The Henry Bessemer (JD Wetherspoon), Workington

A quick stop so I could get a double tick of Spoons and an (ex) football league club town. A bit of a yomp from the station, this Spoons is the first pub you pass on the way into town, sneaky Timbo. Quite an intriguing interior with an impressive arched bar back though it was too dim and desperately needed more light on an evening and on a bitter day those high ceilings were robbing the warmth. Three guest cask, 2x Carlisle plus one other. Went for the Carlisles, the La'al was in good nick (NBSS 3.5) but the other was murky and grim. Got it swapped for a decidedly odd tasting Doom Bar (NBSS 1.5). Noted that the clip was not taken off so I presume it was going to be pushed onto the next mug punter. Really didn't warm (arf!) to this one - too dim, chilly and with sketchy cask management.

I had a very brief visit to this one as I wanted to get a train to Carlisle and avoid a two or three hour wait for the next one. As noted below it's a former cinema and recognisable as such inside. The bar has ten hand pumps which had two available soon, the JDW Trio Of Doom with two Ruddles, Carlisle Oatmeal Stout, a festival beer, Yates Golden Ale and something called Reaper. I went for the Oatmeal Stout (£2.15) which was in good nick. I'd liked to have stayed longer but this seemed a reasonable Spoons.

This is a pretty much standard 'Spoons conversion of an old cinema, with two banks of hand pumps on the bar. The usual suspects were to be found on the second set, with three local beers and a cider on the nearer. Great Corby Blonde is not really my sort of beer, but at only £2.15 a pint, or £1.08 a half in my case, I'm not complaining. I stayed for as long as it took to wash down my chips from across the road before jumping back on my bike and heading for the railway station. Date of visit: 16th July 2016