After an overnight coach journey with National Express, I felt that I deserved a coffee and I knew a place that would do unlimited coffees for £1.89. This is the JD Wetherspoon operated Commercial Rooms, which they’ve been running since the 1990s, so it’s one of their earlier venues outside of London.
It’s a grand building internally and the chain give the history of the name:
“Situated in the heart of Bristol’s old city and opposite the historic Corn Exchange, The Commercial Rooms was built in 1810 as a meeting point for the city’s traders. The retained weather vane, above the bar, would let merchants know whether it was safe for ships to negotiate the treacherous Avon Gorge. The three statues at the top of this grade II listed building represent Bristol, commerce and navigation.”
It’s one of the smaller JD Wetherspoon venues, there’s the main room and then a back room that was once a meeting area, with the toilets located upstairs. They had an impressive seven real ales available including options from Thornbridge, Brains and Otter, all priced at under £4 a pint.
I sat near the coffee machine as I thought that would save time.
My now obligatory carpet photo.
As it’s a JD Wetherspoon venue, I feel obliged to have a little look at the reviews, which are broadly in keeping with the chain’s average across the country.
“If you want to hang out with friends and have a fun time, don’t go to commercial rooms. The atmosphere was awful, no music at all and the dim lighting is horrendous”
Perfect. No music.
“The security was so rude and very aggressive. He said he doesn’t take BRP. Im international student and if we can not use BRP, we can use E-visa. No one goes around carrying Passport, which is the most important document while staying abroad”
I carry my passport. No ID, no entry….
“The bouncer informed us that Wetherspoons management had installed microphones around the pub to listen in to what the customers are talking about.”
They haven’t.
“Not Pet friendly. Went elsewhere.”
Disappointingly, this is the only negative review about someone not being allowed their dog inside. Well, I assume it was a dog they tried to bring in, I suppose that it might have been a cat.
Now there is one review of a pint of Guinness with absolutely no head and that does seem to be a very valid complaint, it would be hard to pour a Guinness like that. A deserved 1 out of 5 if that is genuinely true and it was from three years ago, so more unlikely to be AI generated.
“Waiter told 2 year old to shut up on a Saturday affernoon”
Reasonable.
Anyway, I was entirely content at this visit, the team members were friendly, it was pretty clean and I had several coffees for £1.89. And the building had some history to it, which always adds positively to a visit for me. I’ve visited this one a few times over the years and for a cheap coffee (well, several coffees), it certainly didn’t disappoint.
I haven’t wittered on about JD Wetherspoon venues for a couple of weeks, so it feels about time to post something. This is the Thomas Waghorn in Chatham which I visited on the first May Bank Holiday.
It’s a grand building which is located in the town’s former main Post Office.
The information panel outside the pub and the chain adds on their website:
“The well-known statue (erected in 1888) by the bridge over Railway Street commemorates the ‘postal pioneer’ Thomas Fletcher Waghorn – the Chatham-born naval officer and merchant seaman who developed a new postal route from Great Britain to India. His 6,000-mile overland route replaced the 16,000-mile sea journey, reducing the time taken from around three months to just 35–40 days.”
As mentioned, JD Wetherspoon opened it in 2016 and they spent £2.2 million on the building and the conversion, so a fair commitment.
It’s a large venue inside with this space in front of the bar and they’ve also got an open kitchen. There is an upstairs area and a garden with a choice of around seven real ales and numerous craft beer options.
My obligatory carpet photo and it was all a bit grimy.
This was around £9 which really is decent value for fish & chips and a bottle of Staropramen. All tasted as expected, was at the appropriate temperature and was served promptly. The Staropramen was agreeable and actually served in a clean glass, those larger ones are often not particularly well presented.
It’s fairly well reviewed online for a JD Wetherspoon venue, but I felt the need to check as usual.
