please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Scrump - why bring a notebook into a pub?
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The Herbert Wells was my last stop of the day in Surrey and without a doubt, I'd saved the best for last. In fact, it's unusual for me to say that a Wetherspoon's was my favourite pub of the day. This large and busy branch wedged between the town centre and the railway station had a nice atmosphere and more importantly an excellent range of ales and ciders. Real ales occupy 3 banks of handpulls. Regular ales are Courage Best, Sharp's Doom Bar, Greene King Abbot & Hogsback TEA. Guests were Arundel Pickled Mouse, Andwell Gold Muddler, Stonehenge Great Bustard, Elgood's Mamma Meerkat, Naylor's Velver, Hanlon's Stormstay & Bragdy Conwy San Francisco. Boxed ciders occupy one entire fridge. Today's selection was Cock Eyed Monkey Mango & Pear Mania, Weston's Old Rosie, Broadoak Moonshine, Mr Whitehead's Equinox & Garden Cider Company Vintage Cider. My pint of Monkey Mango went down very nicely and having toilets on the same floor was another unexpected bonus. The best pub I visited in Woking and probably the best in the town.
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This is BestBeerBoffin and today I went to Herbert Wells in Woking and had an American IPA with a veggie texas burger. Its a nice big pub and you can even watch TV or watch people outside. It is quite nice here.
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Did come here on a Saturday though, no football or rugby on at that time so it may have been affected by that. Was ok, had a post-run breakfast there which was agreeable.
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No point coming here on a Saturday. Arrived at 1pm and totally full, could not find a single table. Don't bother on Saturdays!
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Excallant pub social details is on camrasurrey.org.uk dairy section for more details interesting selection of real ales
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Excallant weatherspoons with 10-12 real ales on offer with upto 8 real ciders also. Tankards available and large clock on ceiling with reference to local war of the worlds. Few interesting old photos of Woking gone by and good display of hogs back memoribilla.
Large food menu open all day.
May 5th starting at 7.30pm see a local camra branch social worth going to and enjoying (surrey/Hants branch)
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The Herbert Wells was the 1st of my 4 pubs in Woking to tick in one day. I came in just after 12 noon and it was pretty busy though we managed to bag a table and some chairs.
Long bar with lots of pumps, usual Guinness & lagers plus 12 hand pumps. 6 ales and 5 ciders across these pumps. The ales ranged from National brands to a couple of local breweries. My choice of Three Castles Brewery Tornado @ 4.3% was very good. Pleased to see normal 'spoons prices and not the hiked up costs some of their Central London outlets charge.
Fairly soulless 'spoons décor it’s fully carpeted there are wooden and glass booths....though to be honest there’s not much to inspire the decorative mind!
Good pub to have a few beers in and another tick for me, off in search of pub number 2 now.
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Large pub that copes pretty well with being effectively the only serious beer establishment in the town centre. Huge inside and out (though you must use plastic glasses to drink outside) and the size of the toilets has to be seen to be believed. Usual Wetherspoons range of ales and food options, some sharable.
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Best pub in Woking? What a disgrace.
I was there as a football supporter, minding my own business and catching up with a Polish friend who lives close by. They were happy enough to take our money before the game for beer and food but afterwards 'away' supporters were barred. No reason for this whatsoever, Imagine how baffled my Polish fiend was to be told he couldn't go in a pub because his friend was from the north of England. Won't go near this place next season, someone else can have my hard earned money.
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A good 'spoons but the service is definitely below par. Tip for the manager; if its getting busy put more staff out reduce a little resentment and agitation
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Definitely an above-average spoons, with a pleasant
interior and some decent guest ales. But is this really the best
pub in Woking?
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went in friday lunchtime it was reasonable busy but soon got served with a ok pint of abbot. went back mid afternoon and was very quiet. a ok spoons
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The Pilgrim,
Notice from the photo of the branch official giving the award to the landlord in the "news and ale" magazine that he is a regular in this pub, could this be something to do with the award?
Have never seen in him any other pub in the branch area.
