"David Horne" wrote in message
news:1gjhu8e.1ypx2d116u5tooN%this_address_is_for_s ...

I live in Manchester, and used to live in London, and I can assure you
that there's a fairly substantial difference in prices- I'd put it as
much as around 50p a pint.

I would agree. When I was recently visiting my folks in Walsall, the bloke
who served me at the Turf - http://freespace.virgin.net/altair.4/turf.htm -
apologised for the high price (two quid) of the especially strong guest beer
they had on that night. Most bitters are £1.80, and mild is cheaper. In
London, even in the unfashionable area where I live, you commonly get
knocked at least £2.20. There is one notable exception, as mentioned by
David:

Wetherspoons are a big chain, of course, and there is something of a
sameness about a lot of them, but I still think they have a lot going
for them. For a start, they always have non-smoking areas, and most of
their branches don't play music. Also, in some cities, they have
reoccupied some pretty impressive properties- I'm thinking recently of
the one I was in near the main Newcastle train station. And, as you
mention, the prices are excellent.

Wetherspoons have extremely good prices, even in London. The lack of
character of which some posters have complained largely reflects the fact
that the premises are normally converted from other purposes. For instance,
the Good Yarn in Uxbridge is a former tailor's shop. The Imperial in Walsall
is a former cinema, previously notorious for monster flicks. It has a
mammoth in the former balcony seats, and when it first opened as a boozer,
the first thing you saw on entering was a brontosaurus's bum. (The reptile
has since been removed to provide more space for imbibing!)

Alan Harrison