The Golden Bee (JD Wetherspoon), Stratford Central, Stratford-Upon-Avon

Golden Bee is a long and thin Wetherspoons with two small split level seating areas at the front before steps that lead up to the bar counter along the left wall that faces high tables along the right. At the rear is more seating in a high ceiling area with an odd windowed feature that looks like it should surround a flight of stairs in a leisure centre. The bar supports two banks of five handpumps that were drawing Sharp’s Doom Bar, GK Abbot Ale and Ruddles alongside some festival beers which were Mad Giant’s Autumn Amber, Brewsters All The Leaves Are Brown, GK Bonkers Conkers, Thornbridge Hopton and Telemark Ray from Norway. Two handpumps were unused. The staff were polite, but there was a very vocal and sweary old Tory twat that was banging on about banning unions. This is a very average Spoons.

Fairly standard Spoon's. Only called in for an early coffee so didn't try the beer. Noticed Woodforde's Volt IPA and one from Silhill alongside the regulars.

As described below, it’s a typical lacklustre high street ‘Spoons with dull staff, stroppy Karens exhibiting their poor social skills and entitlement to nothing, gaming machines and groups of soap dodgers. There is a sign about how they support local breweries, though none of the beers on were from local breweries. Ales on were Doombar, Ruddles, Abbott, and two from Prescott’s – Podium Finish and Grand Prix, neither in particularly good condition. No surprises here, and certainly no royal jelly, just lots of drones.

Very average 'spoons, with an extended interior but seemingly little in the way of staff (meaning queues at the bar and uncleared tables at a fairly quiet mid-afternoon time). The choice of real ales from seven of ten handpumps was distinctly pedestrian too; all usual suspects apart from the Prescott Hill Climb (£2.85) and that was a bit 'end of the barrel'. Underwhelmed...