“I am not happy with the way my son and his friends were treated by the staff at The Thomas Waghorn, my son bought an alcoholic drink Mango loco that cost him over £9 & his friend only had a drop of it(only put a tiny drop of it on her finger, she didn’t have a sip of the drink at all) & my son & his friends were kicked out of the place. My son is 18 & a half & I am not impressed with how the situation was dealt with by the staff, I certainly will not be going there ever again as my son has come home in tears as has my niece(who was with my son). This situation should have been dealt with more understanding rather than with rudeness”
Or just don’t let children have any alcohol in a pub maybe…..
“Me (17) and my partner (18) came here for their birthday and they ordered two drinks, both for them. The waiter took the drinks away and offered us juice instead. He then told me with a very smug look on his face that he couldn’t give me a refund as it says in ‘small print’ on the website. This has never been a problem anywhere else.”
I can’t imagine what the problem was here given one was 17….
“WARNING: Filled with old racist men waiting for death. Hateful 20 IQ door staff discriminate at random. Miserable bar staff who cant pour pints they’re so overworked. Reheated freezer food. Literally every surrounding bar in the area is better.”
I don’t think this customer likes the pub…..
“I was simply kicked out because staff did not like my children around”
I would be interested to know what these children were doing….
“Atmosphere of a wake.”
Good, venues can have too much frivolity sometimes….
“Found a 5p in the salt that we sprinkled on our food”
I’m not sure that I’ve seen a review mentioning something like that before….
“The young male server in his 20s who I’ve been told is possibly called Robin ( not sure how accurate that is and dude was also probably autistic) that seemed to really struggle with understanding humour and very obvious good humoured sarcasm had genuinely ruined my evening out with my friend and partner. He was so patronisingly rude and unpleasant that I eventually stopped ordering through the app and went straight to the bar just so he would stop serving my table. He very clearly had a huge attitude problem with power tripping from his server position as he continued to be rude and in a poor rendition of what he thought was an Essex accent said to me “I didn’t see your drink at the end of the bar lovey” in a mocking tone and in reference to myself making a joke about wanting a beer like my friend. Also he asked my partner “If things go down the wrong holes often” when she was choking on her food. Weird to make a sexual innuendo at a person who’s actively choking. For the first time in my life I wanted to talk to the on shift manager as the server was actually bordering on hostile after our 4th encounter which was extremely strange. This is the first time he’s done this as he in a poor attempt at humour called my friends partner fat on another occasion and once couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that someone at our table didn’t want ice cream with their brownie so he legitimately stood there staring in confusion and contempt for 2 minutes I’m silence whist our table watched him in confusion”
Well, I like a bit of drama…..
“Manager refused to deal with my issue after being presented with a side dish that was included on my main plate and so tiny it was like a the kitchen staff had been dared to do it. He wanted more money to rectify it and refused to give me his name when I asked for it, stating I could describe him on the complaints form instead. He was a child but had no self awareness and shouldn’t have been in a management position. Harry Potter specs, curly black hair and an attempt at a man’s stubble? I think? He was very forgettable?”
Those last couple of lines are hideous, how customers think it’s somehow acceptable to talk about team members like that…. Anyway, I digress.
The pub did though hit the newspapers a couple of years ago when two elderly customers were confronted by a duty manager and thrown out for using drugs. Anyway, JD Wetherspoon formally issued an apology and said that the duty manager had made a mistake. However, one of the two had phoned the pub manager up and was rude, and so JD Wetherspoon said he was permanently barred for that instead.
The venue could do with a bit of a deep clean, but it was cheap, welcoming and everything seemed to be served efficiently. It’s a decent venue as well and I’m not sure that many other operators could have made this work.
I had a rail connection at Bromley South railway station today to get to Kent, so I thought that I’d meander over the road to the JD Wetherspoon operated Richmal Crompton which I’ve visited a couple of times before. The sun was shining, the pub had a beer garden and it was just too hot. But, I didn’t complain to myself about the extreme temperatures.
The chain explains the reasoning for the pub name:
“This is named after Richmal Crompton, the author best known for her ‘William’ books. William Brown first appeared in a series of short stories written in Richmal’s spare time, while she was a teacher at Bromley High School for Girls. She lived in Bromley for 26 years, first in Cherry Orchard Road and later in nearby Oakley Road.”
