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Tag: JD Wetherspoon

London – Lewisham (Borough of) – Brockley Barge Pub

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

April 30, 2023
Dereham Pub Day – Romany Rye

Fourth in the day’s Dereham adventure that Julian and I were partaking in was the JD Wetherspoon operated Romany Rye, a pub that I’ve visited many times before. I’ve always found it a reliable and well-run pub, it’s a 2011 conversion of a pub and hotel dating from the 1960s when it was known as the Phoenix. It remains a hotel today and I’ve stayed here before, the rooms are well appointed and I remember them being comfortable and reasonably priced.

In terms of the pub name, I’ve just pinched the text from JD Wetherspoon’s web-site:

“One of the most imaginative prose writers of the 19th century, George Borrow was born on the outskirts of East Dereham in 1803, the son of an army captain, who bewitched a local girl while recruiting in the town. Educated at Norwich Grammar School, Borrow later took to the road. He could speak 20 languages, with his travels providing material for his best books The Bible in Spain, Lavengro and Romany Rye. Borrow eventually retired to the Norfolk Broads, where he died alone in 1881.”

There was incidentally a pub of the same name on Colman Road in Norwich, but then Enterprise Inns purchased it, ruined it and it’s lost now.

Julian made himself comfortable in the pub’s rather decadent furniture.

There were eight different real ales available, I’m fairly sure that this is the widest choice available in the town. The service was polite, prompt and efficient with the pub being comfortable, inviting and organised. As would be expected from the chain, the prices were firmly towards the lower end of the scale.

And today’s entry in the blurred photo of the day award…. Anyway, this is the Summa That from Branscombe Vale Brewery, a well kept but slightly dull affair. We also got a coffee each and I went, unusually, for a caffeine option as we both needed a little energy burst following our lunches. It’s hard work this pub visiting, I’m not sure that everyone realises that.

I’m not sure whether or not Stephen Fry has popped into the Romany Rye, but he is a local man.

The pub is well reviewed for a Wetherspoons, so they’re clearly doing a lot right. I had a little virtual meander through the reviews to see what interested me.

“Went there for a meal and the 3oz American style burger and the 6oz American style burger. Absolutely delicious. My Friend had the chicken meal with the chicken bites and mini wings. Tasted off and later this evening was sick everywhere! Defiantly chicken as it was in the sick! Disappointed.”

This absolutely isn’t how food hygiene works and I have to give JD Wetherspoon credit for being one of the best rated chains in the national food scoring schemes that are operated by local councils.

“Would come more often if I could bring my dog along to sit inside, but opp for more dog friendly pubs.”

Just to balance this, I would come in less often if the pub resembled a doggery. I don’t think that’s actually a word, but I like it, so it’s staying.

“Shocked that even though they don’t close till 1 they stop letting in before 12:45! Any other spoons will let you in to buy a drink until the closing time at the bar! Poor service and too interested in getting out early than serving customers!”

I might incur the wrath of Julian by writing this, but this doesn’t seem an unreasonable policy to me. I’ve had many early mornings of clearing customers out of a pub and if you serve someone at 00:45 and then tell them to drink straight up and go then the customer is unlikely to be surprised and delighted. Well, surprised maybe actually, but definitely not delighted.

“3 teens were kicked out on Sunday for not carrying ID to prove that they were 16. Which 16 year olds carries ID!? They had already payed for their food so the staff poorly wrapped up their food in tin foil and shoved it in a pizza box then made to get out. They were then left out in the cold to eat their food in the freezing cold even though they had payed full price to eat in. The staff could have just warned the children to bring ID next time, it’s not like they were ordering alcohol.”

There are about ten reviews like this and this is indeed JD Wetherspoon policy. But, it doesn’t feel right, if the pub has served the customers and charged them money, this situation is clearly sub-optimal. There’s something rather nice about a group of mates going politely to a pub and getting themselves a meal without alcohol.

“Told couldn’t come down from our room till 7am bit stupid.”

I don’t understand this, the hotel rooms have 24 hour access. Unless the guest wanted to sit in the pub area before 07:00….. JD Wetherspoon don’t have a social media presence, which I personally think is a mistake, so they never respond to reviews like this and I’d quite like to know what actually happened here. I accept that I probably need to get out more, but I like listening to a bit of drama.

