The Golden Lion (JD Wetherspoon), Newmarket

An extremely spacious but not particularly endearing Tardis like Wetherspoons that seems to go back for miles. The section to the left of the main door is the most attractive area with oak paneling, an open wooden surround fireplace and a flat screen TV to one side. There are built in seats around window bays and plenty of sofas for the lounge lizards and a further screen at the larger rear section. The low plain ceiling with built in lights and multiple air conditioning grilles don’t add much to the character of the place and the rear section is particularly depressing. On the bright side, it is easy enough to get a seat and, if you can walk that far, there is a patio at very back. The usuaul snippets of local history, characters and connections are surprisingly not very horsey given that this is primarily horse racing country. Naturally all the Wetherspoons food and drink selections are available at the usual discount prices and that is probably the pubs redeeming feature. It’s not the greatest ‘Spoons I have encountered but I called at an off-peak time and whilst it served its purpose at the time, I suspect that it may be a bit more hectic when a race meeting is on.