The Holland Tringham (JD Wetherspoon), Streatham, SW16

Initially thought by me to be a new Spoons, I actually visited just a few weeks after a major refurbishment. You can see old skool Spoonerirms when you get your eye in. Two levels with the bar at the lower rear, which has a pleasing curved marble top and also a decent (and unexpected) beer garden. A load of the old woodwork had been painted a naff grey green including the booths which is a mis-step. WiFi broken and bar understaffed. Three guest cask, my Thornbridge Jaipur was fine (NBSS 3). Useful if you’re nearby. 5.5

Visited on 13/05/24 If my previous Spoons of the night was old school, this is definitely new school. Nothing really changed here rather it has re-opened after a brief closure for refurbishment. Definitely a smell of new carpet rather than old Spoons carpet. The venue was busy on my visit at 9.30pm last night. Eight hand pumps operational, two dispensing Ruddles for £1.90, two offering up Doom Bar at £2.89 a pint and one only Abbot (what has gone wrong here). The more unusual ones were Jaipur from Thornbridge (ok not that unusual), something called Beer O'Clock for which I didn't note the brewery but have had at least one previously at an out of town JDW and my choice which was WPA from Evan Evans I believe, which I thought was a nice pint. I have not been to this JDW previously, and had noted that it was my geographically nearest to home that was unvisited by me until this evening. I quite liked the layout well described below and would definitely revisit when next in area.

A pretty average sort of Spoons, although the beer selection was reasonable. One minor triumph - there was a vertical queue at the bar when I came in, which I naturally swerved, maintaining the moral high ground by deferring to someone in the aforementioned to be served first, at which point it collapsed and more normal purchasing behaviour was restored! It looked as though it was starting to rebuild when I left though - why on earth would you stand BEHIND someone at an empty bar?

This is a large but rather nondescript Wetherspoons pub on Streatham’s self-proclaimed ‘longest High Street in the UK’ which has been somewhat overshadowed by the neighbouring Antic pub which is set in a much more interesting building. It’s a split-level pub with a raised seating area to the front and a lower bar space to the rear. The seating area is carpeted and broken up by a series of pillars through the centre of the room plus some etched glass partitioned booths along the right-hand wall. The rest of the seating comes mainly in the form of regular tables and chairs and the walls are predominantly half-panelled although there is a bare brick section over to the left with a couple of beer fridges which appear to be there more for display purposes rather than practical use. Unusually, a few rural paintings line the walls alongside some more appropriate local black and white photos and ‘Spoons info boards. The servery is in the rear left corner with a roughly L-shaped counter and back-lit modern bar back. Down here, there are mainly high tables and stools to perch on and TV screens were showing muted news coverage. A beer garden can be accessed through a door to the rear, although I didn’t get around to having a proper look. The pub was busy on a Saturday evening without being uncomfortably so, and I was able to grab a table with relative ease. Six of the handpulls were taken up by ‘Spoons regulars (three beers doubled up), whilst two more had ‘Coming Soon’ clips, leaving room for four guest ales. I tried something called Reunion Single Double Hop which was available as part of the London Beer Festival the pub was participating in. It was a pretty good pint but the barman who served me literally could not be less interested in what he was doing if he tried. I found this a solid but ultimately underwhelming ‘Spoons experience which reminded me of plenty of other such visits to this chain’s outlets across South London. I have no real objections to this place, but faced with a straight choice between drinking here or in the Antic pub next door, I would happily pay a bit more and drink in the more pleasant surrounds of the Antic venue.