It’s cavernous and not overly interesting as a building. It got busier at lunchtime, but the chain also has a pub just a short walk away, the Greyhound. Incidentally, and I write this without having a view either way, but this is one of those venues where customers queue in a line to order rather than wait along the bar. There’s an area which feels like a dining area off to the left, although the tables were all in long lines and it wasn’t clear whether they were expecting groups of 24 to turn up, or they had just crammed them in there. There were bookshelves to the rear of the pub and I thought that added to the arrangement. It’s all affordable and reliable, spacious and predictable.
My obligatory carpet shot.
In terms of the beer, the prices were moderate as usual and they had a selection of craft cans alongside six real ales, with beers from Thornbridge, Adnams and Theakston.
I decided to get unlimited coffee for £1.85 rather than anything beer related, although they had run out of milk and didn’t bother replacing it for the two hours that I was there. I decided raw coffee would just have to do.
The online reviews are about average for the chain and I couldn’t resist having a little look….
“Came in for a quick bite to eat with my dog who’s sitting outside and I’ve been told by every bar staff in here dogs aren’t even allowed on the premises that means even outside the door , Food is absolutely disgraceful as you can see from the photo, The manager with the wonky eyes said I need to get out as soon as I’ve eaten my food absolute joke stay clear unless you’re on a budget”
I suspect that JD Wetherspoon would be pleased that a customer who insults their staff like that goes elsewhere….
“We reserved an area for our wedding reception, no help in moving tables was offered, on the day there was glass in the reserved area that hadn’t been cleared prior to us arriving. We appreciate we had a large party but we waited ages for our meals, and drinks. Having booked in January for September plenty of notice had been given that we’d require food. They’d ran out of chicken nuggets, and the large mixed grill, and this was only early afternoon. When the steak came up and we asked which was medium rare, the waiter said that they’d all been done to the same (medium) even though we’d asked for different. We had one waiter serving almost 30 of us and it took almost an hour for tables to be cleared of plates. Me and my wife met in this wetherspoons 2 years ago but we will not be returning unfortunately.”
I’m not wholly convinced that JD Wetherspoon pubs are usually well equipped to deal with entire wedding parties….
“On top of that, after we left a pub, I came back to go to the toilet, it was around 23.00. On my way to the toilet i have been stopped by the waiter saying that ‘I’m banned in this pub and I have to leave’ after my statement that I AM PREGNANT AND I NEED TO USE A TOILET he insisted me to leave. How comes pregnant woman cant use a toilet in such a big pub? What policy are you based on? Of course I will proceed with further excalations and highlighting this situation everywhere possible as IT IS NOT ACCEPTABLE TO NOT ALLOW A PREGNANT WOMAN TO USE A TOILET.”
The customer was refused service for allegedly being drunk, they left the venue after an argument and then are furious that the venue wouldn’t let them back in. I like a bit of drama to be fair….
“Being Xmas everyone was having a great time and we were playing a game with an I top, a harmless tabletop game . When we were laughing and jeering eachother on ,the staff came over and told us to keep the noise down. What happened to the good old days when they had juke boxes in pubs and everyone singing along to Xmas songs and having a great time.”
Good, there’s no need for frivolity even at Christmas….
“Bar staff and management told us to leave because we were being to loud and noisy we were having a laugh we weren’t being rude or we were having a laugh. But we had to leave all because we were having a laugh”
Reassuringly peaceful, I like it.
“Not worth posting a review”
I think that’s a review.
Anyway, I digress enough. It seemed like a perfectly serviceable pub, although they rather abandoned the coffee machines, but in fairness I didn’t say anything to let them know. It was all clean, the team members were friendly, it was value for money and it wasn’t too loud. All really rather lovely.
Windsor : King & Castle [I visited this one a very long time ago]
They also used to operate the Baron Cadogan in Caversham, the Diamond Tap in Newbury, the Greyhound in Maidenhead, the Monks Retreat in Reading, Lloyds in Slough, Windlesora in Windsor [I visited this a very long time ago] and the Gig House in Wokingham [I visited this a very long time ago].
