And why is it only Wetherspoons that have cottoned on to selling cheap ale in cities???

Weatherspons have cottened on to the novel idea of buying "late" beers! Late bers are those that are about to go past their sell by date, this makes them very cheap to buy ..... hence the good pump price!of course you need to have a good volume of sales for this.

If you are looking for good real ales (other than at folk festivals .....Obviously) Tesco, Co-op, Asda et all do a good selection of bottles at a good price. If all else fails you can always nip down to your local brewery, be it micro or mainline who will almost certainly help relieve your problems. Ifyou look closely you may just see a pub with a small magazine for sale called the good beer guide ......... and then there is CAMRA!