“Landlord if he don’t like the look of you send staff over to ask you too leave will not give a reason”

This is the sort of thing I want to know more about….

Anyway, I’ve got distracted reading reviews again, but this was in my mind a well managed chain pub. There was a wide choice of ales, they were well kept and the prices were low. The pub is comfortable, there’s wi-fi and plenty of power points, with the surroundings being clean and comfortable. Tim Martin might come in for criticism, but even though I don’t agree with his politics, I’d suggest that he knows how to run pubs.

April 21, 2023
Harwich – Bottle Kiln Pub

Another town, another Wetherspoons to tick off whilst I’m there….. Opened as a Wetherspoons in March 2017 following a £2.6 million renovation, the building was previously used as the Co-operative Society’s furniture store and the chain says this about the pub’s name:

“This two-story building’s Art Deco-style façade has been a feature of Kingsway since the 1930s. The adjacent plot of uneven land was part of a brickfield. Brick-making in Dovercourt dates from Roman times. During the 19th century, brick- and cement-manufacturing were leading local trades. The nearby mill, owned by John Patrick, one-time Mayor of Harwich, had 12 cement kilns and drying flues, as well as 14 bottle kilns, in 1881.”

From Google Streetview just a few years ago, showing how much better this building now looks.

The toilets and nine en-suite hotel rooms are located upstairs, with the rest of the pub’s customer space being on the ground floor.

I like an historic map to look at.

This beer is the 1822 from Kirkby Lonsdale Brewery and it was malty and creamy, with a taste of toffee in there as well, all rather pleasant.

It’s one of the better reviewed pubs in the JD Wetherspoon estate and they’ve spent a fair sum on the refurbishment of the building and it has been sensitively done. There are plenty of power points dotted around the pub which proved to be rather handy, with everything clean and organised. And since I mentioned the reviews:

“Terrible experience with amazing stupid staff. For foreners the most bad place ever. We orderd bij de ur-code and payed our meal at the desk and get NEVER our food !!! Reaction was ..oh did y orderd also food? No forget this place.”

Stupid staff? Really?

“Hate this place, is does not provide anything for people who can’t drink alcohol”

At a rough guess, over half the customers in the pub were drinking hot drinks when I was there….

“I’m disgusted with the lack of lounging area in the male toilets when the women’s has a sofa?! Do I get a discount because I have the male anatomy and no sofa to rest on after I’ve relieved myself? Please look into this as a matter of urgency before I consult my MP.”

I’m sure this comment was meant to cause hilarity, although it seems rather unfair to damage the venue’s on-line reputation, but I won’t let it worry me. I’ve got distracted again reading reviews, but I liked this pub as the staff were friendly and efficient with the prices, albeit rising, still firmly towards the lower end of the scale. It was relatively busy but despite the five real ales, the local CAMRA group haven’t yet listed the pub in the Good Beer Guide.

April 9, 2023
Luton – The White House (Visit 2)

I’ve written about this pub before, so won’t linger on its history again. But it’s the Good Beer Guide listed JD Wetherspoon venue, their only pub in the town as they’ve closed the London Hatter on Park Street.

It’s quite an attractive interior although there’s quite a lot of bouncing of the upper level floor when anyone climbs up the circular stairs. It’s peaceful and calm with numerous power points up here if anyone wants them. I didn’t really get to engage with any team members as I used the app, but they seemed friendly and helpful.

There were six real ales on, two that I’ve haven’t had before and this is the Going Loco from Tring Brewery from Tring in Hertfordshire. It was well kept and at the appropriate temperature, but it didn’t have much depth of flavour although would likely make a satisfactory session beer with its 3.9% ABV.

There was a little bit more going on with the Ossian from Inveralmond Brewery who are from Perth in Scotland. Hoppy and full in flavour, it’s a 4.1% ABV golden ale. Well-kept again, the pub feels like it deserves its place in the Good Beer Guide and the beers were both priced at £1.23 for a half.

