The Moon under Water (JD Wetherspoon), Cradley Heath

Old style Spoons with a good atmosphere on our Friday afternoon visit. The interior is L shaped with timber panelled walls, with lots of silver stars and moons fixed along the walls above. There was also a fireplace halfway along the lefthand wall and the main feature was the heavy duty chain and winch situated in the front lounge. A very apt tribute to Cradley Heath's industrial past. Ten handpumps with four ales of interest which were, Woods Lass, Portobello APA, Phoenix Double Gold and Loddon Bamboozle.

This is my local spoons as I only live 5 minutes away. I have always found the service to be good in here and there is usually a reasonable choice of beers on. Along with the usual trio there was Enville White, Exmoor Gold, Titanic Cherry Dark, Adnams Ghost Ship and Cotleigh Old Buzzard. I went for Old Buzzard and it was fine. Not the worst Spoons you could visit!

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

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

Standard-issue shop-conversion 'spoons, with the only point of note being that (despite initial appearances) it seems unusually large for its locality. So, with many empty or duplicated clips on the two banks of five handpumps, it was a pleasure to find the local Enville White (£2.29) amongst the otherwise usual offerings.

Unsurprisingly given the name this is and "old school" Spoons dating from June 1997. I must admit I've lost track of how many of their pubs with this name I've been to. It's a shop conversion so it's wholly predictable with one big room and all the usual Spoons fixtures and fittings and staff struggling to cope. There are ten pumps but as it was a bit busy and I wanted something to eat I didn't get to note everything. I did manage to spot the two usual GK beers, Doom Bore, Butcombe Gold, Naylor's Citradelic, Loddon Bamboozle and Adnam's Enraptured American beer. I went for the Enraptured (£2.20) which although not entirely up to scratch went well with a full rack of ribs and was cheaper than London. It's not the worst or the best Spoons I've been to. When a full rack of ribs plus chips, onion rings and coleslaw along with a 5.5% ABV pint costs under £10.50 you can't really complain.

A rather plain, but far from untidy end terraced Wetherspoons pub and eatery with patio area. The frontage is in white, with blue paintwork The interior is an open plan L-shaped room with the serving bar down to the right on entry. As a spoons, it is of course populated by food tables, with a family area at the back. There were the few sofas at the entrance area which seem to be a common thing with Spoons too. The decor is red, French mustard and wood panel, with a patterned carpet and a nice tiled fireplace. Old photos and information panels were on the walls and there was a drum and chain feature, as well as a dart board. There were several TVs that thankfully were not on and there was no music. We did eat here - and i cant really fault the panini. The service was very friendly and the clientele was mixed and it was busy enough. Beer; usual tap stuff with Abbots and Ruddles on handpull as per usual. Other handpulls include Banks's MILD, Titanic Stuff It, Warwickshire BC's Berry Nice Beer and a decent Woodforde's Admiral's Reserve I am not a big fan of Spoons and their kind, but i struggle to find much to moan about here. Service, beer, food and the general environment were all more than fine - so just have a go at something, don't stick a dart board up if people can't use it!