Gooseberry Bush (JD Wetherspoon), Nottingham

I thought this was a most unusual Spoons. It's set on a fairly steep hill that is in a mainly residential area with no shops, trains or buses in the immediate vicinity, although I did spot a tram at the bottom of the road as I approached it. Inside it seems a lot more plush than many outlets and TV screens were showing sport at a reasonable volume. It wasn't overly busy on my early Saturday afternoon visit and the vast majority of the clientele were fairly young (presumably students). The bar has two sets of five hand pumps which had two available soon, Doom Bore, Ruddles and six festival ales. I went for the Acorn Barnsley Bitter (£2.15 festival / standard guest price) which was in excellent nick. This seemed a better than average Spoons to me.

A pretty standard Wetherspoons pub but since located so close to Nottingham trent University and its union they have much better prices compared to other city Wetherspoons. the beer choice is not as good as others such as the Roebuck or Trent bridge inn with some of the basics like Abbot and Ruddels sometimes repeated. I usually opt for a Doombar for £1.99 as their selection often does not excite me but the odd good beer gets through, Everards Tiger was a nice find one week. This pub gets very busy with students in term time and has two outdoor seating areas to enjoy the sun. a basic spoons with basic beer is nothing to go out of your way for but ok for a stop off if ever around this corner of town .

1980s building on sloping ground, with the 'L'-shaped bar at first-floor level. Main feature of interest is the picture window on the frontage which provides a good place to sit if you manage to get a table there. Very friendly and knowledgeable barman. Reasonable selection from ten hand pumps, including the ex-festival Nøgne Ø (£1.99).

This is a sizeable, purpose built pub on the site of a former maternity hospital, which now finds itself well positioned to take advantage of the student population that surrounds it. It’s a Wetherspoons pub and is recognizable as such upon entering, but it is very smart and well presented and feels a little less formulaic than most pubs from this chain. The furniture looks to be of good quality, with comfortable seating arranged around nice dark wood tables. The walls have been decorated with some eye catching pieces of art and the interior has a few nice features, such as the area in the front left corner which protrudes out from the front of the pub and gives good elevated views out through the large windows. Most unusually for a Wetherspoons pub, there was a lit fire down at the far end which provided a welcome sight for those escaping the cold and damp weather outside. The pub is elevated from the road and requires you to climb a series of steps to reach the front door, but there is step free access from the car park/beer garden to the rear. Some TV screens were on during my visit, mainly showing muted Sky Sports News to a handful of students and some blokes from a nearby construction site – the only other customers on my mid morning visit. I found this place completely by accident whilst heading from my hotel to find somewhere to have breakfast and I was drawn inside by a board advertising a Full English for £2.99. The breakfast was actually pretty good, certainly value for money, and set me up nicely for the rest of the day. I counted ten hand pumps at the bar dispensing two ‘Spoons regulars, one real cider and seven guest ales, mostly from the current beer festival range. I thought this was a very appealing Wetherspoons pub with much to recommend. Whether this is still the case on a Friday night when it’s packed with students necking cheap beer is another matter, but on the evidence of this visit, I would happily venture out this way again.

The Gooseberry Bush was built by Mansfield brewery in 1985 on the site of a former maternity hospital which is where i started my life. The pub is situated in a quiet area of inner city Nottingham and it is a bit of a walk to any other pubs. Once inside the pub had one large open plan room that was quite smart with carpets and comfortable seating. The pub was a Mansfield tied house and when the pub first opened there was one real ale on the bar which was Mansfield XXXX bitter which was a very nice drink,over the years it also had Riding bitter and Old Bailey on the bar. The pub is now run by Wetherspoons so no doubt there will be more real ales on here. Pub first visited 24/2/1985 Photo taken 15/12/1994