The White Swan (JD Wetherspoon), N1

A fairly large and bright Wetherspoon's but as on most of my previous visits not a great selection of guest beers despite it being the London Ale Festival.

Just round the corner from Highbury and Islington tube station, this is a sizeable Wetherspoons pub sited in an unattractive 1960’s building. The pub is decorated in a distinctive fashion which sets it apart somewhat from other pubs in this chain. You enter into a glass fronted area, under a neon pub sign, and find yourself in a vast carpeted room with a small tiled floor seating area on the right hand side. Further into the room, the bar runs down the right hand wall with high tables and stools opposite and some TV screens over the servery canopy showing a Europa League match with the commentary audible. Towards the rear, the room widens slightly and is filled with standard table and chair arrangements, plus a few booths separated by glass partitioning screens which bear the pub’s name. The whole pub has been decorated with an unusual wooden tile pattern, which wends its way throughout the room in a wavy layout. As others have mentioned, there is a nice mezzanine level which gives a good view down into the main part of the room. I counted ten hand pumps, but was a bit disappointed to find five ‘Spoons regulars, one ‘Coming Soon’ clip, one unclipped pump and one ale, Summerskills Tamar, which had just gone off. This left just the two guest ales, of which I tried a disappointing pint of Titanic Captain Smiths, although I was a little surprised to find that the Abbot Ale, which a friend accidentally bought me, was in very good nick. I didn’t really warm to this pub, although I got the impression that I wasn’t seeing it at its best. It’s a fairly average ‘Spoons experience, despite the quirky styling, but I’d probably give it another look thanks to its convenient location next to the tube station.