The Foxley Hatch, Purley

Unusually for a Spoons this one doesn't open until 11:00, so there is no chance of an early morning breakfast here. I find this surprising as it is only a short walk from Purley Station. Maybe the early morning commuters in the leafy stockbroker belt are just too raucous to cope with. It appears to be a shop conversion on a busy one way system which I assume is the A23. Inside It's a low ceilinged square room with the bar at the bottom right. There are 11 handpumps on which there was something of an Adnam's theme. I've nothing against Adnam's but I would rather see a smaller lesser known brewery represented in this manner. Of the 11 pumps four were devoted to GK Ruddles and Abbot then there were three serving Adnam's Broadside, Ringwood Boondoggle, Adnam's Gunhill available soon, Adnam's Old and a beer from a shy brewer (the clip gave no clue to who it was) called Black Diamond (4.0%). The young woman behind the bar had no idea whose beer it was nor did any of the surrounding punters. I went for a pint of this (£2.15) and was very pleasantly surprised to find that it was a low ABV Black IPA in outstanding condition. What really took me aback was later finding out who was resonsible for this great pint of beer. It was Banks's in Wolverhampton, this beer being a seasonal one for 2013. Their web site doesn't call this a Black IPA, but it definitely is. I've tried their seasonals in the past, but have never been that impressed, although I've always enjoyed their two standard beers. I quite liked this Spoons despite the poor choice of beers, the fact that the one I went for was in perfect condition helped.

The Foxley Hatch, which takes its unusual name from the name given to the Purley area prior to 1900, is a small, well kept Wetherspoons pub at the Southern end of the Purley Way. The place was all but empty on my early evening weekend visit, perhaps because they had not been showing the football that had captivated the town's pub-goers earlier in the day. The interior is a standard Wetherspoons affair with a large open area filled with tables at the front and a narrow, booth-lined section beyond the bar counter. The windows at the front are stained in blue and white which gives it a nice, bright aspect, but otherwise there wasn't much of interest going on. The beer choice was the standard 'Spoons selection of Ruddles, Abbot et al with Hammerpot Shooting Star (£2.20), Oakleaf Pompey Royal and Welton's Finest Hour the only guests. My pint of Hammerpot was okay and I was served by a friendly enough barman. A row of pump clips snakes it's way around the pub, just below the ceiling and a couple of TV screens were on showing the usual 24 hour news channels. It's a shame that it was so quiet when I visited, as it's hard to gauge what the atmosphere is like, although the fact that it's a 'Spoons is probably enough of a clue. Not bad by this chain's standards, but certainly not as good as the Wetherspoons in Central Croydon and therefore not worth a trip to in its own right.