The pub is generally well reviewed on-line, although I was amused at this:

“Generally when someone orders a meal in any restaurant and it isn’t available either a refund is given or a substitution of such . I do not understand why if a meal of beans on toast is ordered then given as just toast that you have the cheek to refund the beans as if it was and extra”.

That’s not really ideal, I’m with the customer there. If you sell beans on toast and only have half the core ingredients, it’s probably best not to just bring out half the elements required for the meal.

“Was just starting to eat my breakfast at around 10am. I was watching a film on my phone while eating my breakfast as there was no music. This bar tender came over and asked me to turn the volume down. The volume wasn’t that high and didn’t see anyone going to complain. Unless there people praying there I can’t understand the point as being a pub where music is normally played and sometimes can’t hear what you are saying, I found it insulting. There are are better places to be treated properly. I’ll take my money else where.”

I’m entirely with the pub, I’d personally say that team member was spot on. Music isn’t normally played there for a good reason…..

Anyway, definitely a safe bet for anyone wanting real ale in Luton.

March 2, 2023
2022 Hull Trip – Day 1 (Raymond Mays to a Quick Stop in Brigg)

Having ticked off the JD Wetherspoon in Bourne, we (well, I more accurately) thought that we might as well pop into their venue in Brigg, the White Horse. Opened by the chain in 2015, it has some history, as is noted on the sign on the pub:

“Noted as ‘a building of local interest’, this was originally a farmhouse, dating from the mid 18th century, with stables and gardens to the rear. The farmhouse and outbuildings were later bought by the Britannia brewery, in Wrawby Street, and converted into licensed premises. The brewery closed in 1924, but the Britannia public house has survived”.

It’s a well reviewed pub, which unfortunately means there aren’t many entertaining reviews. Although there’s this one:

“We were then met by a member of staff, who asked my daughter for ID as it was nearly 9pm and under 18s need to go. My daughter is a few months off 18. Surely a bit of discretion should be used in this situation. She was extremely rude and unprofessional to us when I said she wasn’t drinking She told us we had 5 mins to drink up and leave and we couldn’t eat. My point is I get the children bit about being out st 9 pm, but surely use a bit of common sense with a nearly 18 year old sat with 5 other adults”.

I love the idea of discretion in licensing law. I’m not sure their license says “all under 18 year olds must leave the venue by 9pm, unless they’re sort of nearly 18”.

Although I also liked:

“Shocking customer service. My wife just rang to book a table for tomorrow tea as we are taking our little girl to see Santa in Brigg and the guy on the phone point blank refused. I appreciate there is only 3 of us but we just wanted to make sure”.

I can imagine how surprised and delighted staff at Wetherspoons would be if they had to manage table reservations as well as everything else. Seems very harsh to give a 1/5 review because they refused to take a table booking, but there we go…..

“Glasses are absolutely disgusting and the carling is atrocious”

I agree about the Carling, but I think it’s meant to taste like that.

I’m always pleased to see power available at tables. The beer is Tamar from Summerskills Brewery from Plymouth seemed to be a reliable session ale.

Another view of the pub, all rather well presented and looked after.

The High Street in Brigg. This town in North Lincolnshire has a long history, with evidence of human settlement in the area dating back to the Bronze Age as it was a crossing point for the River Ancholme. Negatively impacted financially by the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the town was also the site of a battle during the Civil War when the Parliamentarians relieved it from the Royalist en route to Hull. Quite oddly, the town has a railway station which is served solely by trains on Saturdays, which doesn’t seem entirely ideal, but British Railways scrapped the weekday services in 1993.

The Buttercross Bell was, well, a bell that was located on the Buttercross building, but at some stage in the early twentieth century it was taken down. It was put on its little plinth in front of the still standing building by the Rotary Club a few years ago. Back in the day when it was used, the bell sounding marked the beginning of trading in the market place. It’s a pleasant area this now it has been pedestrianised.

After a little perambulation that was enough of Brigg as we had to cross the Humber to get to Hull before the pubs shut and also allow time for Liam to find a car charging facility. We only just made this one, the transport Gods were on our side and I’m not entirely sure what we would have done if the charging machines here weren’t working. Although Liam takes charge of these sort of mechanical and engineering issues (I have a rule that any problem that can be dealt with by duct tape or superglue is something that I can manage, but anything else needs an engineer to intervene in the arrangements), I would have likely had a little sleep in the car whilst he worked it all out.