Hmmm, I appear to have been so distracted with other pubs that during my visits to Reading, I’ve only briefly popped into the two JD Wetherspoon venues in the town. And this is one of the only two photos that I have of the Hope Tap which I would have taken for Untappd.
The chain say about the venue’s name:
“The site of this pub was once occupied by the Hope Brewery which had its own pub, The Hope Tap. According to the earliest trade directory, 103–104 Friar Street were occupied by the brewery, but by 1860 the brewery had gone.”
This map is from around 1900 and the Hope Tap is located just below the BM, with that inner courtyard now being part of the pub.
I mentioned I had another photo and it is from my visit in September 2025. The two photos are nearly four years apart but are both of the same beer, the Titanic Plum Porter, which was just £2.28 a pint on my recent visit.
Anyway, onto the reviews to amuse me, which are around average for the chain.
“A nine year association with this once good pub is at an end. I have used £sterling over the nine years and a mix of English and Scottish bank notes without question. Tonight I handed over a Scottish £20 note, to have it returned with a stern warning, “although it states Sterling, we do not accept Scottish Bank Notes”, is this racism, it felt like it, I was person non grata. I politely refused to hand over Sterling in an acceptable format. Thank you, Hope Tap for the humiliation.”
Racism because they have stopped accepting Scottish £20s in their English and Welsh pubs because of the amount of fraudulent notes in circulation?
“Ordered food 10.59pm, kitchen closes at 11. Come to my work at 4.59 and we’ll honour that by allowing your vehicle into our workshop for whatever repair/maintenance required. Hope tap didn’t allow us to get our food, a man just came to our table and refused to make us the food ordered, and didn’t answer why, he just smiled and laughed. Pretty poor customer service. Use to love this place. Now I’ll just go hungry, or even better, pop to McDonald’s for a cheese burger, as they’ll always accept money for food no matter what time, or however late from closing time.”
This reminds me that for a while they had a situation where some JD Wetherspoon pubs took food orders until 23:00 and also closed at 23:00 which felt like a sub-optimal arrangement. I personally wouldn’t dare order on the app at 22:59, but each to their own.
“Ordered a Doom Bar and an IPA via the App, arrived at the table, and the kid said, “I don’t know which is which”, then turned to leave. I asked if he could take them back and re-pour them to know for sure, and he proceeded to return to the bar with them, wait 30 seconds at the end of the bar, then return with the same drinks pretending to know. I took them up to the bar, and after explaining to 2 highly confused staff, finally a bad tempered ‘manager’ came in and reluctantly proceeded to pour new drinks with quite an attitude. Par for the course, I guess.”
I’ve had this and it’s not ideal, but I’m not sure I’d send them back as that would admit that I couldn’t tell the difference by taste. But, once again, each to their own. The attitude is understandable in my view….
“i was out for the night with some girls on holiday from Denmark. when we got our drinks, we clinked our drinks together and said woohoo. the short bouncer was very aggressive and kicked us out without finishing, saying we were too loud”
Good, there’s too much frivolity in pubs.
“Organised trip to meet family on basis of Google including it as accepting dogs, but it didn’t.”
How is that the pub’s fault?
Anyway, enough of this excitement. They’ve usually got six real ales on and the prices are about the brand average, although that’s all towards the lower end of the scale.
I’ve rarely lingered for long in here, it can get really quite busy and I prefer the vibe at Siren’s taproom over the road and there are a fair few interesting Good Beer Guide pubs around as well. But, I’ll likely pop back at some point and I might remember to take a couple of photos to surprise and delight my two loyal readers.
As I was looking something else up, I found this list of JD Wetherspoon pubs from 1994. Different times and all that….
