Category: UK

The final stop in our study tour of Beccles was the JD Wetherspoon operated King’s Head Hotel. For the purposes of these days out we try and avoid eating in Wetherspoons as we want to ideally experience some food in an independent pub, but the Bear & Bells finished food service early and we were left with no other options. I’ve been in this pub before JD Wetherspoon took it over in February 2013, but I can’t recall the previous layout internally as the renovation was quite extensive.

A little information board in the pub notes that the venue’s history dates back to at least the seventeenth century and there’s more about the heritage of the building at http://relicsofbeccleshistory.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-kings-head-hotel-re-opens.html. It’s a shame that so few photos of the interior of pubs exist, but as Julian mentioned, it was hard to take photos inside dark buildings which often had smoke and often had people moving around quite a lot. That means although there are generally plenty of exterior photos of venues, there are few photographic records of how it all looked inside.

The King’s Head was for a long period the main coaching inn of Beccles, with the building being substantial itself as well as having numerous outbuildings. There are likely few operators would could have coped with such a large building, but JD Wetherspoon have utilised nearly all of the ground floor for the pub, the toilets are inevitably upstairs and there’s direct access to their hotel rooms.

There were six real ales which were priced between £1.71 and £2.68 per pint. Not only that but there were some interesting options that I haven’t seen before and a range of beer styles to choose from which included a dark beer.

Using two of my 50p off vouchers this was nearly the cheapest round of the day and we ordered pints here unlike in the other pubs….. The pricing for food may have gone up, but the price for drinks remains one of the lowest around. The service at the bar was polite and they’re operating a queueing system here. This seems to be the latest controversy for some people in this chain’s pubs, where now orderly queues form rather than there being something of a free for all at the bar. I must admit, I don’t much mind what a pub does, as long as it’s clear where I’m supposed to stand.

Tastefully decorated, the pub has plenty of nooks and crannies. The restoration of the venue by JD Wetherspoon feels as though it has been sensitive and they’ve also modernised the accommodation as well for those wanting to stay overnight, with twenty rooms available. I have stayed here before and I remember the rooms being well appointed, quiet and also the prices were reasonable. There’s a lot to be said about this historic venues, imagining the number of coroner investigations, birthdays, wedding parties, fights, drunken behaviour and mischief to think of just a few.

The Red Rocks from Peerless Brewing, a very agreeable and well kept ruby ale.

I went for a chicken and bacon salad which looked well presented and I was surprised and delighted to find a heap of bacon hidden at the bottom as well. For the price point, I felt that this was very acceptable and the service time was ferociously quick. There were also numerous craft beers available as well, I went for the Devils Bridge IPA from Kirkby Lonsdale Brewery, a nice citrus flavoured beer.

Julian was ready for his food. We were at this table as it was one which had a convenient power point for my phone, which once again needed quite a lot of attention as it was a bit worn out. Rather like me really.

And soon after it arrived. I think Julian was content with his food, with the staff offering check backs to ensure that all was well. The collection of empty plates and glasses was also efficient, the venue was well staffed.

What looks like part of the former stable area with the green doors is now used as the pub’s beer cellar. These stretch out further along the building into the large beer garden. It might not look it, but the pub was relatively busy even for a weekday afternoon, with a fair few families in where they’ve taken the kids after school.

The dessert cost £1.70. I’m not suggesting that it was Michelin quality, but it was a biscuity and ice cream mini treat.

And to finish off, the delicious and once again well kept Black Adder from Mauldons.

And some information about carpets in Wetherspoons, which are all unique. I had a little look at the on-line reviews and it’s reviewed about as well as any other outlet in the chain, so they’re clearly doing plenty right. This review amused me for reasons unknown….

“Staff member cleaning the table of plates from previous customers passed me the cloth and asked me to wipe the table myself. I explained I had just washed my hands to eat and would rather not. Staff member argued the cloth is clean enough. She wiped the table, said ‘you’re welcome’ sarcastically and walked off”

And then the endless dogs debate, as they’re banned entirely by the chain. It’s quite awkward at this pub as there’s plenty of external seating, so they have to advertise quite clearly the policy. But it annoys some of those people who love taking their dogs for a little drink.

