The Muckle Cross (JD Wetherspoon), Elgin

As noted below, this is a fairly typical shop conversion consisting of a long narrow room with the bar on the right in the middle. TV sport is advertised and something was being shown without the volume. It was quiet on my Tuesday evening visit but that may have been down to the deluge of rain that was falling outside. The bar has a set of three hand pumps for the Scottish JDW Trio of Doom with the Abbot turned and another set of five. These five had three unused, Old Empire and Pheasantry Mikado Mild. I went for the Old Empire (£2.15) which was either extremely lively or there was a fault with the pump. Although this was OK I switched to the Mikado Mild (£2.15) which was better. Despite being a predictable building I got to quite like this one while waiting for the rain to stop (it didn't!). It's GBG 2017 listed.

Usual sort of shop-conversion 'spoons, with a low ceiling at the front, generally dark furniture / decor and little in the way of natural light. Six of eight handpumps in use, thankfully offering two beers from Cairngorm - Trade Winds and Nessie's - and the local Windswept Blonde in addition to the usual suspects.

A formulaic Lloyds No 1 Bar that does everything expected of the Wetherspoons brand. It is probably of more interest to ale drinkers as the area isn’t exactly blessed with pubs selling many varieties of Real ale so the 3 guests available on my visit on top of the regular ‘Spoons output were a welcome sight. The interior is deceptive given the narrow frontage and extends quite a way back although it deos feel a bit dark inside. A couple of TVs on one side and Big Screen at the rear were showing World Cup footy on my visit. The walls had a mix of modern artwork and old town photos with the usual snippets of local celebrities and landmarks. The customer base didn’t seem as intimidating as one could expect although I’m not sure I would fancy the place on Friday/Saturday evenings. Fine for ‘Spoons enthusiasts, people in need of cheap nosh and Ale fans wandering across the desert but a place that generally lacks any real character.