the goalkeeper and I did learn the name of the Welsh one, but I’ve since forgotten it) I didn’t know who was kicking the ball.

The attendance at the game was 78,126 which seems like a lot of people. The stadium can in theory hold 90,000 people, but this was a higher attendance that I had been anticipating.

The final score was 3-0.

The expert football supporters might notice that I’m not really entirely knowledgeable about the current England and Wales football squads and I might have had to look up on Wikipedia who the managers were. But the venue was safe, secure and the football was interesting to watch, so I might go and do this again…..

October 10, 2025
Wembley – England vs Wales (Video of Opening)

And for anyone interested, of which I accept the number is limited, here’s the opening ceremony (as it were) of the England vs Wales match at Wembley. I feel that the person searching for their seat adds a little something to this video. More about the match (of which very little will be football related as this isn’t a sporty blog) in the next post…

October 10, 2025
Coventry – Golden Cross

I neglected to write this Good Beer Guide listed pub up when Richard and I visited in August.

The exterior is lovely. The pub seems proud of its history and notes on its website:

“The Golden Cross is the oldest pub in Coventry (One of the oldest in The Midlands). Built circa 1583, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1st and established as a public house circa 1661, during the reign of Charles II (The year of his coronation). The Golden Cross boasts traditional Tudor features which include: jettied upper floors with exposed beams, the pub also features a Dragon Beam which makes it possible for the jettied floors to go around the corners.”

It was fortunate to survive the Blitz which damaged so many other nearby buildings and it was extensively refurbished in 2017.

I’m less engaged about the music, but a warm welcome is always positive.

And we did receive a warm welcome from the friendly team member, although I didn’t get a chance to take a photo at the bar. I didn’t ask for a CAMRA discount but the team member pro-actively asked if we were members of CAMRA, which I suspect tied in with the Great British Beer Festival that was about to take place in the area. I realised that I had left my CAMRA card in the hotel room, but I was kindly offered the CAMRA discount anyway. Perhaps I look like a CAMRA drinker, although I’m not sure what I think about that.

I went for a pint of Titanic Plum Porter which is always a delight, it’s smooth, fruity and luxurious. This is the period from when Richard was his new slim self and looking very healthy for it. There are usually around five real ales available and the Plum Porter tasted well kept and was at the appropriate slightly chilled temperature.

This wasn’t really a venue for me though at the time that we visited, it was quite quiet in terms of the number of customers and also very loud from the live music. It was hard to have a conversation and the lack of customers gave it a slightly odd atmosphere. However, what I didn’t realise was this:

“We have live music every Saturday downstairs from 9pm – 11pm, so those who prefer a quiet drink in Coventry’s oldest pub can enjoy a relaxing evening in comfort in the bar upstairs.”

If I had realised, I would have gone upstairs. Anyway, we decided to leave soon afterwards in the hunt for a pub where we could have a conversation and gossip about the world. Nonetheless, this is a lovely pub and I think we just visited at the wrong time as there was a friendly welcome and I enjoyed the heritage of the venue itself. They also do what appears to be a good value food offering at lunchtime and in the early evenings. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to visit again at one of those rather quieter times as I did like the building, the friendliness of the team members and the beer.

October 7, 2025
Coventry – Earl of Mercia

I appear to have forgotten to write about this Good Beer Guide listed pub in Coventry. It’s operated by JD Wetherspoon and is nearby to their sister pub the Flying Standard. As usual, I’ll use their history of their venue:

“This is named after Leofric, Earl of Mercia, who founded St Mary’s Priory, Coventry’s first cathedral. A larger-than-life statue of Leofric and his wife (Countess Godiva) can be seen above the main entrance to the council house, opposite this pub.”

The building on High Street opened in June 1896 as the London and Midland Bank, later becoming the Midland Bank. It was turned into a public house in the early 1990s, initially being Cassidy’s until 1994, then the Phoenix Bar until 1996 and then it became part of Lloyds which was bought out by JD Wetherspoon as their more youth focused brand. The pub was renamed its current name of the Earl and Mercia in 2001.

I haven’t taken many useful photos of the pub, but as Julian (wise) says, I’m sure we’ll all cope.

