The Barum Top Inn (JD Wetherspoon), Halifax

In smaller towns, Wetherspoon's can often be a godsend, with the promise of a few cask ales. In a town with a great selection of excellent pubs and bars such as Halifax, they feel comparatively poor. Their only attraction for the town drinker would be price, which inevitably will attract troublemakers who are out to get blind drunk without too much impact on their pockets. In hindsight, we should have passed this one over. The sight of bouncers on the door was also an opportunity for us to take a look and move on to the next bar on my list. We didn't see anywhere else in Halifax with bouncers. So, that should really have been a red light for us. Needless to say, we rejected all of the warning signs and persevered with my list of pubs for the day. Inside was as busy as you would expect. The interior is quite impressive with an upper level and balcony overlooking the main drinking space below. At the bar, the usual Greene King Abbot & Ruddles Best were on. Guest beers were Brewster's Decadence, Acorn Hoptathlon, Nethergate Old Growler & Exmoor Stag. The cider was Gwynt y Ddraig Black Dragon. My choice of the Hoptathlon revealed a fairly poor quality beer. This was probably not the fault of the brewer, but more of the way it had been kept by Wetherspoon's. Most of the bar staff were young women and grumpy ones at that. The one who served me looked as though she would struggle to ever raise a smile and she uttered the bare minimum of words. One of my drinking colleagues decided to take a break from pints and ordered a spirit with Coke. On seeing one of said barmaids beginning to drown his Jack Daniels with Coke, he shouted across for her to stop. Needless to say, most of the bar heard, except for the barmaid drowning the drink. On being presented with the very diluted JD, my mate duly stated that he didn't want that much Coke in the drink. Clearly with a more communicative barmaid than the one who had served me, he was told in no uncertain terms that he could pay for it or he could leave. When trying to reason with the barmaid, the bouncers were soon called and requested to have a word with him outside, escorting him out, albeit without force. The guy he was in a round with is no stranger to a dust up and also accompanied them out. He'd already decided which one of the bouncers he would take down! Luckily the bouncers were a bit more open to reasoning than the bar staff and I heard them come in and explain to the bar manager what had happened. I expect he would have been allowed back in for a drink, had we not have been ready to depart by that point. Reading the previous review, it seems that this branch of Wetherspoon's is no stranger to a bit of trouble. The barmaids were most likely grumpy for a reason. With troublesome customers and probably with a fairly minimal pay packet, it is all too easy for them to provide minimal service and to turn to the readily available bouncers when the mere potential for conflict exists, thus perpetuating the cycle. From our point of view, it was the one downer on a decent day out in Halifax. Decided we would avoid this pub in future, what better place to recover in than a pub called Middle-Aged Men In Lycra!

Despite being greeted by a couple of lads engaged in fisticuffs in the doorway, this proved to be a fairly pleasant Spoons - nice and airy, not too brightly lit and with the gentle buzz of conversation (no music now). The overhead balcony level round the edge looked an especially nice place for a session. Guest ales were Rooster Variations on a Theme, Phoenix Wobbly Bob and Goose Eye Pommies Revenge, in good order.

Nice modern Spoons with light decor and an upper mezzanine level as well as attractive ceiling work. Two chunks of non-standard JDW aspects – piped music (so is it still a Lloyds?) and a dart board. Five guest ales on to complement the usual stagers, these were sourced mainly from Acorn, so I went for a Barnsley Blonde (NBSS 3) served by a helpful barman. Good atmosphere for a Friday night and my curry was in good order. Quite happy to spend 40 minutes in here and it's a good Spoons on this showing.

thought this ornate two tiered wetherspoons was just about okay. Not the most exciting selection of beers across ten pumps but not bad for a circuit pub. the staff were friendly, as were the few customers by the bar.

A two level spoons with a semicircular counter straight ahead when entering and low table and chair seating around taller tables and stools in the middle. There’s a mezzanine floor above with more tables and chairs. Five plus five bank of pulls interspersed with the usual T bars. Average beer and service nothing much different to many run of the mill spoons, clientele much as you’d expect of a spoons in the afternoon.