The Manor House (JD Wetherspoon), Royston Town, Royston

This is a newer (Nov 2013) Spoons and is a lot different to the identikit shop conversions from the earlier JDW days. Externally it's a large red brick block that looks kike it could have been a library or some other public building. It's listed and in fact was once a library but also a social club before JDW spent 1.4 million creating this. Inside it is a large high ceilinged open plan room with the bar on the street side of the building and split into various areas including a lower level room to the right as you enter. There is the usual assortment of tables and chairs but it all seems a bit plusher and spacious than normal. The furniture isn't all crammed in close together as it is in some Spoons. On the bar there are two banks of six hand pumps which on my Spring Festival visit had Ruddles doubled up, Abbot, Doom Bore and eight festival beers. I went For Shepherd Neame Boadicea and Elgood's Spring Challenge (£2.29). Although both were in good nick, the Boadicea was rather cold probably meaning a thermostat needs adjusting on the right hand set of pumps. All in all I quite liked this one, it's a much more relaxing place than for example, the one in Letchworth.

Manor House page at the Wetherspoon site - www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk