I was scratching my head recently over where to meet someone for a morning work meeting in Greenwich. A coffee shop? Too small, too noisy. Outside? Risky, to say the least, given the British weather. A pub? Perhaps unwise at that hour. A greasy spoon? Tempting, but it’s hard to chat with a mouthful of fried food.
Then the obvious answer struck me. Wetherspoons. It’s the most versatile venue on the British high street, as useful for a morning coffee as an evening drink, home of “Curry Club”, funky carpets, good-value beer, app-based table-delivery antics, family-friendly food and a clientele that takes in punters from all walks of life. Invariably spacious, too.
In its ability to be different things to different people, Spoons has become the Woolworths of the 21st century, except with £1.59 pints of Doom Bar.
Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised, then, that an enterprising holiday company, MyUKTour, has started offering two separate seven-day tours of some of the UK’s most notable Wetherspoons – one in the North of England, one in the South.
Have you ever dreamt of a trip taking in The Corn Exchange in Bury St Edmunds (“Britain’s poshest Spoons”), The Golden Lion in Rochester (“best carpet”) and Ramsgate’s Royal Victoria Pavilion (biggest Spoons of all)? Then you’re in luck.