Agree that CAMRA seems to be "getting in to bed" with certain chains of pubs, never a good thing for a campaigning group to do.
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Beershot your bang on the nail.This branch of Camra in my view does not support the ind.pub landlord,why give this award to a chain pub ? they can stand on there own 2 feet !!
The Good Pub Guide is the same a M&Butler pubs will get in yet a Landlord who`s working his nuts off to stay open gets over looked.
Bah humbug
This we find is an ok average pub no more no less.
anonymous - 8 Aug 2011 16:58 |
Won the Surrey/Hampshire Borders CAMRA pub of the year for 2011.... surely there must be better pubs in the area?
Shouldn't CAMRA support and encourage small pubs a lot more?
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A huge 'Spoons and quite busy even at four o'clock in the afternoon.
Beer was fine, good choice as always and there is plenty of places to sit. Yes, it's not the most salubrious of pubs but I've been in a lot worse.
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Wetherspoon pubs do attract some "interesting" customers where ever they are, the problem this one has is that with so few other pubs in the town they nearly all end up in here!
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Love the comment about the DSS waiting room and care in the community... aren't all wetherspoons like that?
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Perhaps Gazza's comment about CAMRA Wetherspoon vouchers would be a little more helpful if he thought it through! Wetherspoon give the vouchers to CAMRA members, not the other way round... And if you're a "buffoon" you don't have to use them if you feel sufficiently self-righteous and want to remain unsullied by commerce (but that does imply a teetotal life without drinking privatised water).
This is not a bad pub - admittedly the competition isn't up to anything. Usually a decent range and they're more likely to be challenging drinkers for being dead than under 18.
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Now selling Budvar Dark at �2.80 for a 500ml bottle and Morreti at �2.99 for a 660ml bottle.
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For the centre of Woking, not a bad pub (not saying much!)..... unfortunately the low prices attract the dregs of the area and during the day it can resemble a DSS waiting room mixed with a care in the community home.
Decent selection of beer and lager but in common with other weatherspoon pubs not a lot of variety in the bottled beers (remember when they used to change them much more often?)
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On the afternoon of Sunday 19th the following handpumps were in use:
4 x real ciders
3 x Courage Best (not what I call it)
2 x Courage Directors
2 x Hogsback TEA
Plus one pump each of:
GK Abbott
fff Alton's Pride (a nice, if not great pint)
Loddon Russet (v nice)
Loddon Rin Tin Tin
Andwell Gold Muddler
Stormstay Premium Ale
Not too shabby a selection!
One slight concern is that the staff are tending not to keep groups with children to the designated family area, but children are only allowed in on a Sunday afternoon, thank god.
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I visited Woking the other weekend and went for a couple of pints here as it's close to the railway station.
Large and open, pretty much a typical W'spoon place. There was a group of elderly drunks having an argument in a corner which I was pleased to see the staff clamped down on.
I have to agree with much of what Gazza has written in the previous report. I too was surprised to see how many Courage/ Abbot pumps were on. I ended up having a couple of T.E.A.s. Have to say they weren't too bad.
Not knowing Woking at all I am surprised this pub is in the Good Beer Guide. It's ok but doesn't say much for the other pubs in Woking.
As Gazza has mentioned CAMRA, (and I write as a member), does seem to favour Wetherspoon pubs. In my neck of the woods the W'spoon pubs in Dover, Canterbury and Margate have all been included in the 2010 guide at the expense of more deserving establishments. Especially in the case of Canterbury! I've not bought the 2011 edition yet.
If the best pub in (any)town is a W'spoon pub it can't be a very good town for real ale drinking!
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This is normally a fairly consistent Wetherspoon with a decent range of guest ales. However, Saturday's selection was not so good. Three handpulls given over to Courage Best, two to Abbot, four to cider and a couple more out of use. This left us with Hogs Back Tea (which has been locally considered to be a poor beer for a number of years), fff Alton's Pride (a very average recent winner of Champion Ale), an Elgoods beer that didn't inspire and probably the pick of the bunch - Funky Monkey.
