The Mare Pool (JD Wetherspoon), Sutton Coldfield

10 years since I called in here and nothing much has changed. 4 guests on - Purple Moose Waka, Silhill North star, St David's ale and Sussex gold. The Sussex was in decent nick. Not a bad Spoons.

This branch of Wetherspoon's can be found at the opposite end of a large car park from a Sainsbury's. On a Thursday morning, it was difficult to find a parking space. Once inside, I found a busy and bustling Wetherspoon's that was brighter than most of its counterparts. There were a good mix of diners and drinkers. The usual Wetherspoon's trio of doom was slightly broken here. Sharp's Doom Bar & Greene King Abbot were on, but the third regular beer here is actually Greene King IPA. I had checked their app to see what was on beforehand and was surprised to find a pumpclip for a porter or stout. But sure enough when I ordered it, it wasn't actually on. As such, the 3 guest ales were Backyard Blonde, Redemption Big Chief & Milestone American Red Ale. There is no real cider.

Modern 'spoons currently a bit hidden away in a shopping centre going through further redevelopment. A reasonable amount of window space, light decor and good lighting all help its look, and an ornamental gas fire in one corner catches the eye. An 'outdoor terrace' is also signed. Surprisingly busy with older diners on a Tuesday evening. Fair selection of eight real ales from the two banks of five handpumps, including the East Kent Goldings single hop from Marston's (£2.45) and one each from Sadler's, Backyard and Slater's.

Official site of The Mare Pool (JD Wetherspoon) - www.jdwetherspoon.com

Official site of The Mare Pool (JD Wetherspoon) - www.jdwetherspoon.com

This Spoons is tucked away on a small modern but rather shabby and run down shopping precinct. It's a modern building consisting of one rectangular open plan room. Like most more recent Spoons it has slightly above average furnishings. Some of the stuff in here was inherited from it's previous owners like a silly art installation consisting of bits of glass hanging from wooden slats. The bar has two sets of five hand pumps which had the GK beers doubled up, Doom Bore, Adnam's Broadside, Purity Mad Goose, Salopian Oracle, Wadworth / Nausta Lapland Red Ale and Backyard Blonde. I went for the Salopian Oracle (£2.45) which was only in reasonable condition. This one is GBG 2016 listed but I thought it was quite average.