Waterend Barn (JD Wetherspoon), St Albans Central, St. Albans

An impressive Spoons, as previously mentioned in a vast and ancient barn (which was actually moved here in 1938), with a smaller barn and outbuildings attached. There is also a nice patio outside. Aside from the splendid surroundings it is pretty standard and predictable, although the general level of service seemed ok and there were 4 good guest ales on; the Burton Bridge Stairway to Heaven was in good form although one of our number thought the Portobello brew was past it.

Situated on the main street through St Albans, the Waterend Barn is a branch of Wetherspoon's which was a new one for me. We initially tried to visit the Saint & Sinner which is another barn-like drinking space owned by McMullen's, which is just opposite. However, the absence of any real ale meant that we walked straight back out and across the courtyard to the 'spoon's. The Waterend Barn is a real barn. In fact, it is two barns joined together. One contains the lengthy bar itself, whilst the other is a further large drinking space. With their high ceilings, they create a fairly unique drinking atmosphere. The usual 'spoon's real ales were on - Greene King Abbot, Ruddles Best, Sharp's Doom Bar. Guest beers were Brain's The Rev James, Rudgate Valkyrie, Marston's Wainwright, Kirkby Lonsdale Radical, Wychwood Hobgoblin & Peerless Dark Arts. There was no real cider that I could see. Most Wetherspoon's feel like barns, but at least this one is a bit more authentic.

Waterend Barn is a Wetherspoons pub that i had problems in trying to find. Once inside this is quite a large Wetherspoons with different areas,there is a small area facing the entrance which has normal tables and chairs,the main room is through this with the bar facing,the room is large and oblong shaped,there are normal tables and chairs to the left,but this area is set aside for diners only,the right side has tall tables and chairs for drinkers,the ceiling is very high. There was a decent choice of guest beers on the bar,i had a drink of Haresfoot Lock Keeper's,which went down well,the other real ales noted were Haresfoot Sundial,Sambrooks Junction,Farr Brew Porter,Titanic Captain Smiths and Spoons regulars GK IPA,GK Abbot and Doom Bar. This is only the second Weterspoons that i have visited Wetherspoons that has had a separate area for diners,Cannon Street Spoons the other. Pub visited 24/6/2017

Well-described by Pub SignMan below. I will only comment that the address is misleading as it is actually in Civic Court; from St Peters Street go behind Ladbrokes, or there is a passageway from Victoria Street by the Slug & Lettuce.

Hidden away a little from the main thoroughfares, to the point that I walked past the place twice before I eventually found it, this is a huge Wetherspoons pub created from two 16th Century barns which were brought to St Albans in the 1930's from nearby Wheathampstead. On approach, you pass through a fairly large outdoor patio seating area before moving into a sizable porch with a blue plaque which gives you a handy synopsis of the pub's history. You then enter into a relatively small room which connects the two barns. A laminate floored walkway passes from one bar to the other with carpeted seating spaces to either side of it. There are pleasing windows to the front and a large arch brick fireplace on the back wall, with smart wood panelling and plain mirrors rounding out the decor. Moving through to the right, you enter the large main bar/barn which has a mix of carpets and exposed floorboards and a very impressive high wood beam ceiling. High tables with copper tops fill much of the front section of the room in front of an impressive lit fireplace with a tiled chimney breast and incredible large artwork above. The servery runs down the right hand wall and, in comparison to the rest of the area, has a fairly unremarkable counter and bar back. The rest of the room has been filled with standard tables and chairs plus a couple of button backed armchairs in front of a second lit fire towards the rear of the room. The back wall was perhaps a little inappropriately covered by a massive pull-down screen which was showing a cup fixture involving local favourites Tottenham Hotspur, although the fans were thankfully quite muted. In the front left corner there is a door through to a snug-like room called the Blenheim Room - a wide, shallow space with a mix of sofa and standard chairs, providing a peaceful retreat from the main bar area. The left hand barn appears to be the smaller of the two, but that's not to suggest that it is any less impressive. It's a lighter and brighter room thanks to a row of lattice windows down one side. Standard seating pretty much fills the entire room and the barn has the same wooden framed ceiling and some massive artworks at either end. There are plenty of handpulls on the bar here, although six of them were doubled up with 'Spoons regular ale options. Thankfully these were supplemented by six guest ales from which I chose a pint of Haresfoot Wild Boy which was in decent shape if not a particularly interesting beer. There was a huge queue running from the bar almost out to the lobby when I arrived, which I promptly ignored in order to stand at the bar like a normal pub-goer. I was then served pretty much straight away - who queues in a pub? This is a very interesting branch of Wetherspoons and one which I'm struggling to find another similar example of. The unique two-barn layout is well worth exploring and the place had drawn a large crowd which made for a lively atmosphere. As with most 'Spoons, some interesting beer options are pretty much a given, making this a good option to include on any crawl around town.

As noted many times below this is a building consisting of two barns with a modern entrance area sandwiched in between the two. As you enter the barn on the left is smaller and is primarily for diners. It does have a small bar which wasn't operating on my visit and looked pretty boring. There is a small seating area in front as you enter and the main barn is to the right with the bar taking up virtually all of the far wall. For those wishing to feel superior to everyone else there is a tiny upstairs area. I only noticed this because I happened to sit right by the staircase. At the right end of this barn is a large hearth with a fire that wasn't lit on my visit. At the other end on the wall is a huge TV screen that I thought was totally spurious. It seemed to be mostly older folk stopping off for food on my Saturday midday visit. The long bar has a set of six hand pumps with two sets of three each side. The sets of three can be ignored as they just had GK IPA & Abbot and Doom Bore. The central six had three Xmas beers, Portobello Star & APA and Sambrook's Powerhouse Porter. I went for the Portobello APA (£2.55) which was in pretty good nick. I really liked this one especially compared to the new carbuncle in Hatfield visited later.