The not disagreeable entrance to the coach station, which is more a lengthy piece of landscaped road than a conventional station but it all looks rather nicely done. And let’s be ridiculous, not everywhere can be as lovely as North Walsham’s International Bus Interchange.
Swindon glistening in the sun.
I got there half an hour early in case I couldn’t find the stop, but the coach was already parked up. A woman pushed past me in the queue and I swore at her in my mind, annoyed if she took the emergency exit row seat. I like to think of myself as a patient and generous person (well, sort of), but there are limits, and those limits are legroom related.
She didn’t take it, so diplomatic relations were restored.
The coach wasn’t overly burdened with passengers, there were about fifteen of us.
The journey was without incident, the driver made some announcements and a woman played her phone loudly because seemingly no form of public transport is complete without someone deciding that everyone else needs to experience their media choices.
And safely into London Victoria coach station in all its greyness.
The rail fares from Swindon into London were ridiculously high, so I was pleased that this coach was rather more affordable at around £12. Everything went to schedule, the coach was clean, the seats were comfortable, the temperature met my expectations and I had plenty of space in my emergency exit row seat, so all to the good. But this was the third National Express journey I had taken in a weekend and the passenger numbers seemed lower than would even make the journey viable.
I popped into the Sir Daniel Arms pub in Swindon for a quick coffee (well, eight of them as I like to test the caffeine infrastucture of the venue) before my National Express coach to London. I had thought that I had written about this JD Wetherspoon venue before, but it has transpired that I haven’t. Although I did mention it in June 2018 when a group of us visited it before walking the Ridgeway.
I’ll take the history of the pub’s name from the chain’s website:
“This modern building stands on the site of a row of small shops, 1–10 Fleet Street. They served the adjacent railway village which was built by the Great Western Railway in the mid 19th century. The row included the Sir Daniel Arms, which traded until the 1980s, and was named after Sir Daniel Gooch. He proposed that the Great Western Railway Works should be built in Swindon and then ran the works which subsequently dominated Swindon for nearly 150 years.”
A bit of JD Wetherspoon bling. Incidentally, I don’t have a carpet photo, but there’s carpet in this one so that will have to do. I appreciate that this may disappoint the more carpet specialist readers of this blog, assuming that there actually are any. There are two floors to the venue, although the upper floor is closed off during quieter periods.
To help with the lack of photos, here’s a steak pudding that I had in February 2026 at the pub, namely as this venue is at the lowest price band for the chain for this was only just a little over £6 for the food and drink. I don’t claim that it’s a great meal, but for the price it is very hard to complain and so I don’t.
Anyway, onto the reviews as I like browsing through them and this venue is a little towards the higher end of the ratings on Google.
“The main reason for this negative review is how disgusted I am with the service received by what I assume was a member of management. From the moment we arrived she was rude and continued to be for the duration of our visit. I’ve just passed by driving test so surprised my mum with a trip to Swindon for her birthday so this was supposed to be a lovely day, yet her attitude to my mum and I was appalling. It was so bad, two ladies actually approached my mum to ask if she was okay out in the toilets as they were concerned.”
I always wish reviewers would give a hint about how the situation began. It feels unlikely, although not impossible, that a staff member simply appeared from nowhere and selected a customer for a sustained campaign of discourtesy. There is usually a prelude to these things. That said, surprising one’s mum with a birthday trip to Swindon after passing a driving test is an act of confidence, and I respect the ambition.
“Pint if thatchers tasted like water and exactly the same with the Stella, got it changed but still tasted the same, won’t be going back anytime soon”
I would like to note that Thatchers is meant to taste like that, but that would appear to be too churlish.
“I went in with my assistance dog got a drink for me and bowl of water. Then had a manager come over telling me unless had a uk pass couldnt come in and was refused another drink. Wouldn’t mind but we sat outside so was no where near people eating . Disgusting the way was treated. My dog had jacket and lead stating what he was with Canine Partner jacket and lead and lanyard. Disgusting how weather’s poon treated me”
The chain is being questioned over this at the moment and now genuine assistance dogs are potentially being refused because some people have pretended in the past that their dog is an assistance dog when it is no such thing. Sub-optimal for all concerned.
“Unbearably loud music on the weekends”
I’m with the customer here, it’s one of those Lloyds venues and I’m aware that it gets far too vibrant on a weekend….
On the real ale front there were seven available, from breweries including Twisted, Hanlons, Hop Union and Phoenix, all at their low prices of under £3 a pint. I was on coffee rather than beer because I had a coach to catch and sometimes even I make decisions with a vague nod towards responsibility.
Anyway, it’s all cheerful and the coffee is suitably cheap and reliable, so what more could I want.
I’m not sure anyone will notice unless they’re particularly avid readers, and there’s a limited number of those, but I’m jumping around a little with these posts to try and get to the end as I’m now on the next trip. This is the constant difficulty of running a travel blog at my level of international glamour. Sometimes one has to write about Swindon while mentally being somewhere else, which is probably how a lot of people experience Swindon anyway.
