The Lord Burton (JD Wetherspoon), Burton On Trent Town, Burton on Trent

The Lord Burton is the town's branch of Wetherspoon's and is named after Mr Bass himself. It's quite a large establishment that stretches right back to a beer garden at the rear. The usual daytime characters were in making it one of the busier pubs I visited during my afternoon in Burton, but there was still plenty of spare seating. The usual 'spoon's ales were on - Sharp's Doom Bar, Greene King Abbot & Ruddles Best. Marston's Pedigree is also a regular beer here. Of the 3 guest ales, 2 were from Derby - Mercia & Dashingly Dark. The third was Adnams Broadside. Ciders were Weston's Old Rosie & Rosie's Pig, Snail's Bank Raspberry Ripple & Rhubarb Cider, Broadoak Moonshine & Cock Eyed Pear Mania. Despite being surprised by the decent cider range, I opted for the Dashingly Dark, which didn't disappoint. An above average Wetherspoon's in my opinion.

This is a surprisingly small and simple Wetherspoons pub that was oddly quiet when I visited on a Friday evening. The interior is fairly narrow, but runs a long way back, with the usual unique carpeting throughout. The servery is midway along the right-hand wall and has a simple counter and smart, mirrored bar back, all of the sort that you’ve no doubt seen countless times before in ‘Spoons up and down the country. The front part of the pub is marginally wider than the rest, and has been well stocked with tables and chairs, including a few in a rather bland, bare boarded raised space to the left of the entrance. Further back, high tables and stools fill the space opposite the bar, whilst to the rear, tables and chairs become the norm again, alongside a row of comfy looking banquette booths down the right-hand wall. Low tongue and groove panelling makes it’s way around most of the walls, with plain uppers that have been decorated with old black and white photos showing scenes from around the town. There were three ‘Spoons regular ales on the handpulls, plus four guest beers, none of which were that exciting, leaving me to try the Adnams Ghost Ship, which was thankfully in decent nick. The barman here seemed very chipper, but the place had no atmosphere thanks to a dearth of customers, in stark contrast to just about every other pub I visited that evening. I thought this was a pleasant enough place, looking quite well kept and churning out some well-kept, if uninspiring, beer. However, the lack of punters tells its own story, and I came away wondering whether the place was quiet because the surrounding pubs are so much better or because the locals know something about this place that I don’t. On this visit. It seemed nice enough, but it was far from the highlight of my crawl and would be one of the first I drop if I were back for another crawl in the future.

A fairly average but quite tidy Spoons, with a nice garden at the back. It was difficult to tell what the normal beer selection was as there was a festival in full swing, but from that at least there was a good range and seemingly in good condition. I wouldn't mind finding this pub if elsewhere but there are better options in the town.

Straightforward shop conversion; a long and narrow Spoons in a decent state of order, a fairly neutral cream and brown colour scheme with the odd bit of Art Deco style fitting – opened in 1997 so it fits the mould from that era. 12 pumps with six(!) genuine guests; my Hadrian Farne Island was in really good shape (NBSS 4) a clean, bitter and malty brew. Looks like things have taken an upswing here. I enjoyed my beer and grub.

Standard Spoon's in the high street. Ringwood 49er, Wainwright, Oakham Bishops farewell, Hobgoblin and Sweet Chariot on offer plus the usual suspects. Not the most interesting of selections when you consider that Burton is the "home of brewing".