Wetherspoons Wetherspoons J D Wetherspoon plc, branded as Wetherspoon, is a pub company in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Founded in 1979 by Tim Martin, the company operates arond 900 outlets, including the chain of Lloyds No.1 bars and a growing number of Wetherspoon hotels. With its headquarters in Watford, Wetherspoon is known for converting unconventional yet attractive premises into pubs. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. Tim Martin opened his first pub in 1979, in Colney Hatch Lane in Muswell Hill, north London. Many of
Tewkesbury Minster. Tewkesbury claims Gloucestershire's oldest public house, the "Black Bear", dating from 1308, although this is currently closed and for sale with its future as a pub in doubt. Other notable buildings are the Royal Hop Pole Hotel in Church Street (which has recently been converted into a part of the Wetherspoons pub chain with the discovery of a former medieval banqueting hall in the structure), mentioned in Charles Dickens' "The Pickwick Papers", the Bell Hotel, a large half-timbered structure opposite the Abbey gateway, and the House of the Nodding Gables in the High Street. The Abbey Cottages, adjacent to