The Bransty Arch (JD Wetherspoon), Whitehaven

Converted from a bus depot. Light and modern interior with exposed ducts, light wood and some copper fittings which gives the vibe of discrete areas – pleasant and upmarket, two words you wouldn’t usually associate with Whitehaven. Three guest casks, my Carlisle Spun Gold was in good nick initially but died a bit on the way down the glass (NBSS 3). Decent grub out of the microwave and friendly staff. A tidy small town Spoons.

I popped in the Bransty Arch a bit over a week ago and as luck would have it they had the Wetherspoons Real Ale & Cider festival on. This Spoons has 12 hand pulls in total, two banks of five plus an additional two clipped for cider at the time of my visit. No duplications across the pumps, and all were on, so plenty to choose from. A couple of the ciders took my fancy and they were an absolute bargain at £1 a half. Can't really add much more than has already been said about the interior of the pub, it's an open plan place though it does give the illusion of separate sections. There also seemed to be a small raised area to break it up a bit. Have to say I was pretty impressed with this one, it's not the biggest Spoons in the world and had more hand pulls than I was expecting for the size of the place.

A bus garage is not a common building to house a JDW and I can only think of one other example. This one consists of a single high ceilinged room which means any sound tends to reverberate. The room is divided into different areas but one thing I noticed was that the furnishings weren't crammed in together as they are in some outlets. The bar has two sets of five hand pumps with another two in between. These had three available soon, the two GK beers and seven festival ales. I went for the Castle Rock Phoenix Red which was excellent. I thought this one was OK, there was a daytime brigade element but nothing out of the ordinary and they seem to have done the best they can with a rather dull building.

Pleasant airy Spoons' done out 1930's cruise liner style. Pleased to see a Derwent ale - but it was 'just finished' even though the clip was left on for the next 2 hours - a Spoons con I have seen before. Settled for a pint of Carlisle froth, which the barmaid ignored, when it dropped. Worst salad ever served in a Spoons. Some regulars commented that it had never been much good. No wonder it was a bit quiet.