February 25, 2023
2022 Hull Trip – Day 1 (A Road Trip from Norwich to the Raymond Mays)
Much as I am always surprised and delighted by travelling by rail, primarily surprised they’re running at the moment, there’s something exciting about a road trip. Back in early September 2022, my friend Liam and I decided to go to Hull for the weekend and so the next few posts will all be about that trip. What a treat for my two readers. And yes, it was ages ago, but I took rather too long writing about the US. But back to the trip, our first stop was about three minutes into the adventure to get a Greggs to sustain us for the journey. That was my idea.

Some al fresco dining. I can be very continental at times.

Our next port of call was Bourne, a town that I don’t think I’ve visited before. Founded in Roman times, during the Middle Ages Bourne was a centre of the wool trade and the town prospered as a result. In the 12th century, an Augustinian priory was established in Bourne and the town might have been where Hereward the Wake was born in around 1035. Its economy was boosted with the arrival of the railways in the nineteenth century, but they were withdrawn in the late 1950s and now the nearest railway station is twenty miles away in Grantham. Which brings me onto why we were here which is that a new JD Wetherspoon pub opened here in the spring of 2022 and I can’t easily get to it by public transport.

The pub is named the Raymonds Mays and above is the memorial plaque to him. Raymond Mays was an English racing driver and engineer who was active in motorsport in the mid-20th century. He is best known for his association with the ERA (English Racing Automobiles) racing team, which he co-founded and for which he also drove. Mays was a talented driver, who competed in several major races and events, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Mille Miglia. He also played a significant role in the development of the ERA racing cars, working on the design and engineering of the vehicles.

In addition to his racing career, Mays was also a successful businessman, and he was involved in the development of several innovative technologies, including the high-performance engines that powered the ERA racing cars. He is remembered as one of the pioneers of British motorsport and is widely regarded as one of the most talented and innovative drivers and engineers of his generation. And, yes, it was my idea to come to this pub.

Here we are standing opposite the pub with Liam surveying the scene. This was two separate shops until around 2012 when they closed, with the buildings being left boarded up for several years until JD Wetherspoon came along. Provincial towns once on the route of major roads are I think fascinating, so much history with the old coaching inns and various hostelries.

The interior is open plan and it’s quite cavernous, but it felt ordered and comfortable. It’s also got a long beer garden at the rear with various car related items to add some character. I had a quick half of Bear Island from Newby Wyke Brewery, a well kept hoppy blonde ale, keenly priced as ever.

Being quite dull, I’ve established that it’s possible to get a measure of a JD Wetherspoon pub’s operation by looking at their Google Reviews scores. They nearly all fall within the range of 3.8 to 4.1 out of 5, so any one of their venues outside of that range is likely either doing very badly or very well. I should publish a treatise on this fascinating piece of research and observation of mine. This one is sitting at 4.0 out of 5, so things seem to be going well. One reviewer summed up the pub’s beer policy:

“They serve larger in ale glasses, ale in larger glasses and they pour the ales flat with no head other than that it’s ok”

I’m sure the management will consider this carefully….. There’s nothing else memorable that I can much mention about the pub, but it seemed relatively busy and it’s another one ticked off my list. We then had to make some progress as I had decided that we had time to pop to Brigg next.
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February 25, 2023
2022 US Trip – Day 1 (Dublin’s Keavan’s Port Pub)

I think I got a bit over-excited on the last post and published it early, that’s just my slight sleepiness….

Liam and I tried to visit this pub when we were in Dublin a few months ago, but it was just too busy. These were the days when Dublin was still enforcing table service only and despite the cavernous size of the building, its popularity was just too high for the number of seats available. I won’t get political, but it seems strange that the biggest investments that JD Wetherspoon are currently making are in the European Union. Indeed this pub is the most expensive they’ve ever done in their history, it cost them €27.4 million for the renovation and €6 on buying the building.

