The Prior John (JD Wetherspoon), Bridlington

Possibly an old chapel, the shape and the aerial display of bells suggests as much as well as the name, I didn’t see any handy display boards telling the story. It’s been extended sideways in to a neighbouring modern building, which houses the counter as well as standard ‘spoons furnishings. There’s a complicated mezzanine seating area partly in each building, which is a bit limited. I ordered on the app’ but I guess it’s 5+5 pulls doubled up, topped and tailed by T-Bars. Service was good, upstairs tables cleaned in a reasonably timely manner but not downstairs, the beer quality was pretty good so not a bad spoons. It has a very special disabled toilet.

Just a short walk from the seafront attractions and the town’s bus station, this is a large Wetherspoons that comprises a fairly uninteresting modern building at one end and a converted church at the other. Entering into the modern building, you find yourself in a sizeable seating area, with plenty of tables and chairs, benches and stools running down the front and left-hand sides of the room. The servery quickly appears to the rear and runs a long way to the right, passing through a central, connecting space, eventually emerging into the church. The modern part of the pub fits surprisingly well with the church part, which is most unexpected when viewed from outside. It has a number of little nooks and screened-off spots that afford a degree of privacy and was relatively smart, with modern fittings and the usual ‘Spoons carpeting. The bar is a bit of an identikit ‘Spoons servery, although it does incorporate an open kitchen partway along. The church end of the pub is mostly filled with standard tables and chairs, plus a few banquette booths down the far wall, either side of a rather grand looking raised fireplace, that doesn’t seem to be an original feature of the church building. As you might expect, the room has a very high ceiling and a good amount of stained glass as well as an amazing light feature that has been styled to look like church bells. Local rail travel themed posters line the walls alongside some much larger versions of the ‘Spoons info boards. A curved staircase in the centre of the pub leads up to a mezzanine level, which in turn leads up a few more steps to another seating area with a large bookcase down one wall and some more retro posters on display. Much of this upper level looks down into the church part of the pub, so it’s worth heading up there to check out the view and get a different perspective on the building. The toilets are also up here but despite being very smartly fitted out, they were absolutely disgusting, with at least one sink and one urinal full of vomit – apparently the ladies weren’t a whole lot better and the general cleanliness of the pub left a lot to be desired too. Unlike most ‘Spoons I’ve been to post-lockdown, there was a good, varied ale range on, with six guest ales available along with two ‘Spoons regulars. This was good news, as the pub had no other draught beer available, due to some sort of technical issue with their keg dispense system, so customers were warned on entry that they would only be able to order bottled beer or cask ale. I tried a pint of Redemption Urban Dusk which I thought was in very good shape and we ordered from the ever-reliable menu, receiving prompt service, as you come to expect from this chain. I thought this was a really nice ‘Spoons with a very interesting interior that sets it apart from your average town centre branch. The strong ale selection and good beer quality helped me warm to the place but it’s hard to just look past the rows of messy, uncleared tales and the awful toilets without deducting some marks. Hopefully I just caught the place at a bad time as it has potential to be a pleasant pub

The Prior John has been extended into the building next door. From the outside they look like two very different buildings, but on the inside the transition between areas is seamless and works well. The pub now feels more open at the back as it had been a bit dark and gloomy behind the stairs previously. The mezzanine level above has also been extended into the new building and is improved as a result. Back downstairs there is a fire on the end wall of the new section. Two banks of six hand pulls at the bar, which itself hasn't changed position, offering the Spoons trio plus guests, which at the time of my visit were mainly golden ales. I went for the Wildcat by Cairngorm Brewery, a decent enough Scottish ale and a very reasonable £1.03 for half a pint.

This is a JDW set in and odd looking, fairly modern and curved building that I've no idea what the original use was. Inside it consists of a single curved room along with a curved bar and an upstairs area that I didn't look into. The fixtures and fittings are fairly typical and it was doing a good trade on my Friday morning visit. The bar has ten hand pumps which had two unused, the JDW Trio Of Doom, Hobgoblin, Young's Special, Caledonian Seasoned Traveller IPA, Great Newsome Jem's Stout and Brewster's Rutterkin. I went for the Rutterkin (£2.15) which was reasonably good. Overall I thought this JDW was slightly above average.

Squat modern building with a curved frontage and a small mezzanine inside. Busy, but with plenty of staff. Compact patio beer garden to one side. Unadventurous selection from ten handpumps, but nothing wrong with my pint of Celt Dark Age (£1.99).