This is from my visit with Richard a few months ago, I went for the Tesseract from Black Hole Brewery which was only £1.64 for a pint after the CAMRA discount. It was better than I had expected, it was rich, smooth with lots of plums to the whole arrangement.

And this is the Key Lime Pale from Hogs Back Brewery which I had this weekend as part of the JD Wetherspoon October beer festival. This was just 98p for a half and it was certainly full of lime flavour, being light, soft and hoppy.

As usual, best I have a little look at the reviews for my own amusement. It’s rated very highly for a JD Wetherspoon venue and that fits in with my experiences here, which have been positive.

“First of all, the staff discriminated against Chinese people. If you’re a local, the servers will bring the drinks to your table, but we had to go downstairs to get our drinks and bring them to our table on the second floor. The entire time, they watched us through the surveillance cameras. I told them I don’t drink alcohol, and they said I didn’t need to show my ID in that case. When we brought the drinks back to our table, I smelled the dark beer out of curiosity because I had never had it before. Then, a server came up and asked us to leave, claiming that I had drunk the beer. However, I’m allergic to alcohol, so I couldn’t have drunk it in the first place. The manager insisted that I drank it, not just smelled it. This is clear discrimination against Chinese people.”

Hmmm, they bring everyone their drinks but this reminds me though of a woman in one of the London pubs in their chain that was getting frustrated that no-one was serving her at her table, but she saw others getting their drinks delivered. She stomped out in the end after the team member refused to take her order himself and insisted she use the app.

“I feel violated, we ordered two pitchers exactly the same price, mango monster mash or something

This is the difference in ice/drink

The guy who served us was rude all night, insisted they were all the same even though I showed him the difference.

Don’t order here, wetherspoons please sack the only guy working here on 28/01/20″

Please sack a team member as he served cocktails in two different shaped jugs? Yeah, that sounds reasonable…

“We were just having lunch and the guy came up to us saying that we need to leave. We politely said that wr will leave after finishing our dinner but the guy was so rude and racist that he came back again and argued with us, forcing us to leave the place which is totally not accepted. He was the shift manager for the day 20/11/2023. I never expected this kind of behaviour as we have already paid for the food and atleast accept a decent service from the employees. Please have a look at your team and recruit people who are not racist.”

I wish reviewers would give a bit more information about why a team member actually came up and asked them to leave.

“Discrimination on a young adult with SEN needs. We come to this pub as young person finds atmosphere friendly and welcoming. Not today. Bully tactics by staff. 1 day we forgot passport she is 18. We have been served lots of time by staff at wetherspoons without ID. 1 staff member followed me to the table. Hassled me about her drinking alcohol beverage. Very abrupt, unfriendly and aggressive. He watched us for 5 minute’s and came over and said she had taken another sip for a drink. He snatched all the drinks from the table. They would not accept a photo on my phone, which I’ve used previously. Young person was upset and distrraught. Went to the toilet and was physically sick. We went onto have our food dropped on the table by the disgruntled staff member. Duty Manager was unsympathetic and crude. No training given how to deal with people with disabilities. All disabilities are not visible. Shame on wetherspoons we will not be going there again. Wasted £20.00. The food was cold and disgusting. Refused a refund.”

If this story is as it’s told, it’s not clear to me what the team member could have done other than been more polite and engaged better. Someone without valid ID has seemingly been drinking alcohol, the pub’s licence is at risk if they don’t check ID.

“I came here on Saturday, had one drink with my friend and decided to go outside in the seating area as it was too hot inside. There were empty glasses on our table which we just moved to the side, and while me and my friend were talking one of the staff (man with long hair) came over and asked if the glasses were finished with, I said they weren’t ours. About 5 minutes later we realised he had put 4 shot on our table, so we were confused and asked the people next to us if they were their shots, which they weren’t. So I assumed someone had bought them for us on the Wetherspoons app, and had 1 shot out of the 4, then the man came back over shouting at me for having a shot and demanding that I pay for it. I told him that he put them on our table so we assumed they have been bought for us, which he then said I said they were mine when he took them over to us (I didn’t, I didn’t even realise he bought them over as I was having a conversation with my friend). This staff member then started arguing with me and was SO rude to me over £2.50, which I did pay. I will not be coming back, as he was so rude to me and was shouting at me.”