This is the history of the pub which JD Wetherspoon provide:

“The pub, named Keavan’s Port, has an adjoining 89-bedroom hotel. The pub takes its name from the history of the local area, where Camden Street Upper and Camden Street Lower form part of an ancient highway into the city of Dublin. The two streets were previously known as St Kevin’s Port. In a series of old maps and records, the name is listed as Keavans Port (1673), St Kevan’s Port (1714), Keavan’s Port (1728), St Kevan’s Port (1756) and then St Kevin’s Port (1778) – renamed after the first Earl of Camden.

The name Keavan’s Port/St Kevin’s Port was derived from the church of St Kevin, in nearby Camden Row, said to have been founded by a follower of the sixth-century hermit. St Kevin also features in the poem ‘St Kevin and the Blackbird’ (1996) by the Nobel prize-winner Seamus Heaney, in which he describes how the Irish saint held out a ‘turned-up palm’ for a blackbird to nest. Until the 1940s, the property had been the convent of the Little Sisters of the Assumption, established in the 1890s. The sisters nursed the ‘sick poor’ in their own homes, and their former chapel has been preserved and forms part of the new pub and hotel.”

It is a stunning conversation, there’s a glass walkway above the bar and this whole area is filled with light. Actually, I think it makes the bar area too hot, but there are plenty of other areas which are much cooler for customers.

Looking back the other way, all rather modern.

The entrance to the former chapel which is located within the pub.

A modern artwork within the historic former chapel.

I perched myself in the side aisle of the former chapel.

I can’t quite imagine that the builders of this chapel quite imagined that it would be repurposed into a pub.

Down to another large seating area and a separate bar, with what I assume (but don’t know) are reclaimed windows from the site. The bulk of the former site is taken up with the 89 room hotel, converted from a row of eight Georgian properties, which must be a profitable exercise as it seems to often be full.

The selection of real ales, priced much lower than other bars in the city, which is proving to be a big selling point for the chain just as it is in the UK. The staff here seemed friendly and helpful, the service was efficient and welcoming.

I went for the Rampart from Conwy Brewery, a very acceptable English brown ale (that’s in terms of the beer style, it’s actually brewed in Wales and being sold in the Republic of Ireland, so it’s not overly English) which was well kept. Real ale isn’t a huge thing in Dublin, but they seem to be shifting a fair amount of it here.

The pub is generally well reviewed and it was relatively busy for a Sunday afternoon. I liked the plentiful power points and wi-fi, all rather handy, and it’s got a relaxed vibe to it which is really quite calm. That feels most appropriate given the building’s history, of which this is a delightful conversion that the chain should be proud of. Well, other than for the leak downstairs which they were mopping up from a dripping ceiling.

September 20, 2022
2022 US Trip – Day 1 (Dublin’s South Strand Pub)

So I went to Dublin and went to two JD Wetherspoon outlets? Well, yes, although there’s another non JDW one to come, but I’d better add here that I’ve been to Dublin many times and visited all of what I consider to be the traditional, interesting and craft beer venues. I’m intrigued to see how JD Wetherspoon are developing and this is an outlet which wasn’t open when Liam and I visited the city a few months ago.

South Strand is another huge investment by JD Wetherspoon in the European Union, I’m impressed, a big vote of confidence from Tim Martin. Although I’m getting political, so I must stop. The pub is located at Hanover Quay and they give the history as:

“The south dock was once a large area of ‘marshland sprinkled with an occasional apple tree’. On one of the earliest maps (1673) of the city of Dublin, by Bernard de Gomme, there are no buildings marked on the south side of the River Liffey. This marshy riverside area is named on Gomme’s map as ‘South Strand’. He noted that it was ‘overflowed by the high tide, with up to five feet of water at neap tide, dry at half tide and dry enough at low tide to walk across the sand’.”

Unlike their conversion of Keavan’s Port, this building was already in use as a restaurant, having been known as the HQ Bar and Restaurant.

There’s my Beamish resting on the counter, a drink I consider to be better than Guinness. But, best not start a dispute about that, they’re both lovely drinks. It’s a large building, with plenty of external seating and another large seating area downstairs, with a map and compass being recommended to find the toilets.

