The Christopher Creeke (JD Wetherspoon), Bournemouth

Former Lloyds No. 1 Bar, this now appears to be a regular 'spoons (with the DJ booth now - presumably - disused). Normal furniture and decor, with the only point of note being the front terrace. Very little of interest from the eight handpumps, so I opted for a pint of Marstons Burton (£2.15) as the best of a bad job. Disappointing.

The Christopher Creeke is a Wetherspoons pub with some seating on a small decked area out the front. The interior is L shaped with seating at the front that is faced by the bar and some more seating that goes around to the left. In this left hand side there is also a DJ booth that may be used at the weekend or maybe for the quiz that occurs every Sunday from 20:00. A plasma screen was showing muted rugby via BBC and strangely for a Spoons there was some low background music playing. I counted eight hand pumps on the bar and five of these were drawing guest beers. Standard draught is also available along with the usual cheap pub food. I enjoyed my stay here as there was a good Saturday lunchtime crowd and the staff were friendly.

I hadn't visited this pub since its previous incarnation as the Gander on the Green - a much missed live music pub full of rockers and bikers most weekends - so it was with a heavy heart that I pitched up here on my way back to the train station a couple of weeks ago, only to find that it is now a rather bland Lloyds No 1 bar full of the kind of shiny surfaces and modern furnishings that are so far removed from the pub I remember that I was starting to doubt that it was actually the same place. It has something of a cafe bar feel to it if you sit near the big windows at the front which open out onto a decked area which has a few outdoor tables. Some rather solid looking tables fill the main bulk of the room and there are a number of plush sofas and chairs beyond the left hand end of the bar where the room extends to the rear. I seem to recall that there was some semi partitioning in here when it was still the Gander, with the bands playing on a small raised area on the left hand side wall, but this has all gone now, with just a couple of large pillars left. A couple of TV screens were on but muted, with rather loud music playing in its place. I noticed that the area down the side of the bar is actually a dance floor with a DJ booth in one corner, so presumably this turns into a nightclub type venue, much like the Mary Shelley further down the road. The pub is at the top end of the town's strip of drinking barn venues and presumably wants some of that action for itself. There were eight handpulls, but it was disappointing to see just two guests (if you don't count Ringwood Best as a guest - which you shouldn't seeing as it's available in every pub with a BH postcode). I had a pint of Butcombe Gold which was a nice pint. There is a second bar upstairs, but this was closed when I was there. It's sad that Bournemouth couldn't keep running an excellent live music venue which supported local acts for many years (The Central Hotel in Parkstone - another classic live music venue in the past - has also gone the same way) and that in its place we have yet another place for the stag do and student binge drinking brigade to frequent. On a personal level, this is a real disappointment, but on reflection, it's certainly a passable place for a drink as long as it's not on a Friday or Saturday evening.

This was a live music pub called the Gander on the Green until it closed mid 2000’s. It then became a bar/brasserie called Karma and eventually a club called the Metropole. ‘Spoons opened it as a Lloyds No. 1 bar in August 2009 but, even by Wetherspoons standards, it deosn’t come across as a particularly enticing proposition. The pub is named in honour of the 19th Century local architect who was effectively responsible for planning the town we see today. Externally it is a dour and drab 50’s/60’s block situated away from the more touristy areas and given the kind of bars and clubs nearby, I can assume that it is an area that attracts the younger eelemnt of Bournemouth’s drinking clientele. The interior isn’t much to write home about either. Set over 2 floors the ground floor is L shaped and has little of merit worth mentioning. Upstairs is a separate bar from which there is access to an elevated outdoor terrace. There was a good range of Festival Ales for my visit but I’m not sure what the normal output is like. It should also be noted that they had some different ales in the upstairs bar so it’s worth having a wander if that’s what you’re after. My visit was more out of hunting down Festival Beers and curiosity rather than necessity and to say there are better pubs in town goes without saying. The fact that there are better ‘Spoons in town doesn’t really come as much as a recommendation but like most ‘Spoons, it does serve its purpose.

A slightly better-than-average JDW in Bournemouth's hotel zone, with the usual JDW features. Not too crowded, but not much atmosphere, it has a single large bar with a wooden terrace at the front. The latter was crowded with smokers who made entry something of a task - my polite request to be allowed to enter was greeted with sarcastic tutting by one of the females (I assume it was female, on balance of probability), but I can't blame the pub for that. The staff were friendly and competent and the food was as good as it gets in these places. There were 8 ales on; I had a pint of Leeds Brewery New Moon, which, not surprisingly, was over-chilled. I wouldn't deliberately avoid this place in future, but there are better pubs nearby.