1970s / 1980s Station Buffet & Bar - Do you remember 'The Gantry'?

[Leyland Bus]

According to Peter Land, Pru Leith joined the BTH board in 1978. Peter Land was Group Managing Director of BTH at the time. There's lots more about what happened next in his book "Sauce Supreme - the Annihilation of British Transport Hotels".

You beat me too it, it's a very good read indeed!

 

[NER1621]

And I note they are copyright to Railtrack (suggesting Network Rail etc has an image library of historic images which I would have thought would have been passed on to the NRM etc)

Point of information: custodianship of an archive, ownership of an archive, and ownership of the copyright in an archive are three discrete property rights and can be held by three different organisations/people.

Separately, Network Rail has a corporate archive - lots of companies do. I helped set it up. There is no obligation on NR to pass archives to the NRM (or, strictly speaking, the trustees of the Science Museum, as the NRM has no legal existence.)

 

[Helvellyn]

Not even necessarily a railway gantry. Could be a local feature, and not necessarily close to the railway.
There's currently "The Gantry" in Stratford (London), describing itself as an urban resort and hotel, but they don't say why they chose that name!

I did wonder if Stratford could have been The Gantrt because of this but an Internet search through up a Travellers-Fare Real Ale leaflet on the CAMRA website, which lists Stratford as having The Steamcoach bar.

 

[WesternLancer]

Point of information: custodianship of an archive, ownership of an archive, and ownership of the copyright in an archive are three discrete property rights and can be held by three different organisations/people.

Separately, Network Rail has a corporate archive - lots of companies do. I helped set it up. There is no obligation on NR to pass archives to the NRM (or, strictly speaking, the trustees of the Science Museum, as the NRM has no legal existence.)

Thanks. Good insights

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I did wonder if Stratford could have been The Gantrt because of this but an Internet search through up a Travellers-Fare Real Ale leaflet on the CAMRA website, which lists Stratford as having The Steamcoach bar.

But they did seem to change names over time. See my earlier post about the Brighton TF pub

 

[Gloster]

The name is unlikely to be related to The Gantry in Stratford: this took its name from a feature built for the 2012 Olympics. One thought is that it could be from one of those areas of a major station that was once used for offices or later abandoned/moved ancillary services and known by staff as ‘the gantry’.

 

[WesternLancer]

What’s strange here is that the collective memory of this forum hasn’t yet found anyone who simply recalls this bar / buffet.

 

[Shimbleshanks]

What’s strange here is that the collective memory of this forum hasn’t yet found anyone who simply recalls this bar / buffet.

Agree. A couple of random thoughts: could it have been made for a buffet that was never opened or TF decided to call it something else? Or could it have been produced for a film set?

 

[TinplateRunner]

Shrewsbury's buffet was called 'The Marches'. Photo here.

Shrewsbury station, 21 Feb 1980

Platform buildings - The Marches Buffet and Bar

flic.kr

The Marches - yes went to that one but again I couldn't remember its name!

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Agree. A couple of random thoughts: could it have been made for a buffet that was never opened or TF decided to call it something else? Or could it have been produced for a film set?

Yes I agree surely someone should remember and the original post has been viewed a couple of thousand times. That said I went in quite a few of these Travellers fare Bar and Buffets in the 70s to early 1990s but sadly can't remember many of their names. As for the sign - i am pretty sure its real and has age wear. Also the person I bought the sign off, said it was double sided with a metal frame holding the two halves together and had lights inside. He sold one side then I bought the other.

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I did wonder if Stratford could have been The Gantrt because of this but an Internet search through up a Travellers-Fare Real Ale leaflet on the CAMRA website, which lists Stratford as having The Steamcoach bar.

Someone else has suggested Stratford to me and I'm trying to look into it. Also two people have suggested Rugby, which I'm again trying to follow up.

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The corporate signage in the OP, along with styling the outlets generally as buffets, bars etc, some with individual names (such as The Gantry) was all part of a corporate strategy finalised in 1978 to renergise BTH and refresh the image of railway catering. There were even plans for BTH to take over licensed premises on railway land which had been leased to third parties as their leases expired. In the steam era, station catering establishments were called "refreshment rooms" - shades of "Brief Encounter"!

Yes I'm sure you are right. The orangey-red and yellow buffet and bar signs (corporate image) from what I've found, came in during the early 1970s but I think 'Travellers fare' was sold off or bought-out by its management in the late 1980s well prior to BR being 'sold off'. I can remember the signs remaining in place on lots of stations into the 1990s. However by the mid-90s my days of travelling everywhere on the train were over and then we moved into the time of Virgin, Avanti, EMR etc

 

[Fast Track]

I'm hoping someone will have a good memory and recall the station Buffet & bars from the 1970s and 1980s.

You may remember, they all had individual names. For example at Carmarthen station it was called the Coracle Buffet and Bar and I think the one at St. Pancras station was called 'The Shires'.

I'm trying to find out about one called 'The Gantry". Does anyone remember what station it was on? I've just bought one of its signs, and it would be great to know where it's from and if I ever visited it back in the day!