It might have been easier not to take one of the drinks that they hadn’t ordered.

“I didn’t go there!!”

Another helpful review.

“Another wetherspoon which is more expensive than the Gosford Arms for a pint of Stella. No good for sight seeing as all you can see are bill boards of things that won’t necessarily come true in the eye of the public.”

Probably best to go to the Gosford Arms.

“I mean as most know they dont have music so that’s one sad thing.”

At least that makes me happy 🙂

Anyway, this seemed like a a well-run and organised JD Wetherspoon venue, although it does get very busy and although it’s over two floors it’s not the largest. Keenly priced, popular with students and a decent selection of real ales.

October 7, 2025
200 Years Ago in Norwich : Angry King George IV in Brighton

Another article in the Norwich Mercury of 200 years ago this week. Now, I accept this has little to do with Norwich, but it’s some early form of royal gossip of which there has been plenty more over the last 200 years. The story is likely true, as King George IV made only one more visit to Brighton following this story and he had made huge efforts to make the Brighton Pavilion a decadent and suitable home.

Its future as a residence for the Monarch was already reaching its end. King William IV did use it, but Queen Victoria wasn’t that surprised and delighted with it, so she sold it to the City of Brighton in 1850.

October 6, 2025
200 Years Ago in Norwich : Abandoned Wife

And another in my series of articles in the Norwich Mercury of 200 years ago this week. Back in 1825, if a man abandoned his wife and children without paying any support then he would face consequences from the local parish. Under the Poor Laws and Vagrancy Acts, if his deserted family became chargeable to the parish, local overseers could apply for his arrest and he could be punished as a rogue and vagabond, facing imprisonment or hard labour. The law’s primary concern was protecting the parish purse, not enforcing domestic responsibility, so prosecution generally occurred only when abandonment led to public expense as was the case here.

The £5 reward was a generous one, that’s worth over £250 in today’s money. The village of Beddingham is around ten miles south of Norwich and it’s clear that they were displeased that they were left funding William’s wife and children. It’s an interesting snapshot of the benefits system of the time, which did ensure at least that women and children were looked after.

October 6, 2025
200 Years Ago in Norwich : Rosary Cemetery Extended

And in my continuing series of posts from the Norwich Mercury of 200 years ago this week, there was an announcement about the extension of Rosary Cemetery. The cemetery was the first non-denominational one to have opened in the UK, with the first burial taking place in 1821.

The shareholders had met at the Old Library Room at St. Andrew’s (now demolished) and they were pleased at the progress made in the first few years of the cemetery’s operation. The first few years hadn’t really stressed the gravediggers (although it made it easier to guard against body-snatchers), as there was one burial in 1821, two burials in 1822 and three burials in 1824 (goodness knows what happened in 1823).

The decision made 200 years ago was very sensible as although their priority was actually keeping the church out of their affairs, there was to be a cholera epidemic in 1831 and the land at Rosary Cemetery was a useful overflow to church graveyards. And, in 1855, after a major national cholera epidemic, all new burials in churchyards were banned. The original five acres were filled by the end of the nineteenth century, so the additional land they had already acquired proved to be very useful.

“ROSARY BURIAL GROUND,
NEAR THE FOUNDRY BRIDGE ROAD.

At a MEETING of the Shareholders, held at the Old Library Room, St. Andrew’s, Norwich, on the 22nd of September, 1825:

MR. THOMAS MARTINEAU in the Chair,
Statements of the number of Interments since the appropriation of the Ground as a Public Burial Ground, and of the number of Shares engaged by individuals, having been read by the Registrar,

IT WAS RESOLVED,
That the Rosary, from its situation and the extent of ground belonging to it, is admitted to be well calculated for a permanent Cemetery, for persons of all denominations, and will be found of great benefit and utility.

That from the number of Interments which have already taken place, and the number of Shares engaged, it is expedient the proper measures should be adopted for permanently establishing and securing the whole of the ground originally proposed for a Cemetery, without further delay.

