The Rodboro Buildings - Guildford

Visited 7th March 2010.

It's not raining today. In fact the sun is in the sky. Mrs S. has gone shopping, the kids are out and I'm all alone (ahhh) so I have made the decision to unpack the bike from its winter covers and head for the open road, well Guildford anyway. An easy pub to find as its so large and situated where you just can't miss it. The only problem was finding somewhere to park. Lots of car parks but it took an age to find somewhere to park a bike. Thanks to the couple who were kind enough to stop and take my picture. I liked this place. It's very big and airy with a large area upstairs and a smaller kind of lower dance area. In keeping with the spirit of the day I am trying something different from the menu, a BBQ chicken and bacon panini. The football was on so I settled in for the long haul. The barmaid whose name I didn't get was very nice and kept me supplied with coffee as I was reluctant to leave my nice warm cocoon and brave the, by now, much colder elements outside. It admit it took a while but I finally made my exit and headed for home.

© John Sinner. None of the material contained in this post, or this blog as a whole, may be reproduced without the express and written permission of John Sinner. All rights reserved.

The Cordwainer - Northampton

Visited 5th March 2010.

Following the directions I had been given and the assurance that another Wetherspoon pub was just around the corner, less than a minutes walk away I set off. Hey what do you know, spot on. The Cordwainer was busy but did not feel as crowded as The Eastgate although I did have to wait a fair while to get my coffee but this did give me the opportunity to get chatting to a gentleman who had many interesting stories to tell. Once again I was in a Wetherspoon where the coffee loyalty card stamp had been mislaid but the manager was happy to give me his "John Hancock". One thing I did notice in the Cordwainer was a large selection of ciders. As a cider fan I was disappointed that I was unable to stay longer but it really was time to get back to work!

© John Sinner. None of the material contained in this post, or this blog as a whole, may be reproduced without the express and written permission of John Sinner. All rights reserved.

The Eastgate - Northampton

Visited 5th March 2010.

Once again I find myself working in Northampton. This is not a problem as it gives me another chance to have lunch in a 'spoons. With lunch consisting of the infamous "beer and burger". The pub is very busy and as I'm on my own it turns out to be a little tricky to "bag" a table and get to the bar, order and get back before someone else sits down, however between myself and the barmaid we manage to get me settled. It's not to long before I have company as I'm joined at my table by a lady who has been out doing a little shopping and now needs a coffee. I'm also volunteered into watching her bags while she goes outside for a smoke. It all seems so familiar somehow. We end up in conversation and I try to find out where the nearest 'spoons is to where we are as I know there is one more somewhere in Northampton that I still need to visit. Jackpot - she tells me it is just round the corner less than a minutes walk away. I thank my guest and I'm on my way!

© John Sinner. None of the material contained in this post, or this blog as a whole, may be reproduced without the express and written permission of John Sinner. All rights reserved.

The West Gate Inn - Canterbury

Visited 27th February 2010.

On the map it didn't look to far to our next pub but it was still pouring with rain so we opted to take the car and were glad we did. It turned out that it would have been a much longer walk than expected and would definitely have benefited from a warm sunny day. The East Gate Inn was absolutely heaving with people and we struggled to find a table, in the end we were spread over two tables continually eyeballing the room looking for people leaving. As you can can imaging it took a while to get served. The waiting wasn't to bad though as there were a lot of women dressed up to go out, kind of like a hen night but at lunchtime. There was even a table of cheerleaders. I've no idea what was going on but they were a ray of sunshine on a soggy day! I think Canterbury would be a nice place to have a wander round and take in some culture, next time we visit hopefully it will be a little drier.

© John Sinner. None of the material contained in this post, or this blog as a whole, may be reproduced without the express and written permission of John Sinner. All rights reserved.

The Thomas Ingoldsby - Canterbury

Visited 27th February 2010.

Sadly we have to go home today. Happily we have decided to stop at Canterbury and visit two 'spoons. Surprise, surprise, it's raining and not just raining but absolutely pouring down. We get into the pub and the news is on. “The South East and East is experiencing bad weather with a risk of flooding”. Thanks. Mr and Mrs Sinner both opt for coffee and we sit huddling around our cups quietly steaming (both us and the coffee). We finish our coffee and venture back out into the rain and by the time we get back to the car we are soaked again. Still, never mind we have another pub to visit where we can get dry again.

© John Sinner. None of the material contained in this post, or this blog as a whole, may be reproduced without the express and written permission of John Sinner. All rights reserved.

The Mechanical Elephant - Margate

Visited 26th February 2010.

Today is the day of the dance but we have a whole day to kill until dinner. Traditionally the girls go shopping and the boys head to the pub. We decide to embrace tradition with open arms. As it was still early (about 11.30am) a decision was made not to bloat ourselves up with pints. In retrospect an afternoon spent drinking double buffalo trace and coke was probably not the best idea ever (but it did mean that I was first on the dance floor three hours later). A strange name for a pub but having visited it once a year for the past six years I can say it has plenty of character and an upstairs bar and balcony from which it was fun to watch motorbikes racing on the beach a couple of years back. Long may this tradition continue.

© John Sinner. None of the material contained in this post, or this blog as a whole, may be reproduced without the express and written permission of John Sinner. All rights reserved.

The Saxon Shore - Herne Bay

Visited 26th February 2010.

Hooray, we are off to Margate for a long weekend where we will be meeting up with a few friends for an annual dinner dance that we attend. This, of course means that we will take the opportunity to visit a few Wetherspoon pubs while we are in the area. Traditionally we stop at Herne Bay on the way down. Despite the fact that we have been doing this for many years we did not know there was a 'spoons in Herne Bay until we checked on the website. Mrs Satnav took us on the most convoluted journey around the town and back streets before deciding "you have reached your destination". Annoyingly this turned out to be on the seafront about fifty yards away from the car park that we normally park in and to which we already knew a much quicker route!
You might not be able to tell from the photos but it was a cold day with an extremely strong, biting wind that had us scurrying into the heavenly warmth of the pub. We had managed to arrive at lunchtime so it took a few minutes to find a table which unfortunately turned out to be next to the doors to the patio (smokers corner) so was a little drafty. I have made the decision to start being more adventurous with the menu so today I opted for the sausages and mash which turned out to be not to bad (although as I liked the onion gravy I would have preferred a little more of it - maybe next time I'll ask). Fully refreshed it was now time to let the ladies loose on the shops of Herne Bay which, despite the cold they were fully up for. No change there then...

© John Sinner. None of the material contained in this post, or this blog as a whole, may be reproduced without the express and written permission of John Sinner. All rights reserved.