The Red Lion (JD Wetherspoon), Ripley

Official site of The Red Lion (JD Wetherspoon) - www.jdwetherspoon.com

I was astonished to find that this was an original pub but it was built in the 1960s. It looks more like an office block. Inside it's a rectangular room with a patio to the right and the bar on the left. the fixtures and fittings are all fairly typical. It was fairly busy on my early Saturday afternoon visit but the place was a complete shambles due to wholly inadequate staff levels. Nearly all the tables were covered with uncleared glasses and / or plates. There just seemed to be two serving on the bar one of whom was faffing around with coffee so I had to wait ages to get served. As I was leaving I noticed that several people were coming in and dumping uncleared stuff onto empty tall tables by the bar. Despite that the twelve hand pumps had a decent choice of ales. There was one unused, the JDW Trio Of Doom with Abbot doubled, Vale Red Kite, B&T SOS, Wood's Shropshire Lad, Lincoln Green Sherwood, Titanic Plum Porter, Hook Norton Old Hooky and Bradfield Farmer's Pale. I went for the Plum Porter (£2.05) which seemed in reasonable nick. It's no good having a decent ale selection if you can't get served. I saw no sign of anyone resembling a manager here.

Official site of The Red Lion (JD Wetherspoon) - www.jdwetherspoon.com

Typical Weatherspoons pub excellent value and a good selection of real ales, although not in The Good Beer Guide for 2010, must be quiet close.