That the Solicitors be instructed to prepare forthwith the requisite deed or deeds, to be enrolled in Chancery, for vesting the Rosary Burial Ground in Trustees, to be held as a Public Place of Interment for ever, subject to the management of Directors, to be chosen from among the Shareholders.

That notice be given, that applications for Shares remaining undisposed of must be made on or before the 27th day of October instant, on which day the list shall be closed.

That applications for Shares be made to the undermentioned Shareholders: to Mr. Drummond, at the Rosary; or to the Solicitors, Messrs. Parkinson and Staff, St. Andrew’s, Norwich, of whom prospectuses of the plan may be obtained gratis.

Mr. Thomas Martineau
John Taylor
Joseph Geldart
Wm. Davey
Thomas Hitchen
John Athow
Robert Blake, jun.
Wm. Wilde
J. Darken
R. Miller
Samuel Wiseman
J. Mottram, sen.
E. Cotman
J. H. Balls
G. Sothern
Wm. Newson
Thomas Hawkins
Henry Bolingbroke
George Kitton

Mr. Isaac Wiseman
J. Mottram, jun.
Wm. Busley
Manning
E. Martin
Hewett
Rev. F. Tagart
Mr. Wm Chapman
W. Stark
G. Grout
C. Geldart
Wigham
E. Brown
Carter
Bluth
R. Morgan
Joseph Geldart, jun.
N. Rue”

October 6, 2025
Coventry – Flying Standard

Unlike the nearby Earl of Mercia, this JD Wetherspoon pub isn’t listed in the Good Beer Guide. It’s in what appears to be a grand old building (although that exterior is all mock Tudor and it’s a twentieth century construction) which is visually appealing and there’s a small external seating area as well. As usual, I’ll quote from JD Wetherspoon, who have operated the venue since 2000, about the origins of the pub name:

“This is named after the fondly remembered motor car, part of a range of models made in Coventry from 1903 until the 1960s. Standard’s first car, the Motor Victoria, was built in 1903 by Reginald Maudslay, in Much Park Street. The Standard Nine was launched in 1927. Inexpensive, at £198, its success saw Standard through the ‘slump’ and it was still going strong when, in 1936, the Flying Standard models made their début.”

I visited when the beer festival was taking place and there was quite a choice, with all of the beers in the festival being £1.95 a pint. There are a couple, namely from Titanic and Adnams, that I’m hoping to try although I haven’t seen them anywhere yet.

The first half I ordered was the Free Rein from Purity Brewing and this was really rather good with a tropical edge and it was smooth and fluffy. Quite punchy for 4.5% and a bargain for under £1 for a half.

The second half was the Blackberry Porter from Mauldons and it tasted as if there was as much hedgerow as blackberry in it, the beer was quite rustic. But, I like robust flavours and I like Mauldons, with the lingering taste being pleasant and it was under £1 for a half…..

The new light bites menu has been launched nationally this week, alongside another round of price increases on food and drink.

As this is a JD Wetherspoon venue, I always like to have a little look at the reviews so see how they’ve annoyed customers over the years. It is though really quite positively reviewed, so they’ve delighted a lot more customers than they’ve seemingly annoyed.

“So earlier this afternoon I visited this spoons with a friend as we fancied some drinks. We got our drinks and were sipping on them when I realized there was a fly that had entered my drink. I was absolutely shocked and took this to the bartender, they were shocked too and called for the manager. I had about half of my drink left when I brought this issue up and there was no I was going to drink it. I spoke to the manager and expressed my concern and she didn’t seem to care one bit. I asked if I could get another one and she said that no I couldn’t as I only had a sip left. I was sickened by this service and treatment as I’ve never had such a horrible experience before. Usually if there’s something wrong or an issue with a drink or a dish (say hair was found in it), it always get taken off the bill oror you’re given another one. But in this case I was given such sickening treatment and the manager didn’t bother to even solve the issue. I’ve worked previously in restaurants and hospitality and we’re trained and taught the opposite of this behavior. We’re instructed to treat the customer with respect and prioritize their thoughts, something that was far from what I had experienced today.”

