Wetherspoons on or near stations

[whole diary]

[grahame]

A good pint and a good meal for ^7 from Wetherspoons. The same in the MBB will be around ^14.

Are there Wetherspoons at any stations?

Busy stations outlets tend to have to pay a premium for space rental, and it's those franchises which allow differential pricing which seem to be frequently found (and charging more) at stations.   Love the fact there's a McDonald's at Paddington at (I think) standard McDonald's prices!

[Fourbee]

Are there Wetherspoons at any stations?

I can think of Victoria (mezzanine level) & Leeds (used the latter recently, bit of a trek to the platforms), think the Liverpool Street one is just outside (again "upstairs").

Not a massive fan of Fullers beer in general (preferred the Three Guineas in its previous guise), but some of their outlets do go in for guest ales. Again, recently, the Doric Arch just outside Euston had 5 guests on.

[JayMac]

Are there Wetherspoons at any stations?

London Victoria
London Liverpool St
Leeds

Less than three minutes walk:

Bristol Temple Meads
Putney
York
Newcastle

No doubt many more within the sound of a guard's whistle.

[basset44]

Hi

Believe Aberystwyth has one built into the old Station which you can access platforms from.

At airports all the Spoons charge higher prices.

Basset

[JayMac]

Ah yes, Aberstiffwhistle.

I forgot about that one. And to think I had a very agreeable breakfast in there a few years back.

[TaplowGreen]

Heathrow too.

The "best" one I have been to is without doubt The Counting House in Glasgow, it's their Scottish flagship and you really wouldn't know it's a Wetherspoons - it's got a lot of character & enough barstaff at busy times for one thing!

Doesn't have that "converted warehouse" feel that you get in so many of them (.....although I guess that's because a lot of them are converted shops etc, whereas this one was a rather grand Bank!)

Worst one? Without a doubt the Gog & Magog on the Barbican in Plymouth, a genuinely awful experience in every way and I find you tend you get this if they are interspersed with other pubs charging "normal" prices......the lowest common denominator will gravitate there together with a sprinkling of 16 year olds! (....present company excepted on both counts!!!) 

[bobm]

This one is a short walk from the station at Oban, and serves haggis while the ships sail by.

[eightf48544]

The Barking Dog, Barking | Our Pubs | J D Wetherspoon

Turn left out of station and it's above the GOB platform

[bobm]

Another Wetherspoons set open near a station later this month.

The hoardings came down this week in Teignmouth.  In the distance you can just see the railway station.



Looks a pretty big building with a large open area at the back.

[Brucey]

At airports all the Spoons charge higher prices.

I find their prices to be quite variable in general.  In Cambridge, there were two 'spoons (until one burnt down).  A pint of guest ale cost ^2.49 in one and ^1.99 in the other.  Steak club (8oz steak or mixed grill plus pint) was ^7.15 in one and ^5.15 (yes, really) in the other.  The Victoria station branch charges around ^3.50 for a pint - quite expensive in comparison, but well priced for the area.

Also worth noting the Victoria station branch only serves a limited menu.  Possible due to the limited space available in their unit on the mezzanine.  Same at airports: the menu at The Windmill (Stansted Airport) is totally different to high street pubs.  They even have gourmet burger toppings you can't get elsewhere.

On the subject of the Gog & Magog in Plymouth, I've only been there once last year but had a great chicken club meal (half roast chicken with rice and side order of salad).  Staff were friendly, beer was served well and good portion of food.  Couldn't want more.

Also, does anyone know what they mean by "real cider" on the CAMRA vouchers?  I rarely see a guest cider, so assume this means the products like Thatcher's Gold or Stowford Press, instead of Strongbow?

[bobm]

I can't lay my hand on the letter which came with them at the moment, but from memory the offer includes any hand pulled ciders plus those dispensed from fridge based cider "bag in boxes" - can't remember the correct term just now.

[Richard Fairhurst]

Usually Wetherspoons serve cider from a bag-in-a-box in the fridge, even if there's a pump clip - the latter is just advertising. The Westons range is the most common - particularly Marcle Hill, which is a Wetherspoons "exclusive" - but you'll often see Gwynt y Ddraig, Thatchers, Mr Whiteheads and a few others.

Most Wetherspoons now have at least one bag-in-a-box; many have more (I think there were six in the Hereford one last time I was there). Speaking of which, the 'Spoons in Hereford is a shortish walk from the station, and the Postal Order in Worcester is very close to Foregate Street.

[ellendune]

Having difficulty relating any recent content on this thread to the title. Have M & S taken over Wetherspoons without telling anyone?

[JayMac]

Fair point ellendune. I have therefore split this discussion on Wetherspoons away from the topic about Marks and Spencer at Paddington. The original thread can be found here:

http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=15829.0

[chuffed]

Casting a magic wand into the future , the as yet as un-named Wevvers is under construction at Portishead and it will be within 300 yards of the as yet unbuilt station!
I have started a thread on the Portishead streetlife page , and have written to Wetherspoons suggesting names in keeping with local history. My  first suggestions is 'The Fred E Weatherly'. He was a prolific Victorian songwriter brought up in Portishead, the John Lennon of his day. His most famous lyrics are those of 'Danny Boy'. For the real Posset locals this could be parodied as 'Denny Buoy'!. in his autobiography 'Piano and Gown' he mentions catching the train from Portishead to begin his studies at Oxford. I strongly suspect it was the very first one in 1862!
My second suggestion is  'The Power and the Phosphorus', relating to two aspects of local history long since demolished. Other suggestions have been made on Streetlife which range from IMHO^▸ (in my humble opinion) most imaginative to 'what have you been drinking' ?!