The Running Horses, St. Helens

Open again but no longer a Wetherspoons - pool tables everywhere, diminished food and drink offering

A dull as dishwater Wethers. The interior orbits an island bar and its a fairly nondescript place. Not the usual array of handpulls you expect in a Wethers and a dull selection of beers to boot. Not particularly good and no real reason to visit again.

One of two Wetherspoons pubs in St Helens, this is a modern Lloyd’s No 1 bar in a town centre retail park. The single room interior has high ceilings and a decent sized island servery towards the front of the room. The bar has an oval shape with a polished stone counter top and smart dark wood bar back. Large floor to ceiling windows at the front of the pub allow plenty of light in, but don’t look out to anything of interest and make the place look a bit like a furniture store or other such staple of retail parks around the country. Plenty of tables and chairs to the front and sides of the room give way to high tables and stools around the bar area, all sprawling out across two levels, with a portioning screen to the left giving a small modicum of privacy to the tables on this side of the room. Walls have mostly been painted in warm shades, or else covered with floral design wallpaper, which goes a small way to making this large room feel a bit more homely. Behind the bar there is a lower, circular space with scattered tables and chairs blocking the route through to the rear part of the pub. It seems, judging by the DJ booth to one side of this area, that the circular space becomes a dancefloor in the evenings, with a glitterball hung above. Beyond this, there is a final raised, carpeted area with high button backed banquettes along the rear wall, a few other tables and chairs here and there and a few more seats in front of the open kitchen to the rear left. Lots of ‘Spoons local history boards are on display back here, whilst elsewhere you’ll find plain mirrors, old paintings and TV screens showing muted live sports coverage. I only spotted five handpulls on the bar, which had three guest ales, one ‘Spoons regular ale and one reversed pump clip. I forgot to note what I drank here, but I recall it was a decent enough drop of something from the national ‘Spoons guest ale list, served to me by a very friendly barmaid. I stopped here for a bite to eat too and the food was the usual cheap and cheerless fayre. I didn’t really like this place and couldn’t shake the notion that I was drinking in a large retail warehouse, despite the well-intentioned efforts to make the place feel more like a proper pub. The good pint of beer and cheery service proved to be the main redeeming features, but visitors to St Helens would be better served exploring the pubs on the fringes of the town rather than bothering with chain venues like this.

As noted below this is a largish rectangular room with an island bar and a raised area to the left. The island bar is illuminated by chandeliers. It's definitely still a Lloyds as the disaster area is intact at the back with lights, a glitter ball and an idiot booth. I got here before midday and it wasn't busy especially compared to the other one in the shopping area. The trouble with island bars in JDWs is that outside peak times one side gets neglected. In here it's the right side where the five hand pumps had two unused, Abbot, a beer from the not so recent festival and Doom Bore. On the left was Ruddles & Doom Bore, Inveralmond Bitter and Twisted, Moorhouse Pendle Witches Brew and Coach House Clipaty Hop. I went for the Clipaty Hop (£2.15) and a breakfast both of which were good. It's not bad for a Lloyds and on the day the beer choice here was as good as the other one despite that having an extra five hand pumps.

Official site of The Running Horses (Lloyds No 1) - www.jdwetherspoon.com

Official site of The Running Horses (Lloyds No 1) - www.jdwetherspoon.com