I think I’d notice a fly in my drink before I had nearly finished it…. Or I’d just take the bloody thing out and carry on.

“Went there really wanting to have a good English breakfast. Didnt work out very well. The food is good.. many options on the menu to choose from, but i have visited weatherspoons before and this was not an experience i liked. I went to get a cup of coffee left half my breakfast on my plate to come back to it. Wen i came back, the table was cleared. As i checked with the servers i received an answer as they thought i was done, but i had half my breakfast still left. Didnt feel like sitting there any more after this. Wont visit the place again.”

Sit near the coffee machine and watch the table like a hawk when not at it. It’s the only way…

“One of the management team (Andrew), was quite rude when we had our food stolen, lack of management skills and communication”

There are a fair number of these reviews, either they have efficient waiting staff or there’s a hungry customer permanently waiting to pounce.

“On visiting Coventry my husband and I went into Witherspoons for our lunch I wish we hadn’t bothered it was really awful, we went in by one door but was blocked by tables and chairs so close together you would not get a person through so we tried another door and found ourselves on the upper floor but to get a table to sit and have a meal to go up into the lift, we got out of lift but once again found we could not get to a table I forget to mention I have to use a walker to get around I could not get through any ethereal at all so husband started moving tables and chairs to get me through. We got a table but the meal was really awful we ordered gammon,chips they do not serve pineapple only fried eggs with the gammon my egg was buried underneath the chips and peas we eat very little I just wanted to be out of there. Before we left needed to go to the ladies it was disgusting no flush the handled broke but no maintenance so we just moved a lot tables and chairs for me to get through to get out we will never visit a witherspoons ever again”

What a lovely lunch they had, I always love stories about how people battle through even through adversity.

“As with all Witherspoon’s it lacks any sort of atmosphere, people sat in small groups quietly eating and sipping there order,tv,s dotted around showing only sport channels with the volume turned down. the smokers area is a total joke a few large brollys on a very busy pavement, with only a extendable webbing barrier between not smoking area and people who may or mat not smoke if they wish just millimetre away,not the cheapest beer in town ,disinterested staff,turning into a rest home”

If we’re defining atmosphere as lots of music, then I like pubs with no atmosphere.

“Tried to order six pints of Greene king and was turned away. Outrageous”

They should be listed in the Good Beer Guide for doing this.

“Food was stone cold but staff was fantastic in there”

I like the bluntness of this one. Anyway, I digress once again.

I rather like this pub and I’ve visited a few times over the years. The service was friendly on this visit and I liked the manager was pro-actively engaging about the beer festival, they seemed quite excited by the whole arrangement.

October 6, 2025
Coventry – Triumph Brewhouse

As I’m in Coventry for the weekend, I thought it useful to try and visit a few more pubs. Richard isn’t here this LDWA weekend, he’s doing specialist things in Miami, but I am happy to battle on visiting Coventry pubs bravely on my own. This is the Triumph Brewhouse which sells keg beers, including those it brews themselves.

The venue was busy, perhaps boosted by Coventry City playing football at the time of my visit. They beat Sheffield Wednesday 5-0, so there was rather an upbeat feel to the pub.

The beer selection and the beers that they brew themselves, alongside some others including from the nearby Twisted Barrel.

It’s more than just a bar though, they serve light meals, coffees, milk shakes and there seems to have been an effort to source locally. It feels a little bit more like a cafe, but it’s clear that beer is an important element of their offering.

I thought that I should try two of the beers that are brewed on-site. The service here was friendly and engaging, the whole arrangement had an inviting vibe to it.

My first beer was the 1919 from Triumph Brewery, a clean tasting bitter with a malty edge and a flavour of Twix.

The second half was the 1987, also brewed in house, which was a wheat beer which had a bitter finish. There was plenty of wheat in this (handy for a wheat beer), banana notes and a pleasant taste, although it didn’t feel entirely rounded.

The whole arrangement felt like something of a family affair and it seemed like a venue which was welcoming to the whole community. I rather liked it here, it had an on-trend feel to it and the venue was clean and comfortable. All rather lovely.

October 4, 2025