I got a seat near the bar and was I felt very productive despite feeling slightly sleepy. There were plenty of power points dotted around and two kids storming about the place that the staff did well not to trip over. I’ve been a slight idiot (again) as I forgot that Ireland has the same power point holes (or whatever the technical term is) as the UK, and so I’ll be traipsing around with an EU adapter for a month now. Incidentally, someone came over to me and left his phone charging saying that he wanted to go drinking outside and needed it charged. So, not for the first time, I became a guardian of someone else’s phone.

Anyway, I liked this pub, although a few people in reviews have complained that there’s no music. All I can note is thank goodness for that, a little bastion of peace and quiet. It is of course also cheap and whether or not that’s what is attracting the locals, it was very busy.

September 20, 2022
Tuesday – Quick Visit to Bishop Auckland (Part Three)

Setting off from Shildon railway station after my visit to the Locomotion museum, which has been here since 1825 and its siting here led to a great expansion of the village during the nineteenth century. Unfortunately, there’s not much here in terms of station infrastructure, even slow and steady improvements over just under 200 years should have seen more facilities. The nearby museum has though helped usage of the station and that is likely to increase from the expansion of Locomotion.

It’s a short rail journey into Bishop Auckland along the route of a line which is also original from the beginnings of the Stockton & Darlington Railway.

I don’t think that I’ve visited Bishop Auckland before and the main street from the railway station didn’t look anything particularly exciting, but then this rather grand and lovely market square appeared into view.

I thought as though I might as well pop into the JD Wetherspoon, the Stanley Jefferson. I clearly don’t know my comedy history as I assumed that this was some Victorian benefactor to the town, but instead:

“The Laurel Room, in Bishop Auckland Town Hall, is named after Stan Laurel. Born Stanley Jefferson, Stan Laurel is better known as the thin half of the famous double-act Laurel and Hardy. Stan’s parents managed the town’s Theatre Royal. Stan was christened here and, in 1903, attended the grammar school.”

Not overly decadent, but entirely satisfactory and there were also numerous power points to keep my devices charged. I seem to focus too much on that, but I can’t be one of those care-free people in life who wouldn’t collapse into a state of nervous tension if their phone died.

The pub seems well reviewed, but of course not everyone is surprised and delighted. I liked this one:

“4 Regular Real Ale enthusiasts Abbott Ale being our favourite. Today, no Abbott next choice 2 were pulled then off. Next choice also off. When we questioned it we were told “Well we don’t sell much Real Ale on weekends it’s mostly SHOTS ” !!!. What a load of insulting rubbish!!”

I make no comment on Abbot Ale as that would be cheap, but I was amused about the “on weekends it’s mostly shots”. I know a pub that was run like that…. Ah for the days of selling Apple Sourz.

St. Anne’s Church which is Grade II listed, but is relatively late for a town’s main church, with the building having been designed by William Thompson and dating from between 1846 and 1848. It was though built on the site of a former medieval chapel, but it’s not currently in good shape and is on the Heritage at Risk Register. It received funding a few years ago from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Historic England but another project is needed to secure the building.

The town’s war memorial, which was moved a few years ago from its previous location on Station Approach.

A line was added in 1982 to note the Falkland Islands war. It’s a beautiful monument and in a nice area of the town, although those steps could do with a bit of tidying up.

Auckland Tower, which I had though was something to do with the fire service, but it’s actually a 29 metre high viewing tower. It was designed by Nìall McLaughlin and is meant to look modern but also to reflect the design of historic buildings. It has sweeping views over the castle and the Wetherspoons.

The town grew up from when in 1183 the Prince Bishops of Durham built their country retreat here, which later became Auckland Castle.

The entrance to the gateway, this area certainly feels salubrious.

The gateway from outside.

And a nearly identical photo of the gateway, this time taken from within the castle estate. The gateway was constructed in 1760 and was designed by Sir Thomas Robinson of Rokeby for Bishop William Trevor.

A rather glorious building, I can’t say I’ve seen one which has combined building materials like this.

One of the external walls to the castle.

And the reason I took the previous photo is that this interesting heritage board shows what they discovered on this site during recent archaeological digs.

Looking over to the gardens.

