The Blue Bell Inn (JD Wetherspoon), Scunthorpe

I found it very difficult wondering around Scunthorpe without sniggering as I permanently had going through my head a joke about the town from my school days which started "If Typhoo put the T in Britain". To be a bit more serious this JDW seems to be a conversion of as many as four terraced shops. It's an old school outlet with old style signage and the usual JDW fixtures and fittings. It seemed to be full of beer drinkers on my Saturday afternoon visit so I found it almost embarrassing ordering some food after my first pint. The bar has twelve hand pumps and although the JDW Trio Of Doom was there and four were being used to advertise festival ciders, the other five were all Locale beers. These were Rooster's Red Baron & Kushty Rye, Hop Studio Blush & Eau De Soleil and Kelham Island Imperial Stout. I went for the Red Baron (£2.60) and the KI Imperial (£2.75) with my food and both were excellent. The standard guest price here is £2.45 which is relatively expensive but the Ruddles is just £1.55. I applaud this pricing as Scunthorpe is a town with severe industrial problems. I really liked this one as it seemed to be more akin to the original JDW concept before they decided that food was equally or more important than just having a drink.

This is a typical town centre Wetherspoons pub, just off the High Street and a short walk from Scunthorpe train station. The pub has a wide L shaped layout, with the servery on the back wall. In front of the bar there are rows of standard tables and chairs, which on my recent visit, were full of people watching the early afternoon football match on a big pull-down screen on the right hand wall. The left hand side of the room runs past the servery and has a raised seating section which is partitioned from the rest of the pub. The usual Wetherspoons local information boards and photos were in evidence and overall I found the place quite civilised compared to other branches, especially given that it was filling up with football fans whilst I was there. The staff were also very polite and welcoming and I even gave the food a try, which was good value as ever, if a little uninspiring. There are twelve hand pumps, split 50-50 along each side of the bar. Most of these were dispensing guest ales including three from Bradfield, although some of the regulars were doubled up. I tried a pint of Acorn Blonde for £2.15 and found it in good shape and ideal to wash down my meal. Scunthorpe isn’t blessed with the greatest of pubs, so the Wetherspoons becomes an important part of the town’s pub scene. I thought the place was clean and welcoming and with more of a local’s feel to it than your average ‘Spoons outlet. I’d certainly return the next time I’m in town.

Well it's big, and cheap, and a Wetherspoons, and beats all the other pubs hands down, but the staff have several issues, those being polite to the customers, available and willing to serve, and just generally being customer aware.