In praise of... J.D. Wetherspoon and the Kirky Puffer

Wetherspoon pubs - good thing or bad thing?  Over the years I've heard  many people take one side or the other on this point, and I'm sure that the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle (as it so often does!)  However, for the purposes of this weekend's procrastination exercise, J.D. Wetherspoon seemed like an ideal topic.  Although let's be honest - writing about beer always seems more tempting than writing an essay about partnership working in the public sector for University...

My first experience of a Wetherspoon pub came when I visited my brother when he was studying in Salford many years ago.  We headed into Manchester for a bite to eat and a drink, and went into The Moon Under Water on Deansgate.  If you've never been, it's a converted cinema and I've been told that it is (or at least was) the largest pub in the UK.  I remember being impressed; a better range of beers than your average city centre pub, pub grub that was decent if not spectacular, and a sympathetically converted building which seemed that it had been decorated to try to keep the cinematic history of the building alive.

Shortly thereafter I began to head into the Counting House on George Square in Glasgow now and again, and found it to be much the same - I still like the decorative touches they've used to reflect the building's previous use as a bank.  Then in 2002 I moved to Kirkintilloch, and not long afterwards the Kirky Puffer opened just 5 minutes walk from my flat.  Again, I was impressed with the care they'd taken about converting the building; it used to be the police station in the town, and it's located right on the canal - both of these pieces of history are reflected in the decoration.  They even used the old cell doors as features which is a touch I've always liked!

It quickly became our regular - many a weekday evening we've dropped in for a bite to eat, usually accompanied by one of the variety of guest ales they tend to have on tap.  It's always been clean, with friendly staff, decent food and a better selection of beer than any other pub in the town.  I've always felt that they've tried to promote real ale too - with usually two or three guest ales on tap, beer festivals offering a variety of new things to try, and occasional talks/tasting sessions from a variety of breweries.

Could it be improved?  Sure, there's always room for improvement - in particular I'd like to see a wider range of bottled beer rather than the usual range of boring continental lagers.  But they certainly make more effort than most other pubs, and I think that deserves a bit of credit.

So let's raise a glass to J.D. Wetherspoon in general, and the Kirky Puffer in particular - preservers of notable buildings, providers of decent pub grub, and purveyors of a good range of real ales.