The Green Ginger

The Green Ginger is a pub in Torquay, Devon, United Kingdom, operated by the national pub company J D Wetherspoon plc. It occupies the lower ground floor of the Winter Garden at Fleet Walk, a retail and leisure development in the town centre, and trades under the Wetherspoon name with the chain's standard offer of affordable food, real ale, and drinks served in a large, informal setting. The pub is open from 8:00am daily, closing at 1:00am Sunday to Thursday and 2:00am on Friday and Saturday; children under 18 are admitted only between 8:00am and 9:30pm. Facilities include Wi-Fi, TV screens, a licensed outside area, baby-changing facilities, and step-free access. The pub's name is a piece of local commercial history. Slade and Sons, a Torquay grocery firm established in 1837, acted as sole agent for Stiven's & Co's Green Ginger Wine, advertised in the Torquay and Tor Directory of 1846 as 'a most delicious, safe and cooling beverage in spring water'. Wetherspoon's pub-history page for the site recounts that story, and the pub's interior displays photographs and text about the Torquay-born satirist Peter Cook, continuing the chain's practice of decorating each pub with local historical and cultural material. As a Wetherspoon house, The Green Ginger participates in the company's twice-yearly real-ale festivals, seasonal food menus such as the Christmas menu, and cocktail ranges, and it supports ordering through the Wetherspoon app. It is one of many Wetherspoon pubs across the United Kingdom and shares the parent company's operating model rather than having an independent ownership or brand identity of its own.

The Green Ginger is a Wetherspoon pub in Torquay, Devon, and its history is bound up with both the local commercial past commemorated in its name and the expansion of J D Wetherspoon plc across the United Kingdom. The name comes from Green Ginger Wine, a beverage sold in Torquay in the 19th century. Slade and Sons, a grocery business established in 1837 and described by Wetherspoon as one of Torquay's leading grocers, had premises in Abbey Place for many years. An advertisement in the Torquay and Tor Directory of 1846 announced to 'The Nobility, Gentry and Public' that Stiven's & Co had appointed 'Mr JJ Slade as sole agent for their GREEN GINGER WINE… a most delicious, safe and cooling beverage in spring water, superior to any mixture yet introduced'. Wetherspoon's pub-history page for the site reproduces this story, which supplies the pub's name. The pub also carries a second layer of local heritage in its interior displays. Photographs and text about Peter Cook, the satirist born in Torquay in 1937, are featured, including references to his role in Beyond the Fringe, his partnership with Dudley Moore, and his death in 1995. This follows Wetherspoon's house style of giving each pub a distinct local theme. The parent company's own history provides the wider context. J D Wetherspoon opened its first pub in Colney Hatch Lane, Muswell Hill, north London, on 9 December 1979, initially called Martin's Free House and renamed Wetherspoons early in 1980. The company's early pubs were all in north London, with the head office above The Dog in Archway. In 1990 the pubs hosted their first real-ale festival, a four-day event with six beers; the festivals later became twice-yearly fixtures offering up to 50 beers each, 10 of them from overseas. In 1991 the company opened The Tally Ho in North Finchley with a dedicated non-smoking bar upstairs, launched the CBS (cleanliness, beer and service) scheme, produced the first edition of Wetherspoon News, and opened Hamilton Hall at Liverpool Street station, its first central London and railway-station pub. In 1992 it opened its first airport pubs at Heathrow Terminal 4 and floated on the Stock Exchange as J D Wetherspoon plc, with shares issued at £1.60. Against that background, The Green Ginger operates as one of the chain's many UK houses, located on the lower ground floor of the Winter Garden at Fleet Walk in Torquay. Its trading pattern reflects the modern Wetherspoon model: doors open at 8:00am every day, closing at 1:00am Sunday to Thursday and 2:00am Friday and Saturday, with under-18s restricted to the premises between 8:00am and 9:30pm. The pub offers Wi-Fi, TV screens, a licensed outside area, baby-changing facilities and step-free access, and it takes part in chain-wide programmes such as the autumn beer festival, the Christmas menu, the spritz cocktail range, and app-based ordering. No independent founding date, founder, or separate ownership for The Green Ginger is recorded in the available sources; it is a trading name and venue within the J D Wetherspoon estate.

• 1992

  Wetherspoon opens its first airport pubs at Heathrow Terminal 4 and floats on the Stock Exchange as J D Wetherspoon plc at £1.60 per share.

• 1991

  The Tally Ho opens with a dedicated non-smoking bar; the CBS scheme and Wetherspoon News are launched; Hamilton Hall opens at Liverpool Street station.

• 1990

  Wetherspoon's pubs host their first real-ale festival, a four-day event featuring six beers.

• 1979

  The first Wetherspoon pub opens in Colney Hatch Lane, Muswell Hill, north London, on 9 December.

• 1846

  An advertisement in the Torquay and Tor Directory names Mr JJ Slade as sole agent for Stiven's & Co's Green Ginger Wine, the product that gives the pub its name.

• 1837

  Slade and Sons, a Torquay grocery firm, is established.

A value-focused, high-volume community pub within the national J D Wetherspoon estate, trading on low prices, long opening hours, and a broad food and drink menu.

• Real ale and cask beer

  The chain's core drink offer, including guest ales and twice-yearly beer festivals with up to 50 beers each.

• Pub food and breakfast

  All-day food served from opening at 8:00am, including seasonal menus such as the Christmas menu.

• Spritz cocktail range

  A choice of nine classic and fruity spritz recipes promoted across Wetherspoon pubs.

• Wetherspoon app ordering

  Customers can order food and drinks to their table via the Wetherspoon app.

1. 1The Green Ginger - J D Wetherspoonjdwetherspoon.com
2. 2The Green Ginger - J D Wetherspoon (pub history)jdwetherspoon.com
3. 3History - J D Wetherspoonjdwetherspoon.com
4. 4About us - J D Wetherspoonjdwetherspoon.com
5. 5The Green Ginger - Wikidatawikidata.org