Pick & Shovel, Borehamwood

Nine years on and another nostalgic visit. It's not got any better. A couple of decent beers though.

A rather depressing Spoons in a rather depressing area. Revisited today after years ago when i worked nearby. It hasn't got any better but I risked a Fortyniner and it was OK and only £2:15.

On my first ever visit to Borehamwood (apart from non-stop on the train) I found the essence of the place was perfectly encapsulated by its first four letters. Having said that, it's not as relentlessly grim as Potters Bar. The pub is situated at the far East end of the main road through the town and the nearest bus stop is in the car park of the giant Tesco a bit further East. This is one of their earlier (1994) shop conversions and I have to say it is pretty uninspiring. It's small as Spoons go and becomes quite dark the further you get from the shop doors. Nevertheless, it was quite busy at 10:30. It looked as though a few families had taken their kids out for a School Holiday cooked breakfast. There are three banks of three handpumps which should give a decent beer selection but sadly doesn't. The two GK suspects were doubled up as was the incredibly boring Hobgoblin which I no longer count as a guest ale as it is permanently included, and in many Spoons almost a permanent fixture. There were a couple of Adnam's beers on neither of which are on the guest beer list so that just left the single guest ale of Old Hooky. I wonder why they still do a guest ale list as many of them I never get to see and that doesn't include the boring ones. Needless to say there wasn't any sign of a Locale beer. As the person in front had ordered three pints of Adnam's Ghost Ship (£2.15), I went for that. It was slightly cloudy but tasted OK.

This is a typical high street Spoons that serves its purpose of providing cheap beer and food to the pensioners and shop staff of Borehamwood. I counted six available ales alongside the standard draught selection and my Guinness was well served by a competent barman who was taking the banter from a couple of old boys pretty well. There is a plasma screen at the rear that was showing Sky News which was muted and there is no smoking facility at the rear so smokers have to stand out the front by the high street. This place is ok for a JDW, but it would be one of the last pubs I would choose to drink in if I was passing through the area.

I last drank in this pub around 15 years ago when I worked in Borehamwood and went back to see how it had changed. The answer was not a lot, there are now a couple of TV's but everything else seems to be in a bit of a timewarp. Same layout, same furnishings, same décor and same clientele. Far from one of the best Wetherspoons, they had a good selection of ales on but it didn't look the sort of place where you'd trust either the beer or the food. Having said that I did have a decent pint of Butcombe Blonde. "

Typically plastic ‘Spoons that wouldn't be particularly memorable for me had I not worked opposite and spent the day in here a few years back on the day I was made redundant after 25 years (well there is bugger all else about in Borehamwood). The proximity of the film studios virtually next door and the BBC not far away means there is always a good chance of spotting a celebrity (I'm sure even the rich and famous have to resort to Wetherspoons at some time) or, if you are really lucky, maybe a legion of Roman centurians or Star Wars Stormtroopers may pop in on their lunch break. There are plenty of Hand Pumps although my last visit was during the ale festival so I can't speak for normal selections. It's very much a ‘Spoons by numbers but the local competition is so dismal that it does serve a more than worthwhile purpose. Note – the Elstree Inn prominently displayed on the frontage refers to the hotel above the pub, not the pub itself.