Edwards, Sheffield

The old façade belies the modernised interior, irregular in shape and with a raised seating area plus an unusual indoor 'terrace' with open shutters along the frontage (possibly a remnant of the building's former life as the Glossop Road Baths). Eight out of ten handpumps working, with a reasonable selection of real ales including Willy's Wheatbeer from the Springhead Brewery (£1.95).

This is a reasonably sized Wetherspoons house with something of a modern feel to it. The pub, which occupies part of the former Glossop Road Swimming Baths, has an odd split-level layout with entry to the raised front section with a long, almost conservatory style space at the front with large windows looking out towards the aforementioned Glossop Road. Dropping down into the main part of the pub, there is a large carpeted open area filled with rows of standard tables and chairs, whilst the bar is situated along the back wall. The traditional style seating booths that can be found in most Wetherspoons pubs have a slight twist here as the normal wood and glass construction has been replaced by mosaic tiles with local art on display in each one. A couple of TV screens were on showing muted 24 hour news, although this was replaced later on by coverage of the five nations rugby. I visited on a Sunday at lunchtime and was surprised to find the place very quiet, although a few more punters turned up once the rugby started. There were 10-12 hand pumps with an impressive seven guest ales available alongside the Spoon’s regulars. I tried the Acorn IPA at £2.10 and thought it was kept well enough and a tasty beer to wash my lunch down with. The barman was a bit on the grumpy side but the service was thankfully more efficient than that experienced by some of the previous reviewers. This part of town does seem to be particularly well served by good pubs, rendering the need for a Wetherspoons fairly obsolete. It’s a solid enough ‘Spoons if that’s what you’re after, but there are plenty of other pubs nearby that are higher up on the list of places to revisit.