The Tanners Hall (JD Wetherspoon), Darlington

A middling Spoons interior, dark wood in attendance but not the full faux-Victoriana (maybe it’s had a refurb since opening?). There are some discrete areas but basically it’s a Spoons-U-Like. Obviously understaffed. Four guest ales, my Daleside Special didn't clear and tasted like it hadn’t either (NBSS 1.5). This is supposed to be the better of the two Spoons in town but to be honest I didn’t really rate either that much.

Called in here after a disappointing trip to the Tubwell Tap. Figured you can depend on a Wetherspoons to have at least one decent real ale to go at, and it would buy me a bit of time to escape the persistent rain and do a bit of research and plan where I was going to go next. This Spoons has two banks of six hand pulls, one bank has all the guest ales, the other has the traditional Spoons trio plus Old Rosie cider and a couple of guests duplicated from the other bank. I like this approach, as it means I only have to stare at one bank of pumps to try and decide which beer to try. All guest ales were £1.89 a pint, which is an absolute bargain of course. There were a couple of porters on, so good to see some dark beers available in the mix. My Ouseburn Porter was pretty decent. This is a fairly standard layout older style Spoons with its open plan barn and a couple of booths to one end. Dark varnished wood aplenty. You know the score. The only thing that makes this Spoons non-standard is that the toilets are downstairs. Solid and dependable, no complaints.

Above average Wetherspoons with a good range of beers including Rudgate and some of the more interesting from Marstons. Facilities and décor as normal.

Decent Spoons with a good choice of real ale. I had Riggwelter which was in fine form. Was a bit dark for my taste.