The London & County (Lloyds No 1), Eastbourne

Lloyds No 1 bar squeezed into a two-storey corner pub with seating / dining tables at a definite premium. Usual furniture and decor throughout, although the upstairs definitely benefits from a larger window area. Ruddles and Doom Bar on both counters, but four more beers - including the local Long Man Gunpowder Stout (£2.49) - and a cider available in the main ground-floor bar.

lloyds No1 opposite the railway station. Smaller than lots of Wetherspoons it is open plan but the smaller space & large bar area means its less featureless than others, with high ceilings and pillars giving an ok feel. Beer quality is ok but another one that suffers the curse of Wetherspoons with staffing - a number of staff just milling around doing nothing whilst people wait at the bar

On a winter's Saturday midday visit this place was quite busy. It's a fairly typical Spoons, certainly at lunchtime. I was surprised that it wasn't that large inside, although the upstairs was completely ignored. I wonder if the upstairs area is used for Lloyds style activity such as evening music. As a corner bank conversion with windows on two sides it was much brighter than all those shop conversions where the front doors provide rhe only natural light. All the beers were going, the Greene King Abbot Reserve and Marston's Old Empire were both in very good condition. The young (student?) staff kept the show on the road much better than some Spoons, although there weren't loads of people demanding coffee or asking stupid questions about the food.

This Lloyds No. 1 version of Wethespoons is housed in what, given the name, was presumably a branch of the London & County Bank that eventually became part of Nat West). Prior to ‘Spoons involvement it had been a Hogshead and a Slug & Lettuce. The interior is split over 2 floors although the upstairs wasn’t open on my visit so I can’t comment on that. The main bar is quite small compared to the average ‘Spoons. It would feel a little cavernous and were it not for a few wall remnants breaking up the sightlines. The décor is quite plain with the usual ‘Spoons snippets. My visit was essentially for a breakfast and first pint of what would be a lengthy crawl but the pub was quite full even at 11am with fellow breakfasters and I was advised that there was at least a 30 minute wait, not that there was anywhere to sit and eat it anyway which made the closure of the upstairs bar a bit mysterious. I consoled myself that there were 6 ales (Ruddles County, Marsten Old Empire, Deuchars, Batemans Rosey Nosey (with a fully functioning flashing nose light – a rarirty!), RCH Steam Sleigh and Springhead Rudolph’s Ruin). Given the choice of the 2 ‘Spoons in town, the L&C would be my preference, certainly for the beers. It is also far superior to the Gildredge opposite if you are looking to kill time before a train. Other than that it is a functional ‘Spoons that does the job unless you want breakfast on a Saturday morning.