It would seem that the local CAMRA buffoons have voted this as pub of the year again. This decision is probably down to the ridiculous and easy to fiddle beer scoring system that CAMRA have introduced and clearly has nothing to do with the quality of the pub. I could be more cynical and put it down to the fact that CAMRA have been giving away drinks vouchers to members for use in Wetherspoon outlets. They don't do this for any other pub group! Why is that?
I have been coming in here for a number of years. Do the bar staff pass the time of day with you or show any hint of recognition - no. There is no darts team for example, or social events, raffles etc. This is simply a better than average Wetherspoon. I can think of many more sociable real ale pubs in this part of Surrey that are far more deserving of the accolade of pub of the year.
I'll get off my high horse now.
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Visit yesterday 31/07/10. Seems like a fairly clean Wetherspoons which is a good thing, various sport on the many TV screens around, although typically the sound was off and there was subtitles. I'm never sure why they need to do this as there is not music in the background.
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They stopped serving at 12.30 even though it stays open to 1am on Saturdays. Probably wise.
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Visited yesterday (a Monday early evening) , pretty standard enormous town centre Wetherspoons, busy with workers from nearby offices but soon empted. Good range of beers, normal excellent value and not to many drunkards!
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This is a great place to come in town but I do find it is best when is less busy as this is situated near the centre of Woking's troublemakers spot. No music inside which helps make conversation easy and the atmosphere is relaxed and chilled out. I can understand the bouncers being fussy about who gets in. A wide range of drinks adds to the excellence and service has always been first class despite it being busy.
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A Good Spoons.
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Now has two tvs showing Sky Sports News and BBC News 24 with the sound off and subtitles on - why, what is the point? As this pub was one of my few sanctuaries from the bloody telly it very nearly got docked a point, but on Sunday it was serving a superb pint of Rudgate Ruby Mild which won Supreme Champion at the Great British Beer Festival in August. By god that beer is good: so Spoons' rating is still safe!
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Agreed with FashHarry and i still frequent Wetherspoons, a relief in a town of rubbish bars and pubs.
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By far and away the best Wetherspoons that I have visited. Anyone complaining about the ale range or condition must have really caught the pub on a bad day - all at �1.99 a pint!
As well as some superb real ales I can recommend the bottled Czech Kozel lager for those who prefer the yellow stuff.
Food is pretty good, especially the Thursday curries, breakfasts and (hurrah) the newly avaliable ploughmans'.
This pub is large and spacious enough to avoid any baseball caps and thick gold chains and is a perfect place for a long and relaxed perusal of the Sunday sports pages.
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I've never met Mr Herbet Wells himself in here but I have it down as a good Spoons. Pretty much will suit any type of drinker, ale/lager/guinness or tea total drinkers too. No Music so a chat is more than possible. If you prefer loud music, try RSVP.
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one of reasonable places for a beer in town, could do with better tasting ales mind u. Plenty of guest ales on as always though the choice was less than in previious visits perhaps the staff r not upto scratch. beer did not taste right im afraid.
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A good value food and drink establishment.Curry club/Grill club recomendedvisited November 08 good as ever.The manager is good will not stand any nonsence.A former Woolworths Store.
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I like it here. Best range of drinks i've seen in a long time. Does anyone know the story of the guy in the gents getting everyone to wash their hands...?
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Decent ales on for the beer fest - Bombadier Burning Gold & Autumn Glow were really tasty. Busy without feeling crowded for a friday night and nice atmos.
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Least they have good ales here. some sort of beer fest going on looked good. not 2 noisy no background music. good 1
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Solid Spoons. Not exactly loads of guest Ales on, but a decent range overall nontheless.
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Was in here yesterday for about 4 hours or so. As I hadn't been in for over 2 years very little in the pub has changed other than most of the staff behind the bar.
4 guest ales on but nothing to write home about including Hogsback TEA which I do not like. Considering the CAMRA interest I would have thought the selection could have been better. The beer was �2.10 a pint which is the most I have paid outside of the central London JDW's. The food service, surprisingly, was fairly efficient.