“I am so very annoyed.Today we went in to Beccles town center with our little dog.We went to sit at the tables a long the side of weatherspoons on the pavement and all the tables said ‘no dogs at these tables’thats surely not right.firstly the tables are on the pavement area at the side of the weatherspoons so its not their private area.we was so looking forward to sitting outside there with our dog having a meal when the weather is nice,but now we will never go in their again.”

This review was posted two weeks ago, so certainly wasn’t a reference to us:

“Full of loud local drunks.”

In the bin   🙂

“We ordered our food from a table that had no number so used next table a long.which the people sitting there were very helpful. The wine came with in 5 min. We waited for our food for 45 minutes it did not arrive. Thought a bit strange so I went in and asked politely if there had been a mix up. The waitress replied ‘o yes it’s in the bin’.”

But, I mustn’t spend too long reading reviews, however tempting it might be.

I am aware that there are some in CAMRA, and indeed some not in CAMRA, who are not best pleased about this chain for various reasons. However, they offered us the widest choice of real ales in the day, they offered the widest choice of craft beers, they were the only pub serving food in the afternoon and their prices were the lowest. The service was efficient and attentive, the surroundings were clean, the atmosphere was inviting and this felt like a professionally run pub. There is far more to a pub than being the cheapest or even having the most beer options, but given everything combined this venue certainly surprised and delighted me.

I have visited this pub before, not least for the wedding of friends Rob and Jade a few years ago. It’s a grand building by the River Waveney and the venue’s early history is detailed, quite magnificently, at https://waveneyhousehotel.co.uk/history/. From when it was built in the mid sixteenth century, this was the grandest residential property on the street and it was turned into a hospitality venue in the nineteenth century. One of the owners of the property was John Leman (1544-1632) who became the Lord Mayor of London and the school in Beccles is still named after him.

Here’s how the building looked in the 1960s.

There’s a pleasant conservatory area next to the main dining area, but we were rather more taken with sitting outside in a rare departure from our normal very internal drinking policy. Outside is so often full of dangers such as wasps, bitey insects, snakes, seagulls, pigeons and local drunks that it’s not worth risking, but we didn’t encounter any of those potential issues here.

Not a bad view of the Waveney River. I can see why people have weddings here and there are also 12 rooms for those wanting accommodation.

I went for the Southwold Bitter from Adnams which was well kept and surprised keenly priced given that there was some decadence to the hotel. Although to be fair to them, the service was informal and friendly, I think they’re keen to attract drinkers and diners in so want to be reasonably priced.

The lunch and evening menu. Unfortunately we were too late for lunch and too early for the evening meal….. The dining environment looked clean and comfortable, with the on-line reviews being positive, so I’m sure it would be delightful.

The on-line reviews are generally positive, but I particularly liked the response to this one:

“Had Sunday lunch today with the family.The main coarse roast beef was very poor, the presentation of vegetables was a disgrace. The roast potatoes were very poor. The price was £16.00. Will not be going back. The previous owners food was much superior. If you want a good Sunday roast avoid this venue.”

With the reply being:

“Same owner for last 20 years plus first complaint about roast seriously in that time”.

And then loudchildgate kicked off one night….

“We was on the top floor, we was only in the hotel a maximum of an hour before we went out for dinner. While I was out I had a call (8:30pm) saying there had been a complaint made about me and my kids. “There was banging and a constant baby crying for two hours!” Firstly my “baby” is a 3 year old that if she did winge it was a maximum of 5 minutes. And also we wasn’t even there for two hours.. the “banging” that they was insisting of was my son waking around. (He has autism and adhd and won’t sit still for any period of time) however he does not make any noises or bags.. I explained all this and I was told “just to be respectful of others”. So right away it was ruined, I didn’t even want to go back after dinner. And I couldn’t go down for breakfast in the morning so went elsewhere. But if a child winges, or there is a little bang or two and THAT is warrant for a phone call on my private number while out having a meal, it’s ridiculous. And the way the dealt with it was awful”

But anyway, I digress from our core responsibility of meandering around pubs on our study tour. This venue exceeded my expectations, I had expected something a little more stuffy and expensive, but yet the atmosphere was laid-back and inviting. The view over the river is really most pleasant and we deserved a little decadence on our tour.