The entrance to the castle, which is open to the public during the day and there’s plenty to see during a visit looking at their web-site. If I come back to Bishop Auckland, I think I’d like to look around these buildings. I understand that the town feels it needs a major economic boost and it’s trying to create something of a tourist attraction of this castle, and other projects such as the aforementioned viewing tower and the gardens. They are aiming to encourage people to stay for a couple of days, rather than just briefly popping to the town. So, in short, trying to get people not to do what I did. The castle is still owned by the church and they use part of the site as offices.

Back in the market square and I was slightly surprised seeing such a grand building being used by Sports Direct (not that there’s anything wrong with that, but in a wealthier town it would likely by tea rooms or something). There were a fair few empty shops in the town and it didn’t have a vibrant atmosphere, despite all of the heritage and history all around.

Bondgate, a quaint street which is more what I’d expect from a provincial town and this was once the retail heart of Bishop Auckland. Shops down here are mostly independent retailers, similar to The Lanes in Norwich, something a little different from the usual number of chains.

Back on Newgate Street, walking back to the railway station.

I was rather taken by this building (not Heron Foods, but the former Lloyds) and it would probably make an interesting place to live, especially if there’s access to the bank’s former vault.

The number of shops to let is visible in this photo, there were probably around twenty along Newgate Street.

The town’s railway station (not Halfords, the building in the middle of the photo) which was opened in the 1980s after they had demolished the previous one. It was (in my view at least) yet another sad chapter in the history of British Rail, the demolition of a grand 1867 railway station to be replaced with a completely inadequate replacement. There are lots of photos of the old station, which is buried underneath Halfords and the other retail units, at http://disused-stations.org.uk/b/bishop_auckland/index.shtml.

The inadequate station is open for limited hours and for the rest of the time, passengers have to walk around the side to get access to the platforms.

The end of the line for the rail network, although the line continues on for 18 miles to Eastgate station as a heritage railway set-up. It closed long ago for passengers, in 1953, but freight services continued until 1992 which is why the line wasn’t entirely lost. Full credit for the heritage railway keeping it open, but this should ideally be opened to passenger services once again, and that has been suggested as part of the Government’s Restoring the Railways project. As it’s a very marginal constituency, it has a decent chance and I understand funding has been made available for a feasibility study.

With that the train to Darlington came in, another efficient Northern service. I had enjoyed Bishop Auckland, but I had expected it to be wealthier and not have quite so many empty retail units. However, they clearly have lots of exciting plans for tourists and I’d like to spend longer in the town.

Back in Darlington, ready for another peaceful night in the Mercure with the drinks in my little fridge being handily restocked again. And I got to use my welcome drink on a free Extra Smooth Ale from John Smith’s, albeit a little belatedly. How lovely (well, quite lovely in terms of the drink).

September 17, 2022
Monday – Former JD Wetherspoon in Middlesbrough and Meander Back to Darlington (Part Two)

After a lingering visit at one of the craft beer bars in Middlesbrough, I thought I might as well tick off the second JD Wetherspoon outlet in the town, which is the Swatters Carr. One again, I’ll pinch the pub’s history from their web-site:

“This has been a public house for more than a century. Mostly, the three-storey building (which extends along Victoria Road) was the Empire (not to be confused with the nearby Empire Theatre – now a nightclub). The Empire was originally named the Empire Hotel. The building is recorded in the 1891 census as the Swatters Carr Hotel Public House – Swatters (or Swathers) Carr after the isolated farmhouse, first recorded on a map dated 1618.”

Something of an art installation with some history, I thought that this was suitably quirky. The pub is one of the better reviewed pubs in the JD Wetherspoon chain and I thought it seemed well managed and organised. It’s a large venue, but it was clean, comfortable and peaceful. My laptop and I were quite content here for some time.

I was pleased to see that the pub had Plum Porter from Titanic Brewery on, so I had a half of that for not much more than £1. I made another mental note to go and visit some pubs owned by Titanic, mostly around the Stoke area, perhaps I’ll do that in 2024.

