The Water House, Durham

Must have hit this place at the wrong time (half five on a Wednesday) as the clientele were somewhat insalubrious. A quick half and on my way.

The Water House is a Weterspoons pub that is a short walk from the train station. I got in here well before 11am and found the pub to be very busy,the room is oblong shaped and runs to the rear,there are areas either side of the entrance which have normal tables and chairs,the left side had a real fire on the go,the bar is on the mid left side,there are as usual tall tables and chairs opposite the bar. There is an area to the rear right which is up a few steps. There were a few guest beers on the bar plus the Spoons regulars,i had a drink of Elgoods Lazy Dog which went down well after a long journey up here from Nottingham,the other beers noted were one from Brains brewery,Acorn barnsley bitter,O Hara's JDW irish amd Ruddles best. I was happy enough having a drink in this Spoons,my first ever pub done in the North East area of England. Pub visited 19/3/2016

Odd little JDW with an almost quasi-Scandi feel inside - clean lines and light brown varnished wood. Housed in the former water board office building, it's set over three levels and the mezzanine affords a fair view over the bar. Lack of natural light inside will put off some. Ten pumps but some of the guests had the dreaded ‘coming soon’ sign affixed (at least there was a sign…). My Rudgate Jorvick was in pretty good form and just a quid for a half too. So-so Spoons overall on this showing.

Apparently this JDW is housed in what was the offices of the local water board, but I failed to notice any preserved features to that effect although I could have been wrong. It seemed like a pretty formulaic spoons to me, as usual, lacking in natural light. There is an upper mezzanine to the rear, and décor included a few abstract prints of iconic local scenes, the cathedral, castle and viaducts. This was my obligatory breakfast stop, by 10.15 there were a serious number of the all-dayer brigade in place, one guy was already on the pint plus chaser. A decent enough if standard breakfast, not too many guest beers but I enjoyed a decent enough pint of Black Paw Paw's Gold for £1.49 after using my CAMRA voucher. There's not many places you can get a full breakfast and a pint for under a fiver. Unusually for a 'spoons they have a weekly quiz here plus Mexican Monday to add to the other "nights" which I don't recall seeing previously anywhere else.

A pub of two halves - an imposing facade and front rooms, but much remodelled further back with seating areas up and down half flights of stairs. Ten handpumps, with a reasonable selection of beers including Cullercoats Jack the Devil (£1.75).