The Miles Thompson (JD Wetherspoon), Kendal

This is an unusual, split level branch of Wetherspoons with a very shallow but wide interior across two rooms. You enter into the lower left-hand bar area with the servery along the back wall in a mostly bare boarded space. High tables and stools run along the front wall and through a slightly opened out area to the right, under some exposed stonework walls. The servery has a smart, and very long, counter with nice curved ends and a pillar midway down, fronting a comparatively basic bar back. The room feels a bit drab overall and was all but empty when I arrived on a Sunday afternoon apart from the few folk who were still ordering at the bar. Steps to the right take you up to a much nicer lounge type space, with rows of standard tables and chairs plus some nice banquette booths along the back wall, separated by wooden slat screens with a few decorative pane inserts. The room has a high gabled ceiling with some impressive exposed beams and a grand stone fireplace on the end wall, falling a little short of a baronial hall vibe, but looking pretty good nonetheless. A separate seating area can be found down some steps to the rear, but I didn't manage to explore this part of the pub. Most people were sat in the top room, although this must be one of the quietest 'Spoons I've ever been to - something that became a bit of a recurring theme during my week in the North West. The handpulls were dispensing the three regular 'Spoons ales along with four guests and one more that was marked as 'coming soon'. I tried the Moorhouse Blonde Witch at a bargain £2.66 a for a decent pint, poured by a patient barmaid who served me whilst having to listen to another customer tell her how rubbish Wetherspoons pubs are! A real pub of two halves for me, with the bar area feeling generic and unappealing, whilst the upper lounge was grand and comfortable - somewhere I can easily imagine settling for a pint even if it's still a bit too large and impersonal to feel cosy. I was happy enough here and it's probably worth adding to any crawl around town. Date of visit - 14th January 2024

Another regular haunt of mine when I'm overnighting in Kendal. I have been known to have a mixed grill on their steak night fairly often. :-)) Long, narrow pub with the bar to the left and the main seating area to the right, part of which is up some steps. Usually has a good range of guest ales on the bar. I'm always here midweek when it's pleasantly busy without being rammed. I've never been here at weekend when it may well be a different story.

Elongated 'spoons in an impressive row of buildings with a tall chimney at one end. The split-level arrangement of seating / dining areas is a bit awkward, with a narrow flight of stairs between the bar area and the higher level. Reasonable selection from the two banks of five handpumps, although the two clipped for ciders - including the Raspberry Ripple from Snail Bank (don't ask, £2.15) - were served from boxes in the fridge.

A fairly decent Wethers. This is a long pub stretching breadth ways with the bar on your left. To the right is a raised area if you want to dine away from the bar. There were 10 handpumps in total and I'm afraid to say Doom Bore was back. Apart from the Wethers 3 the other beers was a good selection. It looks nice from the outside and though typical inside its worth a visit.