This enormous building was opened in July 1923 as the Elite Cinema, designed by James Forbes and with 1,900 seats. As with so many other cinemas, it couldn’t sustain sufficient trade in the 1980s and it was converted into the Crown Bingo Hall. That didn’t last long and it was turned into a pub in 1996 and I can only imagine that JD Wetherspoon had a think about getting involved, but it later on became operated by Stonegate as the Crown pub. They rather abandoned it in January 2015 by flogging it off to a property developer and it has been slowly falling into dereliction over recent years. The council is currently making warning noises that they’ll compulsorily purchase it if nothing is done soon, which seems the most sensible plan. At least the council are suggesting that they won’t countenance its demolition, which is perhaps what the property developers had hoped would happen. Urban explorers visited the building a couple of years ago, there’s a lot worth saving but it’ll cost a fortune to fix that up. I trust that no little incidents will happen to the building which would justify it being demolished.

The former Masham Hotel and what a beautiful frontage for a building, although sadly it’s no longer a pub. The former nineteenth century pub closed a couple of decades ago and was initially turned into shops and is now in use as an office.

The same pub company and a not dissimilar frontage to the Masham (not least as it was done by the same designers, Kitching and Lee in the 1920s), with a similar fate of this no longer being a pub. It’s a little sad, but this one closed its doors as a licensed premises in the late 1990s, although there has been talk of giving it another go as a pub. I hope they do, it just feels like a pub with character.

I was quite intrigued by the Isaac Wilson pub for a number of reasons, it’s a converted courthouse built in 1901 on the site of a Quaker burial ground, which is also named after a Quaker who opposed drinking. I bet he’d be thrilled. It’s also a former JD Wetherspoon pub and they closed it in 2017 and sold it to another company.

What I was a little surprised by is that the new owners have effectively just kept running it in exactly the same way, so even five years later it looks the same as it did other than there’s now a pool table and darts board. I can’t complain about that, if I took over a former JD Wetherspoon pub, I’d do the minimum possible, just paint out the old signs and leave everything else. So the signage, tables, carpet, bar and even pictures are unchanged. The new operator is Tees Inns, who also operate the former JD Wetherspoon King Johns Tavern pub in Hartlepool.

The pub had maintained low prices and I went for half a pint of the York Chocolate Stout from Rudgate Brewery, a reliable beer which was well kept. The team member was friendly, politely querying why I was ordering halves, but he was satisfied with my answer that it lets me visit twice the number of pubs. I can’t say that I struggled to find a table, but to be fair, late Monday afternoons aren’t really the peak trading time for pubs.

The frontage of the railway station, currently undergoing what looks like quite a restoration.

This feels like a proper railway station, it almost felt like a castle in the tunnels under the platforms.

I did comment yesterday on the random foliage on the platform, but to be fair, they have made a big effort elsewhere in the railway station.

I always like to see a board about history and I’m especially pleased to see them in railway stations. I suspect that I really should get out more….

And what a lovely waiting area, there’s a hint of decadence here.

I’m not sure why I was disappointed by the platforms, I think it’s just that other parts of the railway station felt like they were dripping in heritage and this just looked like most other stations.

My Northern train back to Darlington. On time, clean and efficient.

The photo is because I liked the Ukrainian flag. I still regret not going back to the country this January when I had chance, but I hope to return as soon as is even vaguely possible.

What looks like a random photo….

But I took the photo there because I was standing where this window is marked out in what was the Manor House, a grand and substantial building overlooking the river. The property had originally been built in the twelfth century and it was used by the Bishops of Durham. I think they fancied having a property in a rather grander place and so it fell into disrepair before it was demolished in 1808. The site was then turned into a workhouse for the poor, but this and the remains of some buildings from the manor house that had survived were all pulled down in the late nineteenth century.

In their place, Luck’s Square and Luck’s Terrace had been built on part of the manor house’s land.

However, in the 1960s this too was pulled down, as they wanted the land to build themselves a nice new Town Hall. Although, being honest, it looks a little like it was near to falling down anyway. It’s a much nicer area now, there are benches overlooking the river and it’s rather peaceful. The calmness does hide just how much this site has changed in usage over the last two centuries, from a grand manor house to a rickety building that needed pulling down, then a workhouse, then terraced housing and now the large green area outside the town hall.

And after all that excitement, I went back to the Mercure hotel that I was staying in, pleased to note that they had restocked all the free welcome drinks in the fridge. How really rather lovely.

September 13, 2022