The Spinning Mule (JD Wetherspoon), Bolton

Quite a cosy Spoons and not as big as some. A single room with a few different seating areas. tidy and traditional interior with nice wood panelling, a bookcase etc. And a good beer range. Pretty sedate on a Saturday lunchtime. On the downside, it’s yet another Spoons that seemingly chooses to cook bacon on a radiator.

The Spinning Mule is a Wetherspoons with open plan standard seating around the entrance before a bar counter up the right-hand wall that faces high table to the left and rear. In the left rear is raised seating that feels more like a dining area. In amongst the standard and premium keg are two banks of six hand pumps that were drawing the usual three plus Peerless Brewing’s Langton Spin and Full Whack alongside Phoenix Brewery’s Black Bee (not bad), Coach House Brewing’s Hope & Glory, Goffs Brewery’s White Knight and Wily Fox Brewery’s Dark Flagon Rum Porter. The service was polite and there were less pissheads in here than were roaming the town outside during my early evening midweek visit. Worth a visit for easily the widest range of ale in the area.

Bolton’s a tough town to love and having experienced a Holts pub with just one cask and a brewery tap that was shut when it should have open, I was after something recognisably straightforward. This is a tidy Spoons with plenty of wood panelling and a greyish blue paint job, with a light and brightly lit interior. Eight guest ales on, safe in the knowledge there’s no nearby competition I suppose. Shambolic service sadly; I noticed that the ale list on the app hadn’t been updated and was out-of-whack with that was at the bar. Anyway I found one that tallied and my app order went through. I saw a Plum Porter being pulled a few seconds later and plopped onto the end of the bar. There it sat for 5 minutes until I decided to take matters into my own hands and enquired whether it was mine. I was informed that it was, with n’ary an apology from the indolent staff. Inevitably the food I ordered took an absolute age, 25 minutes in fact despite the place hardly being rammed and I was only a few minutes shy of having to dash off to get my train. The Plum Porter was, at least, good (NBSS 3.5) because otherwise the taste in mouth was sour.

A fine little Wetherspoons just off one of the main drags. A smallish room with the raised area to the left particularly busy for a Thursday afternoon. 12 handpumps on the bar and a reasonable choice of beers. A nice Wethers to have a drink in.

This is an old school JDW dating from 1998. It's set just off the main road on a town square. It's a smallish room with the bar on the right, a raised area on the left and an eating area at the rear. Most people seemed to be in for an after work drink. There are two sets of six hand pumps which had the two GK beers, two available soon, Naylor's Dusk, Martha's Milk Stout & Old Ale, Moorhouse Pendle & Blond Witch, Rudgate Minstrel & Jorvik, and Phoenix Wobbly Bob. I had a bargain Curry Club at £5.49 which included a Wobbly Bob. The curry was fine but the Wobbly Bob was not entirely clear but tasted OK. All in all I thought this was a good Spoons.

Large building, a little bit standard Wetherspoons with an open plan area, there are some spaces separated with 20's style wood & glass making it slightly different, but basically its a normal Wetherspoons. Only 4 real ales on my visit, which is low for the chain, but quality was good.