The Bankers Draft, Eltham, SE9

Wetherspoons regularly refer to this as the smallest pub by floor area in their entire estate, yet even forewarned with this information, I was amazed at exactly how small this bank conversion actually is. Located on a busy crossroads in the centre of Eltham, this place has been a Wetherspoons for over 20 years now and perhaps reflects the company’s more modest ambitions back in the early 90’s. The single room interior is carpeted throughout and has a servery down the left hand side and two rows of standard tables and chairs to the right. A group of tables to the front left, prior to the emergence of the bar, were positioned under a TV screen showing live horse racing and the local betting community seemed to have converged here, with runners nipping out to a nearby bookies between each race. A couple of padded bench booths stand on the rear wall and the room extends marginally to the left rear where there is a particularly gloomy corner that is large enough to accommodate one standard and one high table. A TV to the rear was showing the Cup Final with the sound muted. The room has a lot of dark wood panelling throughout, which gives the place more of a pub feel than you get from other bank conversions. The usual Spoons information boards were present along with a charity board and some old black and white portraits along the bar canopy. The limited capacity of the pub was reflected in the limited ale range, with three guest ales, two Spoons regulars and one real cider still providing more choice than some of the chain’s far bigger venues. I opted for a pint of something called The Herbalist – a collaborative brew between Adnams and Magic Rock – which was in excellent condition but not really my cup of tea. The barmaid was seemingly running the place on her own and was very friendly, stopping to chat to all customers and enjoying some good banter with a group of elderly regulars. This place is a bit of a curio for Wetherspoons fans as it is the sort of pub the chain would almost certainly never consider opening nowadays. I quite liked the fact that it was a bit more intimate than their other venues and I found the beer and service to be spot on, but I imagine it can easily become busy and uncomfortable in here.

This is a conversion 'spoons, presumably once a member of the pub's fellow endangered species, the high street bank. It's one of the smaller 'spoons that I've been in. There isn't room for the full row of tall tables/tall stools that you usually see down the centre of a 'spoons, although there are a couple of them on the left as you enter. The remainder of the room is occupied by normal tables and chairs jammed in cheek to jowl, with a couple of booths down at the end of the room. But in general everything is typical of the 'spoons model - cheap drink and cheap food, with the usual sort of prints on the walls, presumably of local scenes. The clientele's fairly typical as well. For me a 'spoons is very welcome if you are after a late breakfast/early lunch. A traditional breakfast and a decent pint makes a great start to the day.

This is said to be the smallest Spoons of all and I certainly can't dispute that claim. It's a long narrow room with windows down the side and the bar on the left as you enter. Other than ths size it is a fairly typical Spoons. Despite the lack of space they still managed to slot four fruit machines into the bar, There are only five pumps which had Ruddles, the boring Hobgoblin and three festival beers. I went for the Hook Norton Flagship (£2.15) which was in superb condition.