Anyway, this is the Ibis Budget in Swindon, the first time that I’ve stayed there. In a rather sub-optimal manner, there was no staff member at reception and I had to trek around to Holiday Inn Express to find someone. I’d note that I’m aware that they are different chains, but previous guests have said that they’re sharing receptions to a degree.
After I located the receptionist I was pleased to be told that my room had been upgraded. Now, this is all a bit relative, I had booked a thrifty room with no window and I was allocated a room with a window. I have not included the window in the photo, perhaps because I didn’t want to show off too much.
I liked the carpets in the corridors, but I should probably get out more. There is something worrying about reaching the stage in life where hotel corridor carpets become worthy of comment, but at least it shows I am still noticing the world around me. Not necessarily the important parts of it, but parts nonetheless.
The restaurant menu.
Apparently it’s open 24 hours a day although since I couldn’t find a reception in the evening, I’m a little sceptical about getting a chicken curry and a pint at 03:43.
Breakfast was included in the room rate and was quite basic, although it happened to suit my needs entirely. If you like ham, yoghurt and burnt bacon, then this was a winner and those are elements that suit me.
It worked for me and I went through a lot of the hotel’s ham and bacon offerings. The coffee machine was broken and they had run out of orange juice, so I opted for apple juice as I’m flexible like that. I like to think of myself as adaptable in moments of crisis, provided the crisis is relatively small and involves chilled breakfast beverages.
It wasn’t busy at breakfast and I’m not sure that it was very busy anywhere in the hotel.
I’d note that they probably need to make these automatic doors easier to operate as they’re not automatic and require the pressing the button on the left hand side. I have no idea why they’ve made it that complex and that’s confused numerous reviewers and it confused me. I accept that confusing me is not necessarily proof of poor design, but when several other people are also baffled by a door, perhaps the door needs to take some responsibility.
Get healthy when staying at Ibis Budget…..
I found this a slightly odd hotel which doesn’t sit entirely well in the Ibis Budget brand. I’m not sure that they should have joint receptions with other chains, I wouldn’t expect Travelodge and Premier Inn to share reception desks. The restaurant area needs some investment and the breakfast was a little odd in its selection. The rooms with no windows don’t really feel appropriate even for Ibis Budget, although I would have been content with one. However, there weren’t any internal or external noise disturbances, the room was clean and I liked the breakfast as burnt bacon and a heap of ham works for me.
[I originally posted this 11 June 2018, but have reposted it to fix some broken image links]
We thought for our pub visits in Swindon that we should rely on the Good Beer Guide, so many thanks to Nathan for sending the details of pubs which were listed.
The Savoy, which is a JD Wetherspoon pub, had made the cut and so we thought we’d go there for a quick drink and small snack.
There was a pleasant external beer garden area, although Bev later complained about the locals when she went to examine the clientele…… This was our last chance to talk about the others before they turned up, so we made sure that we took advantage of that opportunity.
Since the devastating removal of pastrami bagel from the menu, the chicken wrap will have to do….
A lovely pint of Guinness, although perhaps not perfectly poured…
There were nine real ales available, an impressive number, and they were well selected with some interesting options. The stout had a rich and pleasant flavour, with the price of £2.29 being particularly appealing. The service at the bar was also engaging, with the team member being willing to offer samples and she happily discussed the options available.
Interior of the pub, which is a former cinema that originally opened in 1937 for ABC. It was redesigned in 1973 to add a pub at the rear and was taken over by Cannon in 1986, before closing in March 1991. It re-opened as a JD Wetherspoon pub in February 1996.
The Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue was first published at the end of the eighteenth century, and given that the current health crisis is giving too much time to read books, I thought I’d pick a daily word from it until I got bored….
Moon Rakers
This phrase, more commonly just moonrakers now, was arguably brought to light by Grose’s dictionary, where he defined it as “Wiltshire men: because it is said that some men of that county, seeing the reflection of the moon in a pond, endeavoured to pull it out with a rake”.
Firstly here, Wiltshire is one of God’s own counties, there’s no way Wiltshire folk would be this gullible. And, the actual story is more complex. Wiltshire folk are honest and good people, but there is a rumour that some locals were trying to recover a smuggled barrel of whisky which had been hidden in a lake. I’m sure they had been led astray…. Anyway, the revenue men found them, with the locals telling them that they were trying to rake in the moon’s reflection on the water. The revenue men thought that they were, frankly, bloody idiots and told the story to their colleagues, but it was actually them who had been taken in.
Who knows if this is true, but it was an enduring tale, which is said to have happened at The Crammer in Devizes. This sounds like the sort of thing that might happen in Devizes and as the lake is still there, I will hopefully get there at some point to go and have a look at it. And, God Bless Wiltshire.