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It may look like a standard Wetherspoons but in my view it's one of the best. It's had the same manager for 12 years now (something of a rarity in any pub let alone a chain) and I believe it shows.
The pub caters for all age groups and evryone seems to get along together OK.
The beer choice is better than many 'Spoons and I don't remember ever having had a duff pint here. The food is tasty and well presented.
Woking Wetherspoons has just become the local CAMRA group's 2008 'Pub of the Year'.
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Standard Wetherspoons that you would find anywhere else in the country. Hogs Back Spring Ale, Burton Bridge Sovereign Gold, Elgoods Old Wagg, Wickwar Severn Bore with Directors and GK IPA and Abbot. The Elgoods was nice and my BLT was fine too.
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I stopped going here in 2006 pending the end of smoking, and JDW had been a bit misleading about it - so I didn't try again until Summer 2007, and now come in monthly (approx).
Breakfast seems to be consistently well prepared and still quite good value. Rarely eat here later in the day. Good ale range, as one would expect, and at usual good JDW prices.
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The H-File search has taken me to Woking and I was here briefly last Thursday night after 9ish (31 Jan) with a H-File victim. The d�cor here is not that much different from any other Spoons boozer in En ger land, while the atmosphere seemed convivial given the lack of background music. It was fairly busy and we struggled to find seating. If my memory serves me correctly, a Magners and a diet coke came to �4.60, so make what you want from that if anything about the prices of drinks. Although I was focused on the nubile woman in my company, there did appear to be some female talent around amongst the mixture of younger lads on a night out and old men.
I imagine this is reasonable starting point on a Thursday night for what seems like a lively night out in Woking along the Chertsey Road. I would probably come here again with a few mates or for a �quiet drink� with a female friend when in the vicinity. Regarding the H-File search, it was refreshing that there were less female students around compared to going out in Guildford on a Thursday night for example, as many � without trying to make sweeping generalisations � tend to be on the prudish side.
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I spent too many of my formative years here and have given this particular establishment too much of my money! It made me chuckle to see another reviewer say it had gone downhill in the last two years, ten years ago it was pretty dire! But then again we kept going back and had a lot of fun.
To be fair I cant comment on Wetherspoons lately, I havent been in there for about a year. Staff are usually decent enough and you are always guarenteed to bump into someone if you are a local (this is not necessarily a good thing).
Not the best wetherspoons but consistent and food usually ok (though all they generally have to do is heat it up so it should be I suppose)
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A typical "Spoons", good range of competitively priced beers, but as ever a bit subdued, even down at heel inside. Not been in of an evening only lunch so maybe lively later? The immediate local area however has many establishments that cater for the younger circuit drinker.
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Seems a lot cleaner since the smoking ban. Atmosphere is a bit absent, but the beers are consistently good.
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typical spooons.cheap and good choice of real ales.
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it's still a pub that lacks atmosphere. the bar is decent in length but all this seems to offer is more queueing space. the staff are, and i can't prove this, the slowest bar staff in woking. i've never seen a guiness take 5 minutes before and still come back to me half guiness half head.
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Tom Woods and Wolves Ale are two on at the moment, both taste similiar though Tom Woods is less strong
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Usually has 3 or 4 guest real ales available at �1.79/pint, which is very good value for the area. Quality is good, but the ale is generally served too cold. If you are after decent real ale in Woking, then Sovereigns and Wetherspoons are the places to visit, but be aware 'Spoons can get very busy on Friday and Saturday night.
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It's cheap! Not overly welcoming so again a place you meet up at before going somewhere more fun.
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Actually i should be more fair. Think the door people are only doing their job and sticking to their door times. The empire strikes back beer seems popular here at the moment
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The drinks range makes this place a worthwhile visit. But the people in charge need to get a grip as by not letting people in until 1am (Which is the time they close on a saturday) is ridiculous
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Has a good range of ales, but the floor was like treacle, the toilets were minging and the tables were dirty - terrible for a Sunday afternoon, hasn't the duty manager got the gumption to do some basic cleaning before they open up?!?