The Bankers Draft — 80 High Street, Eltham, London SE9 The Bankers Draft — 36-38 Friern Barnet Road, Southgate, N11 The Barking Dog — 61 Station Parade, Barking, Essex The Beaten Docket — 50-56 Cricklewood Broadway, London NW2 The Beehive — 407-409 Brixton Road, London SW9 The Bird In Hand — 35 Dartmouth Road, Forest Hill, London SE23 The Blacking Bottle — 122-126 High Street, Edgware, Middlesex The Camdens Head — 456 Bethnal Green Road, London E2 The Coliseum — Manor Park Road, Harlesden, London NW10 The Crown & Sceptre — 2a Streatham Hill, London SW2 The Dog — 17-19 Archway Road, London N19 The Drum — 557-559 Lea Bridge Road, London E10 The Elbow Room — 503-505 High Road, Tottenham, London N17 The Elbow Room — 22 Topsfield Parade, Tottenham Lane, London N8 The Foxley Hatch — 8-9 Russell Hill Road, Purley, Surrey The Fox on the Hill — 149 Denmark Hill, London SE5 The Gate House — 1 North Hill, Highgate, London N6 The George — 17-21 George Street, Croydon, Surrey The George — High Street, Wanstead, London E11 The Golden Grove — 146-148 The Grove, Stratford, London E15 The Good Yarn — 132 High Street, Uxbridge, Middlesex The Great Spoon of Ilford — 114-116 Cranbrook Road, Ilford, Essex The Grid Inn — 22 Replingham Road, Southfields, London SW18 The Half Moon — 749 Green Lanes, Winchmore Hill, London N21 The Hamilton Hall — Liverpool Street Station, London EC2 The Hart & Spool — 148 Shenley Road, Borehamwood, Herts The Harvest Moon — 141-143 High Street, Orpington, Kent JJ Moons — 3 Shaftesbury Parade, Shaftesbury Circle, South Harrow, Middlesex JJ Moons — 56a High Street, Tooting, London SW17 JJ Moons — 12 Victoria Road, Ruislip Manor, Middlesex JJ Moons — 397 High Road, Wembley, Middlesex JJ Moons — 553 Kingsbury Road, London NW9 JJ Moons — Departure Lounge, Terminal 4, Heathrow Airport JJ Moons — 80-82 Chiswick High Road, London W4 JJ Moons — 19-20 The Broadwalk, Pinner Road, North Harrow, Middlesex JJ Moons — 46-62 High Street, Hornchurch, Essex The Lamb — 52-54 Church Street, Edmonton, London N9 The Last Post — 227 High Road, Loughton, Essex The Lord Denman — 270-272 Heathway, Dagenham, Essex The Lord Moon of the Mall — 16-18 Whitehall, London SW1 The Man in the Moon — 40-42 Chalk Farm Road, London NW1 The Man in the Moon — 1 Buckingham Parade, Stanmore, Middlesex The Masque Haunt — Old Street, London EC2 The Moon & Stars — 99-103 South Street, Romford, Essex The Millers Well — 419-421 Barking Road, East Ham, London E6 The Moon on the Green — 172-174 Uxbridge Road, Shepherds Bush, London W12 The Moon on the Hill — 373-375 Station Road, Harrow, Middlesex The Moon on the Hill — 5-9 Hill Road, Sutton, Surrey The Moon & Sixpence — 250 Uxbridge Road, Hatch End, Middlesex The Moon & Sixpence — 1250-1256 Uxbridge Road, Hayes End, Middlesex The Moon & Sixpence — 185 Wardour Street, London W1 The Moon & Stars — 164 High Street, Penge, London SE20 The Moon on the Square — 30 The Centre, Feltham, Middlesex The Moon Under Water — 84-86 Staines Road, Hounslow, Middlesex The Moon Under Water — 148 High Street, Barnet, Herts The Moon Under Water — 10 Varley Parade, Colindale, London NW9 The Moon Under Water — 53-57 London Road, Twickenham, Middlesex The Moon Under Water — 115-117 Chase Side, Enfield, Middlesex The Moon Under Water — 10-11 Broadway Parade, Coldharbour Lane, Hayes, Middlesex The Moon Under Water — 28 Leicester Square, London WC2 The Moon Under Water — 1327 London Road, Norbury, London SW16 The Moon