The Moon Under Water (JD Wetherspoon), Wigan

this is a pretty decent JDW's actually, fits in well on the main pub circuit through Wigan. a standard affair, no atmosphere at all of course, but loads of cosy nooks and crannies for a quiet pint.

Official site of The Moon Under Water (JD Wetherspoon) - www.jdwetherspoon.com

Official site of The Moon Under Water (JD Wetherspoon) - www.jdwetherspoon.com

This is a fairly standard town centre Spoons that seemed to be a bit shell-shocked on my early Thursday evening visit. The cluttered tables were soon being cleared after my arrival. It's a large split level room with the bar at the far side after entering and the usual assortment of Spoons fixtures and fittings. The bar has two sets of six hand pumps but with the usual suspects and some festival beers from a few weeks ago this left a choice between Beartown Ruby Bear, Moorhouse's Pendle Porter and Redwillow Peerless, a reasonable selection of Locale ales. This was the first time I had seen a Redwillow beer in a Spoons so I went for the Peerless (£2.20) which was in excellent condition. Despite being somewhat chaotic on my arrival I thought this was a decent Spoons.

Eight ales on handpump on our Monday eve visit. We went for the Butcombe Mathew Pale Ale. This is a decent enough Spoons with its timber wall panelling and Victorian style pearlescent globe ceiling lights.

This is a large split level Wetherspoons pub on the main pedestrianised street in Wigan town centre, just a short walk from the two train stations. Entering through the main front doors on the right hand side of the building, you find yourself on the lowest level which is the main seating area. It is carpeted throughout with a lot of dark wood panels and pillars decorated with mirrors and crescent moons. The large windows on two sides make this a nice, bright space in the daytime and the walls show off a lot of large photos of Wigan in days gone by. At the rear of the room there is a small recess with a single curved banquette which looked like quite a cosy spot. Steps lead up to the mid section of the pub where the servery can be found. There is more of the same décor but a lot less seating in this space, although there remains ample room for vertical drinking during peak times. Past the end of the bar, more steps lead up to a third level which has a lot more seating in an area split up into all manner of nooks and crannies including one area under a big skylight and several dimly lit hideaways. A side door leads out onto the pleasant alleyway alongside the pub – The Wiend – which is well worth a look on your way out. I counted twelve hand pumps on the bar with a 50/50 split between ‘Spoons regulars and guest ales available. I opted for a pint of Mordue Workie Ticket (£2.00) which tasted like, and probably was, the first pint through the pump that day. The staff were functional, if not very friendly and there were already a good number of customers in by midday. This is a fairly run of the mill ‘Spoons which I didn’t really warm to. I thought the upper level with its secluded spaces was a nice feature and probably the best place to settle down, but otherwise this place didn’t leave much of an impression on me.