S Fowler & Co (JD Wetherspoon), Ryde

Pretty standard medium-sized Wetherspoons with a bright, airy feel. A fair range of beers but disappointingly only one island brew on; condition fine though.

On the suggestion of the local CAMRA branch this was named after the shop from which it was converted but the name Fowler is also one I recall from the early days of CAMRA. Mainly due to the efforts of Mr Fowler the Isle of Wight was one of the earliest branches to produce a local beer guide and hold annual beer festivals. The pub itself is fairly unremarkable set on two floors with typical fixtures and fittings. The bar has two sets of six hand pumps which had two unused, two Available Soon, the JDW Trio Of Doom, Goddard's Fuggle Dee Dum, Swannay Dark Munro, Three Castles Heritage and Sambrook's Junction. I went for the Fuggle Dee Dum (£2.55) which was in good nick and also had a pint of the keg Oakham Green Devil (£3.49). Despite being GBG 2017 listed I thought this was a fairly average JDW.

Official site of S Fowler & Co (JD Wetherspoon) - www.jdwetherspoon.com

Official site of S Fowler & Co (JD Wetherspoon) - www.jdwetherspoon.com

Modern-style 'spoons housed behind two deceptively old-fashioned retained shop-fronts, with a rigorously enforced children's area at first-floor level above the main bar. A reasonable selection of nine real ales and ciders was available from two banks of six handpumps, but with only one local offering (Goddards Scrumdiggity) which seems unadventurous.

Rather average bight Wetherspoons serving some local beer, but taher uninspiring