Rotherham

Rotherham – Rhinoceros (Closed JD Wetherspoon)

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It’s fair to say that there are a few minor defects that stop this former JD Wetherspoon pub from reopening. I’m not a builder, but I can see some things that I suspect need fixing.

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The pub was the first Wetherspoon venue in Rotherham when it opened in 1998, although the Bluecoat was later added and that remains trading. The pub was closed by Wetherspoons in October 2019, when it opened under new owners and they remained trading until an arson attack in December 2021. It’s expected to be demolished later in 2025 and new flats and retail units put up in its place. I hadn’t realised that Rotherham once had a third Wetherspoons venue, which were all open at the same time, named the Corn Law Rhymer although that’s now looking permanently closed as well.

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A few of us visited the pub back in 2017 and these were the glory years when they sold the pastrami bagels. This is the only photo that I took inside the pub, so that’ll just have to do as my memory of the Rhino.

Luckily, the Google reviews for the venue are still visible, so some of the complaints live on even if the building doesn’t. A fair chunk of the reviews were about other customers, including a male who used the female toilets and a customer who kept licking the window.