The Peter Cushing (JD Wetherspoon), Whitstable

Small(ish) but striking Art Deco cinema conversion, with the interior lighting (whether original or not) certainly adding to the atmosphere... Apart from that, the interior is slightly troublesome by having six steps down from the entrance, but otherwise much as you would expect. Six of seven handpumps in use, offering a fairly pedestrian selection from which the 'international brewer' Red Racer Session IPA (£2.09) was the only unusual real ale.

Personally I preferred Christopher Lee but Cushing bought a house in the town and eventually retired to it. As noted below you enter through the old foyer and then down some steps to a large high ceilinged room that is completely recognisable as being in an old cinema. There's the usual assortment of high and low tables and chairs, the low chairs being slightly better quality than normal. For some reason the Club food offers (apart from the Breakfast) here are rather dearer than average but other food items are about the same or even slightly cheaper. The bar now has seven hand pumps, rather few for a JDW this size and it certainly isn't a Lloyds. These had Ruddles, Rockin' Robin Peacemaker and five festival ales. I went for the Shepherd Neame Hog Island APA which was enjoyable enough but not really my idea of an APA. Despite that I thought this was an above average JDW and well worth a look.