Ivy House (JD Wetherspoon), Alton

This is a new JDW from Spring 2015 that attracted 349 people to sign a petition on change.org against it opening. On my Thursday morning visit there was no sign of the riotous drunkenness that some of the 349 were predicting, in fact I didn't even see any signs of a daytime brigade. As mentioned below it's a long room with a modern interior and several different areas. As the weather was nice I elected to take my pint outside to the large paved patio by the car park. Available on the twelve hand pumps were 4 ciders, the two GK beers, Hop Art Red Cap and five festival ales. I went for the Wadworth brewed Bibock (£2.45 festival / standard guest price) which was hazy but OK apart from that. It's a better than average Spoons but more expensive than many as you would expect of a new one in the South.

Modern Spoons (opened 2015) in a strange conversion, from an old GII listed town house at the front through to a converted office building via a glazed atrium. This means that it’s a truly multi-roomed place over several levels, with a different character in each though wood, green and cream shades predominate. Clean, tidy and upmarket inside, with a light and airy feel all over (unlike many a JDW) as well as a nice courtyard patio. 12 pumps but a lot of doubling-up, the true guests were all local - Surrey Hills Greensands IPA (fair shape, maybe a little flat), Triple FFF Moondance and Weltons Red Fire Monkey. Barman had just started the shift and seemed keen on his beer. Ate here and the food came out in double-quick time and in better order than normal. Overall, this was one of the most pleasant Spoons I’ve been into for a long time and it’s an ideal base camp before setting off to explore the other pubs in this nice little market town.