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Poll for date of Halifax crawl. with ROBCamra
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Image posted by Quinno _
Submitted on Thursday, 14th September 2023
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Detail Pages
The Watch House (JD Wetherspoon), Lewisham, SE13
SE13
SE13 6JP
Reviews of The Watch House (JD Wetherspoon) (Average Rating: 6 of 10) see review guidelines
Pub SignMan left this review about The Watch House (JD Wetherspoon)
This Lewisham branch of the Wetherspoons chain is a fairly old-school example which calls to mind several of its South London peers. The pub is set in a wide, but not particularly deep, room with the usual carpeting and dark wood panelled walls. A few centrally positioned sections of supporting wall help to break up the space nicely and have been surrounded by dark wood display cabinets full of old books and arty prints. A small, raised seating area to the front right offers basic tables and chairs, and these can be found down either side of the room too. High tables and stools fill the mid-section, whilst a small side room to the left has some banquette booths, although this looked like quite a scruffy space and I think I’d rather sit on the more uncomfortable high stools than chance it in there. The bar can be found along the back wall and it has an early ‘Spoons era dark wood counter and mirrored bar back. Over to the left, a fireplace has a dragon statue on its hearth, whilst the walls are covered with local history boards, especially in the rear right corner, where you can learn about local pop culture icons such as Kate Bush and Ginger Baker.
On the bar, the three regular ‘Spoons’ ales were supplemented by three highly uninspiring guest ales, the pick of which was Hook Norton Old Hooky at £2.57 a pint. The bar staff all seemed to be highly incompetent, with the exception of the no nonsense barmaid who served me and seemed to be getting through about four times as many customers as the rest of her team put together. The beer was in pretty good nick and there was a good crowd in on a Friday night, without it ever feeling like it was too packed.
I generally find a lot of South London Wetherspoons to be interchangeable and not all that interesting, and this place seems to slot straight into that category. For all the plus points such as the cheap beer, good seating options and interesting décor, there was an equal negative, like the poor service, grubby tables and uninspiring guest ale range. I’d call in again if I was in the area, but more because there aren’t that many other decent options rather than because this place is worth repeat visits.
Date of visit – 28th July 2023
On 28th December 2023
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Quinno _ left this review about The Watch House (JD Wetherspoon)
Lewisham is a pit, but this is a nicely-kept Spoons of the comfy Victoriana period (1997 opener) and is relatively small so feels more pub-like than some of Timbo’s more modern mega barns and as noted below, the use of pillars as display cases is a neat touch. Got a bit of a thing with dragons (or is it a griffin?), no idea why. Just two guest casks, I suffered a long pour Naked Ladies (NBSS 2). I suspect the locale doesn’t see much cask sold outside the Ruddles. Either way, I quite enjoyed my brief visit and would have scored higher if the beer was better kept. 5.5
On 21st November 2023
- rating: 6
[User has posted 5081 recommendations about 5064 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Aqualung . left this review about The Watch House (JD Wetherspoon)
This is a fairly typical High Street Spoons dating from 1997. It's only an average size for the brand and on my pre-midday visit was quite busy with a mix of the slightly scary daytime Spoons types and other folk. There were twelve pumps with six Festival ales on, one unused, two Ruddles, Old speckled Hen and two ciders.
I got lucky with the Festival ales as there were two I hadn't come across, Rooster's All Star and Brewster's Aromatic Porter, both of which were in very good condition. For some reason I was charged £2.49 for the first pint and £2.29 for the second, so if you're reading this Watch House you owe me 20P!
On 1st November 2013
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2143 recommendations about 2143 pubs]
View more reviews of The Watch House (JD Wetherspoon) (6)
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- Official pages of the Watch House - www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk
- Randomness Guide to London - Watch House entry
- CAMRA WhatPub :: The Watch House (JD Wetherspoon) - whatpub.com
Pub Details
Pub details supplied by members of this site to the best of their knowledge. Please check with pub directly before making a special trip.
- Accommodation : No last updated 21 November 2023 by Quinno _
- Bar Billiards : No last updated 21 November 2023 by Quinno _
- Beer Festivals : Yes last updated 21 November 2023 by Quinno _
- Beer Garden : No last updated 21 November 2023 by Quinno _
- CAMRA Discount : No - Just the usual 50p vouchers - last updated 21 November 2023 by Quinno _
- Car Park : No last updated 21 November 2023 by Quinno _
- Child Friendly : Yes last updated 21 November 2023 by Quinno _
- Darts : No last updated 21 November 2023 by Quinno _
- Dog Friendly : No last updated 21 November 2023 by Quinno _
- Function Room : No last updated 21 November 2023 by Quinno _
- Hot Food : Yes last updated 21 November 2023 by Quinno _
- Jukebox : No last updated 21 November 2023 by Quinno _
- Karaoke : No last updated 21 November 2023 by Quinno _
- Live Music : No last updated 21 November 2023 by Quinno _
- Live TV Sports : No last updated 21 November 2023 by Quinno _
- Micropub : No last updated 21 November 2023 by Quinno _
- Pinball : No last updated 21 November 2023 by Quinno _
- Pool Table : No last updated 21 November 2023 by Quinno _
- Quiz Night : Yes - Weds - last updated 21 November 2023 by Quinno _
- Real Ale : Yes last updated 21 November 2023 by Quinno _
- Real Cider : Yes last updated 21 November 2023 by Quinno _
- Wheelchair Access : Yes last updated 21 November 2023 by Quinno _
- WiFi : Yes last updated 21 November 2023 by Quinno _
