Captain Ridley's Shooting Party (JD Wetherspoon), Milton Keynes

Named after the alibi used by the code breakers, this branch of Wetherspoon's sits on a busy main road and unusually has its own small car park to the front. It is fairly modern inside and stretches back a fair way. Despite the spacious interior, toilets can be found upstairs. The usual Wetherspoon's ales were on - Greene King Abbot, Ruddles Best & Sharp's Doom Bar. The two guest beers were Morland Old Speckled Hen & Oakham JHB - not the most inspiring of choices. They did, however, have a real cider - Gwynt y Ddraig Black Dragon. Pictures and news stories on the walls tell the story of the code breakers. We ordered a snack which came quickly and filled a gap.

Probably the best-looking building in the modern town's undistinguished shopping centre, so that's hardly fulsome praise... but 'spoons have done a good job in remodelling and extending this into a surprisingly large pub. Extends a long way back, but there is still room on the site for front, side and rear patio areas. Dull selection of six mainstream real ales from a total of ten handpumps, of which Exmoor Gold (£2.10) was the least common. On the plus side, it has some interesting information boards about the history of Bletchley Park and the people who worked there during the Second World War

Formerly the Bletchley Arms,now extended by 'spoons but the new name reference to nearby Bletchley Park is the best part.Initially a low ceiling,it's not vast but very popular,while beyond the bar it opens out into a more normal interior. What got my goat was that the two ranks of 6 handpumps were serving the exact same ales with Doom Bar,GK IPA,Abbott and Ruddles Best all doubled up as were the guests Green Jack Lurcher Stout and Oakham JHB.I was then informed that there was a 1 hour wait for food and it became obvious that the wheels had fallen off here ,and it wasn't worth hanging about. The locals were a rough looking bunch and the manager must have underestimated how popular the pub was going to be on New Years Day. Not one of Tim's best.

Official site of Captain Ridley's Shooting Party (JD Wetherspoon) - www.jdwetherspoon.com