The Flying Standard (JD Wetherspoon), Coventry

This Spoons dates back to late 1999 and is set on the two lower floors of an old looking black and white timber framed building in the centre of Coventry. Inside it seemed fairly small for a Spoons with a long narrow room where the main bar is situated, a small sunken room by the windows to the left and a raised dining room to the right. The upstairs bar is small and with just four hand pumps that are duplicates of downstairs. There is a pleasant looking roof patio attached to it. It was busy but not hopelessly so on my Thursday lunchtime visit. The bar has two sets of six hand pumps but the beer range wasn't that brilliant. The two GK beers, Doom Bore, Burton Bridge Porter and cider were all doubled up. This left just two other options, Hawkshead Cumbrian 5 Hop and Byatt's Urban Red. I went for the 5 Hop (£2.35) which was in excellent condition. While this is a decent Spoons I thought the beer selection was well below par for a city centre outlet which is a shame. It might be that they were running the choice down prior to the Autumn Beer Festival.

This is a large and surprisingly smart Wetherspoons pub on Trinity Square, close to the city’s cathedral. The impressive oak framed building stands on the site of a pub that was demolished in 1930 called the Spotted Dog and there was a degree of controversy over the decision to not retain this name when Wetherspoons opened their venture in 1999. Instead it takes its name from one of the cars produced by the local Standard Motor Company who ceased production back in the 1960’s. Prior to being a Wetherspoons, the building, which was only built in 1939, had been a jewelers and chemists. The pub today is a nice multi level affair with the bar in the left hand half of the pub and a dining area in a nicely paneled room to the right of the entrance. The various levels, which see the servery on the highest rear level and the seating spread across various other sections leading down to the large front windows, help to break up what might otherwise have been an uninteresting, barn-like room. The place has been carpeted throughout following a refurbishment in 2010 and the seating comprises a range of well upholstered chairs, making for a comfortable experience. A few pictures detailing Coventry’s car manufacturing past have been dotted around the place and provide some interesting viewing. A sign pointed the way to a second bar upstairs, but I didn’t have time to visit and a few hardy souls were enjoying an early pint in the fenced off pavement seating area at the front. I think there were twelve hand pumps with three or four regular ‘Spoons ales, a couple of coming soon clips and a healthy choice of five or six guests. I plumped for the Blindmans Icarus, which was in good condition and served by a polite, if somewhat disinterested, barmaid. It looks like the staff really care about their pub, which isn’t always the case in Wetherspoons houses, but the interior was spotless and it looked like the refurb was done a couple of weeks ago rather than a couple of years ago. An enjoyable Wetherspoons visit and a pub I’d happily recommend.