The Harry Clasper (JD Wetherspoon), Newcastle Upon Tyne

Quite a nice upmarket looking Spoons, fitting with the building it occupies which were apparently local council offices at some point in the past. Sadly the real ale selection was a little poor at the time of my visit. Two banks of five hand pulls, but the second was just a full duplicate of the first which seems to be happening more frequently in Wetherspoon pubs at the moment. At the time of my visit yesterday afternoon there were Spoons regulars Doom Bar, Abbot Ale and Ruddles, accompanied by guests Bombardier Glorious English and Golden Plover by Allendale (£1.99). One pump was blank. The pub has separate rooms, with the long bar being in the left hand room as you enter. It has a decent size beer garden out the front, sectioned off from the car park by a glass partition. Quite fancy for a Spoons, just a shame the beer selection was not more imaginative.

Official site of The Harry Clasper (JD Wetherspoon) - www.jdwetherspoon.com

Official site of The Harry Clasper (JD Wetherspoon) - www.jdwetherspoon.com

The Harry Clasper is set in a grand old building that was once the local council offices. You enter up a staircase and the bar area is over on the left hand side. It's split into various areas but this wood floored one is the largest and the smaller eating areas are carpeted. The fixtures and fittings are better than average. It was fairly quiet on my Tuesday afternoon visit. The gents upstairs are quite plush and include a fireplace so it's a shame about the cheap laminate flooring. The bar has twelve hand pumps which with doubling up boiled down to the JDW Trio Of Doom and four festival ales. I went for the Banks's Brazilian Burton Pale (£2.15 festival price) which was in good nick. This seemed a decent Spoons in a fine old building.