Under Water — 194 Balham High Street, London SW12 The Moon Under Water — 44 High Street, Watford, Herts The New Fairlop Oak — Fencepiece Road, Barkingside, Essex The New Moon — 25-26 Kenton Park Parade, Kenton Road, Harrow, Middlesex The New Moon — 413 Lordship Lane, London N17 The Old Suffolk Punch — 10-12 Grand Parade, Green Lanes, London N4 The Outside Inn — 312-314 Neasden Lane, London NW10 The Paper Moon — 55 High Street, Dartford, Kent The Railway — 202 Upper Richmond Road, Putney, London SW15 The Railway Bell — 13 East Barnet Road, New Barnet, Herts The Red Lion & Pineapple — 281 High Street, Acton, London W3 The Regent — 19 Church Street, Walton On Thames, Surrey The Rochester Castle — 145 High Street, Stoke Newington, London N16 The Sarsen Stone — 32 High Street, Wealdstone, Middlesex The Sovereign of the Seas — 109-111 Queensway, Petts Wood, Kent The Spotted Dog — 72 Garratt Lane, Arndale Centre, Wandsworth, London SW18 The Sylvan Moon — 27 Green Lane, Northwood, Hillingdon, Middlesex The Tally Ho — 749 High Road, North Finchley, London N12 The Tollgate — 26-30 Turnpike Lane, London N8 The Three Horseshoes — 28 Heath Street, Hampstead, London NW3 The Tigers Head — 350 Bromley Road, Catford, London SE6 179 Upper Street — 179 Upper Street, Islington, London N1 The Village Inn — 402-408 Rayners Lane, Pinner, Middlesex Wetherspoons — Victoria Station, London SW1 Wetherspoons — Landside, Terminal 4, Heathrow Airport Wetherspoons — 33 Aberconway Road, Morden, Surrey Wetherspoons — 552-556 London Road, North Cheam, Surrey The Whispering Moon — 25 Ross Parade, Woodcote Road, Wallington, Surrey The White Lion of Mortimer — 125-127 Stroud Green Road, London N4 The White Lion of Mortimer — 1-3 York Parade, West Hendon Broadway, London NW9 The White Lion of Mortimer — 223 London Road, Mitcham, Surrey The Whole Hog — 430-434 Green Lanes, Palmers Green, London N13 The Wrong ’Un — 234-236 The Broadway, Bexleyheath, Kent The Square Peg — 115 Corporation Street, Temple Court, Birmingham The Moon in the Square — 4-8 Exeter Road, Bournemouth, Dorset The Old Manor — Grenville Place, Church Road, Bracknell, Berkshire The Red Lion — Departure Lounge, North Terminal, Gatwick Airport The Falcon — 9 Cornmarket, High Wycombe, Bucks The Elms — London Road, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex The Moon Under Water — 68-74 Deansgate, Manchester The Bell — 5 Orford Hill, Norwich, Norfolk The Berkeley — 18-19 Queen’s Road, Clifton, Bristol, Avon The Commercial Rooms — 43-45 Corn Street, Bristol, Avon The Moon & Spoon — 86 High Street, Slough, Middlesex The Last Post — Weston Road, Southend, Essex The Golden Cross Hotel — 20 High Street, Bromsgrove, Hereford and Worcester Wetherspoons — 93-97 Lord Street, Southport, Merseyside The Last Post — 77 The Broadway, Chesham, Bucks Wetherspoons — 78-92 Foregate Street, Chester, Cheshire The Playhouse — 4 St. Johns Street, Colchester, Essex The Monk’s Retreat — 163 Friar Street, Reading, Berkshire Wetherspoons — 51-57 Chertsey Road, Woking, Surrey The Moon Under Water — 53-55 Lichfield Street, Wolverhampton, West Midlands
I’ve visited the Moon and Spoon in Slough a couple of times, but I have entirely failed to take any useful photos of it. So here’s a photo with the word Slough on it, which I accept is slightly sub-optimal. The pub is one of the older ones in the JD Wetherspoon estate, it’s included in their 1992 list of pubs, so it likely opened in the late 1980s.
