The Postal Order (JD Wetherspoon), Blackburn

A long thin spoons in a splendid deco building, a long long counter runs down the back wall, booth seating all down the opposite front wall and low tables in a row down the middle with a row of high ones between there and the counter, it has a raised area at one end and a cluster of machines at the other. An odd pump layout of 6+6 with three more in the middle serving the unholy trinity, the outer groups have the three plus a better choice, Wilde Child from the light side (Leeds) for me today, which was ok. Usual T-bars and solos in between the pulls. Geometric carpet for ‘spoons carpet collectors, tartan upholstery in the booths. A couple of secluded areas at one end, the toilets are upstairs of course. A serviceable spoons especially in a beer desert like Blackburn.

This is a pretty big Spoons, in the old style with the dark blue and gold signage and lots of dark varnished wood inside. Three banks of hand pumps at the bar. Two of the banks have six pumps and these are at each end of the bar. In the centre is a bank of three, offering the usual Spoons trio. The right hand bank had the Spoons trio duplicated, plus Deuchars IPA, Polar Eclipse by Beartown and DB Point Blanc. The left hand bank has two ciders (one was a Thatchers 6%, the other a Rhubarb one) and four guest ales not duplicated from the other banks. Full of a mix of drinkers and diners at around 11am today (Friday). I was surprised how full it was really. I've been in the afternoon before now and it has been quieter! Fairly nice old building in itself, possibly a bit tired on the inside, but good to see a decent real ale selection. My Polar Eclipse was a rather pleasant stout and only set me back £1.95 or £1.99.

As noted below this JDW is based in what must be the largest Post Office building I've ever seen. It's a very wide room with some alcoves along the front windows and raised areas to the far right and left. The fixtures and fittings are fairly typical. Most of the trade on my Tuesday afternoon visit seemed to be drinkers. The bar has two sets of six hand pumps and one of three, the three being wasted with the JDW Trio Of Doom duplicating the appearance on the other two sets. The remaining nine had two unused, two available soon, Settle Mainline Bitter, Beartown Bear Faced & Peach Melbear, Oakham JHB and Coach House Gunpowder Mild. I went for the Mainline Bitter and the Peach Melbear which were both £1.95 and there aren't that many Spoons around now with a standard guest price less than £2.00. Both were in good nick although the Peach one tasted predominately of tinned peaches. Considering the fifteen hand pumps the beer choice was only average but other than that it seemed OK.

By far the best pub,real ale wise, in Blackburn town centre. Actually its probably the best pub. A large pub as described below and the best bet in Blackburn town centre to be honest.

Huge post office conversion in a prominent position, with multiple seating areas in and around the main bar. I counted 15 handpumps in total, with 12 for real ale (e.g. Double Maxim priced at £1.99) and three more dispensing cider, so plenty of choice.

This Wetherspoons pub is located in a huge building in the shadow of the cathedral, which, as the name suggests, used to be the city’s former general post office. The interior is incredibly large, and consequently feels pretty empty, even when there are quite a few people in. Essentially a single room set up, the mid section of the wide, rectangular room has the servery running along the back wall (one of the longest bar counters I’ve ever encountered), with a large vertical drinking space in front of it. Beyond is a row of high tables and stools whilst on the front wall there are a series of simple, padded booths which were quite nice to settle in. The right hand side of the room has a raised platform with mainly standard table and chair arrangements, whilst the left side was a bit of a confused space with various pillars, walls and staircases breaking up the area which has more seating throughout, although ongoing decoration work meant much of this space was off limits on my visit. The vast array of seating options means you should be able to get your preferred choice of seat and I was able to bag a booth on both of my visits. There were TV screens throughout which were showing muted Champions League football on my Tuesday evening visit, and rolling news coverage when I visited for breakfast on a Thursday morning. I found the whole pub rather bland, with very little of interest, despite the promise of a grand interior hinted at by the impressive façade. There are thirteen hand pumps which are spread the length of the bar, requiring a good bit of walking to take them all in. I counted eight guest ales, four ‘Spoon’s regulars and a real cider on my first visit, which is a pretty good ratio to my mind. Across both visits I sampled Acorn Barnsley Bitter, Robinsons Hoptimum Prime and Nine Standards Double Standard Porter, all of which were in good shape. The service varied a fair bit, ranging from very friendly to surly depending on which barmaid was serving. I thought this was a fairly sloppy ‘Spoons which in any other town wouldn’t really be worth giving second thought to. However, in the ale oasis of Blackburn, this remains an essential pub and easily the best bet for a good pint in the city centre.