The Thomas Waghorn (JD Wetherspoon), Chatham

Opened in 2016 and converted from an old Firkin pub which in itself was converted from a Post Office. A big L shape with an upper level at the rear. A more modern interior than many JDWs with light IKEA-esque wood and bluey grey paint. Postage and seafaring ephemera, the metal cut silhouette penny blacks above the servery were nice. Understaffed - crap over most of the spare tables and a general air of chaos despite it being fairly quiet on a mid-Saturday afternoon. Some local ‘characters’ in situ, Chatham does have a rep I suppose. The app’s ale list bore no relation to reality and I eventually ended-up with a thoroughly workaday Theako OP (NBSS 2). Staff then proceeded to make a mess of the food order. Not one of the better Wetherspoon experiences.

The Thomas Waghorn was very busy during a recent Wednesday evening visit, all the tables both upstairs and down were being used, mainly by diners. The long bar counter runs up the right-hand wall where two banks of six duplicated hand pumps are supported in amongst the standard and premium keg. The three usual cask suspects were available alongside Branscombe Brewery’s Summa That (decent), Great Newsome’s Emperor and Exmoor Beast. Unfortunately the people of Chatham have not understood that this is not a PO anymore so they were queuing single file from the till, my god people the bar is so long, please us it! It took 15 minutes to be served, if I wasn’t meeting someone I would have bailed long before receiving my drink. On a mission to find the toilets I noted that there are lots of seating areas in the left side of the pub and open plan seating is upstairs. Oddly between 19:15 and 19:30 the pub completely emptied, literally 100 people must have left. I didn’t see any meal deals for that time period so I’m at a loss. On leaving I noticed a large arch to the left of the pub that leads to a courtyard full of seating. The main issue I have with this pub is that it’s in Chatham, so has more braindead morons than your average Spoons.

A big Spoons occupying some historic buildings,and with a courtyard area in the middle. Despite the fine architectural surroundings, the interior is quite mundane and the whole place felt a bit dead. 3 guests ales were on, including 2 from Wantsum, but I can't say the place really worked for me. Despite that, it is probably the best source of ale in Central Chatham (anyone want to open a micro?).