Another case of Wetherspoons slowly losing the plot. I'd rather pay a 40p premium to have a similar selection of ale in the Sovereigns which is clean and comfertable.
At least it has the comedy backwards clock on the ceiling, go to the far pillar to press the switch - if you can get out of the quicksand at the bar.
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I visit this pub fairly regularly. It's gone down hill a little over the past 2 years but they still serve a reasonable number of real ales. I have found the clientele to be a good cross section of the people in Woking so I don't know what some of you are complaining about. (I would like to know what sort of people i.e your standard stereotypes, should frequent pubs).
anonymous - 20 Sep 2006 20:14 |
The only good thing about this place is the cheap beer.
Whatever time/day you go in there, you can never find seat.
The clientele are a strange bunch, but thats because of the cheap beer!
The atmosphere is very strange also, its like being in a very large waiting room!
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Poor air quality - needs better a/c, though it is only weeks before all JDW go non-smoking anyway.
Disabled access poor to family area. Often crowded but still quiet enough to chat.
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Spoons don't tend to play music in any of their pubs-makes a nice place for conversation, but can lack a certain something at night
anonymous - 3 Mar 2005 12:59 |
It does feel like this is a rather dated place. Most of the pub is decorated in old fashioned brown colours. Its a decent enough place for a cheap drink, they dont play any music at all it seems. That helps when you want to have a chat, though doesnt really create much atmosphere
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Single floor with a limited terrace (plastic glasses and a view of Chertsey road. Nice). Very large and airy inside and supposedly themed around H.G. Wells who lived in Woking and wrote War of the Worlds there, something the town is particularly proud of.
Good selection of drinks and the standard extensive and cheap Wetherspoons menu, consequently great for food and drink, as is every Wetherspoons. However, bs3jdb is right, as night falls get on a train to Guildford. Spend the evening in a much more friendly atmosphere among nubile young students with an intellect greater than all those in Sheerwater combined.
Don't get me wrong, I love Woking, I've lived here all my life, but the pikey percentage is rising exponentially now and any night out is always spoiled by some oik with too much attitude and a penchant for Lynx Java.
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pretty good food, cheap drinks, but avoid it on friday and saturday-it fills out with pikeys like you wouldn't believe. Actually, you could say that about woking in general
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big inside but often packed out near the bar and can take ages to get served.
captain wetherspoon - 6 Oct 2004 15:23 |
Pretty good place for starting off the night with some cheap drinks before going to Chameleon and has nice food for lunch during the day
Bill - 5 Sep 2004 20:03 |
Ahh, the Pensioners Arms... A great landlord and well chosen staff make this an ideal place to spend those long lunchtime sessions. Clean, with well kept value beer. The local Wethertramps can't get enough of it - if they can get past the Telewest employees that is.
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Good solid food and decent beer (depending of course on taste). I frequently have lunch there. Lager louts probably won't like it, and I would personally prefer that they avoided it.
Gareth - 20 Mar 2004 15:29 |
Very average
monty - 28 Nov 2003 16:35 |
No draught lager on tap? Try Carling, Stella, Grolsch, er Kronie I think..
As for it being a gay bar I can't think of anything more ridiculous...no wait I can...Stevenage Football Club
Fletch - 6 Jun 2003 19:34 |
apparently the new "gay bar" of woking! no draught lager on tap, just bottles. need i say any more!!!!!
anonymous - 6 Jun 2003 08:52 |
One of the better Wetherspoon's. Often crowded but usually possible to find seat if you want one. Large non-smoking area. Beers kept well.
Graham - 27 May 2003 13:08 |
it's alright! but it's never going to be more than alright! exactly as dave puts it.., plus prob only place in Woking that doesn't stay open til a descent hour. no entertainment.., and loadza old farts!!
anonymous - 25 May 2003 03:34 |
standard reliable wetherspoons formula (good cheap beer, acceptable food at day, no muzak, lots of local info on the walls)
dave - 22 Jan 2003 13:01 |
