The London & County (JD Wetherspoon), Eastbourne

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.

This is a fair sized Lloyd's No.1 that had a fair range of guest ales on when I visited.It was fairly busy and I managed to get a seat that was unfortunately by the big screen playing music but other than that not a bad pub.Has an Upstairs seating area.