Using the chain’s history of the venue, they note:
“The author George Orwell described his ideal pub in a newspaper article and called it ‘Moon Under Water’. It is why ‘moon’ is used in the name of several Wetherspoon pubs. This pub stands on the site of the Black Boy Inn. First recorded in 1679, it was demolished in 1910 and replaced by the Fulbrook Motor Works. Later known as Fulbrook House, it was home to Slough’s first supermarket and then the Halifax Building Society.”
This was evidently a very different Slough, it’s a little difficult to picture it being a quaint town some way from London. It’s now rather more urban and vibrant shall we say.
This is the only photo that I took inside the pub, as obviously I didn’t want to neglect Untappd. For reference, as if anyone could possibly care, this is the Diablo from Mad Squirrel Brewery which was £1 for a half and was an interesting beer with a bit of lemon in the flavour.
The venue is one of the older style JD Wetherspoon outlets, quite a dark design and not overly large, but the team members were all friendly and welcoming. The online reviews are positive and towards the high end of the scale for the chain, but I like looking at some of the angry ones.
“Visiting home town Slough and was feeling merry and having a laugh with family as walking in Place looked like it needed some life and colour. Got refused a drink because we were having a laugh.”
I’m with the pub, I doubt that it did need life and colour.
“Went with my son for a drink.. ordered Stella by App.. all good, second Stella ordered by app came in non Stella glass. Tasted awful after a few sips. (due to the glass)…”
I mean, yes, Stella would say that their beer tastes better in their own branded glass. In reality, I would doubt anyone would be able to taste the difference, but the claim that the beer somehow tastes awful is something that the pub should ignore. And they did, they refused a replacement.
“Worst visit I have ever had in a Wetherspoons. Served by a girl with an IQ of about 5, three times had to point at Windsor Knot that I ordered, then served the beer that was at least 10% short of a full pint.”
Perhaps she was nervous that it would be a customer that would bully her and post all over Google abuse about her.
“Alcoholic drinks that you pay, they will bring them to the table. Free tap water, you need to get up and get it yourself. I believe they missed the point of why tap water is free in England on any establishment selling alcohol.”
I’m not sure there’s a law which requires tap water to be brought to the table by a team member because a customer doesn’t want to get it themselves….
“If you like going to the library the go its so quiet this pub”
Good.
Anyway, that’s enough review distraction and I note that at the moment the venue offers six different real ales, including from breweries including Mauldons, Hanlons and Peerless.
The pricing here is towards the lower end of the JD Wetherspoon scale, which is already pretty cheap. There’s more of a vibrant atmosphere here than in the newer and usually larger venues that they operate, but it’s all reliable enough and it’s been here long enough now.
Just meandering through my old photos and this is The Back of Beyond in Reading, operated by JD Wetherspoon. I visited in February 2022 and was mostly going to pubs in the Good Beer Guide, which explains the limited number of photos that I took in here.
As for the pub name, the chain explains:
“This pub stands on the site of a ginger beer factory, later used as a Salvation Army barracks, and takes its name from its location on the edge of town.”
I remember that this was an odd day as there were gale force winds and numerous venues weren’t opening at all, with all council buildings being closed. This pub is by the River Kennet and the chairs outside were blowing about so much that they were at risk of either losing them or one hitting a pedestrian. A team member calmly came in looking bedraggled from the gale to say the least and suggested “we had better close outside” in a rather understated manner. They certainly wouldn’t have closed inside.
As an aside, the beer is the Red Kite from Vale Brewery, but this was before the days that I wrote commentary on every beer as well as checking them in. Whilst I was there a member of the public was IDed by a polite team member, but they were aggressive and verbally abusive in response which created a bit of extra tension inside. I remember that the team members here seemed efficient and were evidently doing their best.
