The Layton Rakes (JD Wetherspoon), Blackpool

Arrggh, not sure what went wrong here with this ‘spoons, a pint of nasty cloudy pish served up in this smaller back street spoons. Dodgy decor, too many lines at eight, usual suspects plus a few cask guests which were all over 5%, not good any way you cut it.

Fairly modish Spoons at the base of a modern block. Wood grain tiles, mustard and blue walls and a lovely bright bar back with an Art Deco feel. There’s another mezzanine level bar upstairs, plus, apparently, a roof terrace. Four guest cask, my Adnams Fisherman was a bit fluffy but decent (NBSS 3). The pub name sounds like a member of the New Zealand 1982 World Cup squad. Again, another Blackpool JDW that was much better than expected.

Purpose-built pub on two levels with a generally dark interior and a roof terrace somewhere (not visited). The main ground-floor bar has eight handpumps, and three more can be found in the quieter bar at first-floor level, and I counted seven different real ales in total. Not that great a selection, but I went for the Wychwood Bah Humbug (£2.09) purely on the basis that I could then grumble that even the ironically named seasonal beers are appearing earlier every year...

Official site of The Layton Rakes (JD Wetherspoon) - www.jdwetherspoon.com

Official site of The Layton Rakes (JD Wetherspoon) - www.jdwetherspoon.com

Visited a couple of weeks back on a January weekday lunchtime, and seemed to have a better ale selection than its Spoons neighbour round the corner. There was a bank of eight pumps, all of which were on, the guest ales were Lurcher Stout by Green Jack, Phoenix Porter, Lancaster Blonde, Lancaster Citra, and Malthouse by Acorn. I went for the Lurcher Stout, great value at £2.09. It was fairly busy at the time of my visit but getting a seat was not a problem. There is an area off to the right which was a bit dark as it had no windows, but did have a real fire going. Toilets are upstairs, as is a further seating area, and also apparently a roof terrace which I chose not to investigate.

Dull dark and gloomy.Quiet. Phoenix -spotland gold was in good condition.Might be brighter and busier on the ist floor .

Reasonable Spoons but a bit dark inside and a bit small. Usual beers on offer.