Next on our list of pubs to visit in Beccles was the Bear & Bells. We were hopeful of getting food here and I’d been looking forwards to coming to the pub as I’ve spent plenty of time waiting at the bus stops opposite waiting to get the First high speed thunderbolt bus back to Norwich. The pub building dates back to the early seventeenth century and it was known as just the Bear for a long part of its history. There’s more about the history at https://suffolk.camra.org.uk/pub/35, with a suggestion that there might have been two pubs, one called the Bear and one called the Bell. That would make sense and often the most obvious explanation is the right one.

Here’s the exciting real ale selection. I wasn’t entirely surprised and delighted.

The next slightly less than surprising and delighting factor was that they were finishing food service early, so we weren’t eating there either. Here’s what we could have won….. It looked an interesting menu, I would have been very tempted by the fish and chips.

The drinks were the most expensive of the day, so again I can’t say I was thrilled at the whole arrangement. The Blue Moon tasted as expected and had the requisite slice of orange, so that was all good. The drinks range was weak though, it wasn’t what I had anticipated from a town centre pub. However, in fairness, the pub said that they had a delivery issue and so perhaps that was the cause of the problems.

I’m not sure that I’ve seen as many dead flies in a pub for some time and they were covering numerous surfaces. Perhaps the pub was collecting them though for some purpose that I wasn’t aware of. I like the effort being made with holding various events though, they’ve got a quiz and comedy night, with that curry night looking most delightful. Unfortunately, we were a day early for the curry.

There’s an historic feeling to the interior of the pub and the service at the bar was prompt, so that’s all to the good. I actually suspect if we had arrived on a different day when they were serving lunch for the full hours we might have had a very different experience, not least as the recent food reviews are all very positive. There were a few other customers in during our visit, with the atmosphere feeling safe and secure.

The outdoors area offers a view over the square and would be a marvellous place for anyone who fancied taking up bus spotting. As for the pub, this was the most disappointing of the day and not really what I had expected. My expectations were more of a cosy little traditional pub with a selection of real ales and a clean and comfortable environment. However, I don’t want to end on a down point, as it’s always great to see that pubs are still trading and serving their local community. As we still needed food, we would have to rely on visiting the large JD Wetherspoon pub in the town, and I wondered what delights we could expect there.

This venue has two entrances, the main bar accessed through a door to the left (next to the A-Board) and there’s a cellar bar accessible via a different entrance to the right (just out of the photo).

The entrance to the cellar bar is on the left through that fire door and the pub’s kitchen is ahead.

The pub’s menu, which isn’t served all day, but is available at lunchtimes and in the evenings.

There were three beers on which were the dreaded Greene King IPA, Old Speckled Hen and Fuller’s London Pride.

I went for the London Pride, a reliable beer and it was well kept and at the appropriate temperature.

The ground floor of the pub. There’s a strong food focus here, but it’s still welcoming to those who just want a drink. I know very little about wine, but there seems to be plenty of choice available on their wine list, which is appropriate given the pub’s name. As I understand, this naming is though more to do with the cellar bar formerly being used to store wine though rather than to highlight their wine selection.

And the upstairs. The venue is very well reviewed on-line and they have numerous events such as live music. I can’t say I’m overly keen on the “booking enquiries made via email will not be replied to” on their web-site and I can think of more than a couple of people I know who would move onto another venue which had an on-line booking reservation system or who replied to emails. The Sunday roasts look appealing in the photos, I can imagine that it’s worth making the effort to book a table to experience those.

The service was friendly and engaging, with the pub being clean and well maintained. It’s a quirky building with plenty of character and the food coming out looked rather tempting. They might not have been the most exciting variety of real ales, but in all fairness they had three different ones to choose from, with the environment of the venue feeling inviting. Anyway, as I may have mentioned before, all rather lovely.