The whys and wherefores for J.D.Wetherspoon’s pubs continue to be debated by a seemingly divided-in-opinion public.

As a consumer, I welcome the chance to drink a good range of cheap beers in civilised surroundings. As a pub preservationist, I fear for the hostelries which may suffer through being in close proximity to a JDW outlet. Presently, the Old Swan and the Talbot in Stoke are closed, and the Staff of Life has recently reopened. The inexpensive beers on offer at JDW’s the Wheatsheaf may have been a contributory factor. For these reasons, I am ambivalent about Wetherspoon’s pubs - unlike the majority of pub tenants I have spoken to, who quake in their boots whenever it is rumoured that one may be opening nearby.

Those who enjoy "tavern talk" surely approve of Wetherspoon’s non-music policy. Readers may have read about the Pipedown Campaign (the Campaign against Piped Music) which supports muzak-free hostelries. Among its supporters is musician George Melly, who dropped by at the Wilkes’ Head (Leek) this year and talked to licensee Malcolm Moger and his customers. (The pub has a splendid reputation for live music as well as real ale). It was, of course, the loss of live music at the Wheatsheaf which tarnished JDW’s achievement in opening their first Stoke on Trent venue in 1998. No doubt about it, there’s a need for live music pubs in North Staffs, and the Wheatsheaf’s reputation was well earned.

However, the JDW "music-free" policy has been very popular with many folk. Another plus is that Wetherspoon’s actually has a good conservation record. Their conversion of the Commercial Rooms in Bristol to pub use won plaudits from CAMRA and English Heritage. Nearer home, there’s the much admired Picture House in Stafford. There are no-smoking areas in their pubs, too, and whilst I am not advocating that pubs should be excessively-sanitised, I feel there is a need for this in Y2000 Britain.

The minus points? Well, there’s the idea that cheap beer being sold has on occasion given rise to reckless guzzling and resultant anti-social behaviour. However, you can’t blame JDW for the irresponsibility of some drinkers. It may be argued, though, that the Stoke, Hanley and Longton JDW pubs are among the chain’s best. The capacious Hanley venue has all the intimacy of an airport departure lounge, though the standards of service are excellent. Smoke a cigarette whilst waiting at the bar, and you won’t be served until you’ve extinguished it. Meanwhile the guessing game continues whereabouts JDW may open in Newcastle under Lyme. I feel they were beaten to the punch, somewhat, when Regent Inns opened the Guildhall as licensed premises. Most of all, though, I am concerned about the likely effect on meritorious Newcastle pubs such as the Crossways in the event of a JDW outlet being established.

I seem to recall that young women wearing tight, diaphanous skirts at nightclubs used to be mortified if a "visible panty line" detracted from their callipygous charms. Fair enough, but at this stage of my life, it’s another VPL - or rather the lack of it - that is attracting my attention.

Visible Price Lists are few and far between in North Staffordshire pubs, which means that you don’t usually know how much your drink’s going to cost you until the barman asks you for your filthy lucre. Yet I can go to our local supermarket and choose whether or not to buy a bottle-conditioned beer just by looking at the price marked on the shelves. If the licensed trade really wishes to dissuade us from being armchair elbow-benders, then why can it not show a little more customer care? The Blue Bell (Kidsgrove) and the Malt ‘n’ Hops (Fenton) are two of the very few pubs which display a comprehensive price list - a legal requirement, and an act of courtesy.

I am not suggesting that pubs are in a position to ape supermarkets in every respect -although "Draught Directors buy one get one free" sound good to me. However there are other areas in which pubs can learn from them. as "The Taste" magazine stated in 1998, "The major supermarkets seek to undercut each other. The major breweries appear to compete with each other to charge the most". Neither will you receive a short measure from a supermarket, either: and whereas I am dubious about the claims of supermarkets to be genuinely community-orientated, at least most of them display’ a community notice board in the foyer. Three cheers for the Albert (Newcastle) which offers similar.

First things first, though. Can we please have prices on show in pubs? After all, Workingmen’s Clubs have been displaying peg-board price lists for years. Now we have entered the Information Age, it would be appreciated by drinkers if pubs were to learn the odd lesson or two from their 2ompetitors - as a mark of good faith to those of us who prefer to buy beer frorn pubs rather than supermarkets or WMC's

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