I remember that the pub was clean and seemed in a good state of repair, but I obviously couldn’t visit the outside area without the risk of being hit by a flying chair. There are some pubs that I visit that it’s the clientele that I worry about in that regard, but it was definitely just the weather on this instance.
Anyway, onto the reviews, with the venue being generally very well rated. The venue is still responding to reviews, which is a little unusual for the chain’s pubs.
“Me and my university friends are regulars at this spoons, my friends accepted a drink that we assumed is a gift from a family member. There was a mistake from the bartender who provided us with the wrong drink. And recognised the mistake and threatened us to be kicked out of the spoons if we didn’t pay, they went as far as stating that we have committed theft, when me and my friend rightfully asked him for his name he did not provide it, he was an older person with glasses. The customer service is a disgrace.”
Amazing how many reviews there are along the lines of “I assumed it was a gift from someone” when a customer has merrily gone and drunk something brought to the table in error.
“Myself & my husband have been regular customers for many many years of The Back of Beyond to eat & drink on Saturdays. We waited patiently at the bar to be served, lady behind bar said who was next & despite my husband saying it was him & putting his hand up she proceeded to serve someone else! We were clearly next as had been stood next to the lady she had just been serving. When we spoke up she said “don’t start anything” At this point we walked out. Needless to say we won’t ever return with that kind of treatment. Staff training in customer service is clearly required here!!”
To be fair to the bar staff, this sort of stuff is going to happen in a busy pub and this is why I like they have an app to order from…
“I’ve never felt so unwelcome by some of the staff here. My friends were celebrating my birthday and they called us out over a microphone for singing happy birthday. Im really disappointed in the service here”
I’m liking the pub even more.
“Got told off by the Quiz Master for singing happy birthday”
Yes, I’m on board with the pub now.
“You should review your age id identification. These days everything is checked online and no one’s carry an id after them.”
They carry an ID with them if they want to be served.
“People took over front part of pub by Office louder than your music on phone I played a little bit on my phone to be told it was too loud, but people can be louder. Brought food for 15 year old daughter with option of soft drink, choose alcohol free cider as in soft drinks, Girl brings drinks over and is Rude her words You got ID You got ID, not can I see ID Please. Also Law say she’s having Food she can have a alcohol free, Please educate your staff in UK Rules on this, Oh and to make us A Family feel even more uncomfortable in this Pub she when over to Bar to tell the other staff/ Managers of this, to which they end up staring at us the whole time in there. I no longer recommend this pub, not for families”
So playing music on a phone and then ordering non alcoholic beers for a 15 year old, it’s not going to end well….. I like JD Wetherspoon’s stance on both and their staff seemed very well trained on them to me.
Anyway, they usually have around eight real ales and it all seemed well run when I was there. The pricing is somewhere around the middle for the chain and it feels as if it has more of a student crowd in there. The venue had first opened in the 1990s and received an investment of over £850,000 in 2021 to modernise the pub, so I visited soon after all of that work was completed. If I go back, I’ll get some more photos to surprise and delight my two loyal blog readers….
As a slight confession, I like JD Wetherspoon venues and they also drive traffic to this ‘riveting’ blog so there will be more posts about them. If that’s what the public want, then that’s what they get.
I never visited the Banker’s Draft in Bedford as it closed in 2016 and was taken over by the Brewhouse & Kitchen chain, although this in turn has now closed. The image above isn’t one of my photos, it’s from Google Streetview.
Regarding the pub name, the chain noted when it opened that:
“This pub’s name recalls its former use as a bank. This site used to be a branch of Midland Bank. Established in Birmingham during 1836, the bank opened a branch in High Street, Bedford, in the 1890s. Around the time of World War I, it transferred to 115 High Street, remaining at that address until the mid 1990s.”
The later renovation from Brewhouse & Kitchen has made it look less like a bank, but it still very much appeared like one back when JD Wetherspoon had it. Amber Taverns have since purchased the building since the Brewhouse & Kitchen set-up closed in 2024 and it’s now open again as the High Street Social Tap.