Many thanks.

The pub on Paddington concourse in the 90’s used to rock, often rammed full, pounding juke box, great but smokey atmosphere, interesting clientele and Friday nights lots of couples having affairs. Frequently missed the 19.35 to Newbury as in bad company. Not sure if it had a name?

 

[12LDA28C]

Red and yellow wasn't a happy combination was it? Manchester Piccadilly had 'The Peaks' - pity the St. Pancras services via Bakewell had ended. Paddington had 'The Castles' - appropriate for former motive power seen thereabouts I suppose.

And Man Vic had 'The Coastal', due to Blackpool being a popular destination, and 'The Dome' in the main station building.

 

[Prime586]

And Man Vic had 'The Coastal', somewhat bizarrely.

It was supposedly named The Coastal as it was sited on platforms 11 & 12 which the trains to Blackpool and Southport passed through. The main buffet on the concourse was called The Dome, due to having a domed glass roof.

Regarding the original query, in page 1 of the thread it was suggested by @Sultan1056 that it may have come from one of the stations in Canterbury - Canterbury West station has a gantry signal box, and the station is significant enough to have warranted a named bar and buffet (it is currently a Starbucks)

 

[12LDA28C]

The pub on Paddington concourse in the 90’s used to rock, often rammed full, pounding juke box, great but smokey atmosphere, interesting clientele and Friday nights lots of couples having affairs. Frequently missed the 19.35 to Newbury as in bad company. Not sure if it had a name?

If you mean the one at the back of the Lawn, that was the Knights and Heralds Bar, although the Mad Bishop and Bear upstairs is a better pub then the K&H ever was, in my opinion.

 

[Leyland Bus]

Someone else has suggested Stratford to me and I'm trying to look into it. Also two people have suggested Rugby, which I'm again trying to follow up.

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It's not Rugby, it was nameless... "Buffet & Bar"

86103 at Rugby

86103 at Rugby on 05.22 Holyhead-Euston on 23 June 1982.

flic.kr

 

[lyndhurst25]

The name may not refer to a signal gantry. The shelving above the counter, where glasses are stacked of hung, is known as a bar gantry. Did any station’s bar have an especially impressive ornate one that warranted naming the establishment after it?

 

[Helvellyn]

The online article with Travellers Fare leaflet included is here. Gives quite a few of the Buffet & Bar names.

 

[WesternLancer]

but I think 'Travellers fare' was sold off or bought-out by its management in the late 1980s well prior to BR being 'sold off'. I can remember the signs remaining in place on lots of stations into the 1990s. However by the mid-90s my days of travelling everywhere on the train were over and then we moved into the time of Virgin, Avanti, EMR etc

Yes, after the 1987 General Election the returned Conservative government got BR to identify further non core activities for sale (Sealink, and British Transport Hotels already having been sold earlier in the 1980s) - I think Travellers Fare, BREL and The Vale of Rheidol were ultimately sold a result of this.

On train catering was separated from the outlets at stations and the former retained by BR. The station catering business (including it's various TF brands -eg Casey Jones) were sold to TF management in late 1988. Some individual buffets had been sold or leased to private operators before this - presumably ones that TF could not make profitable. For example my personal memory is the one at Lewes Station that I mentioned earlier became privately operated before 1988.

Compass group then bought TF from, presumably, the management buyout team in the early 1990s. They kept the TF brand for a while I think. Not sure how long corporate TF branded logos on buffets etc lasted as in if they were dropped gradually or if there was one big re-branding on a set date

 

[edwin_m]

There a RMWeb thread on this topic, which someone has added the OP's photo to: https://www.rmweb.co.uk/forums/topic/135347-1970s80s-station-buffets-travellers-fare-etc-photos/

Does anyone have any images (or links to images) of the exterior of railway station buffets? "Travellers Fare" era - 1970s and 1980s.

Confirms my memory that one of these signs remained at Bolton until at least 2015.

 

[Djgr]

Yes, after the 1987 General Election the returned Conservative government got BR to identify further non core activities for sale (Sealink, and British Transport Hotels already having been sold earlier in the 1980s) - I think Travellers Fare, BREL and The Vale of Rheidol were ultimately sold a result of this.

On train catering was separated from the outlets at stations and the former retained by BR. The station catering business (including it's various TF brands -eg Casey Jones) were sold to TF management in late 1988. Some individual buffets had been sold or leased to private operators before this - presumably ones that TF could not make profitable. For example my personal memory is the one at Lewes Station that I mentioned earlier became privately operated before 1988.

Compass group then bought TF from, presumably, the management buyout team in the early 1990s. They kept the TF brand for a while I think. Not sure how long corporate TF branded logos on buffets etc lasted as in if they were dropped gradually or if there was one big re-branding on a set date

Whilst general independents (e.g., Stalybridge) often provide excellent catering facilities, overall it is hard to argue that today's privatised offering is any better than what a 2025 version of Travellers Fare might have been.

They're all a bit bleurgh, with that WHSmith's-type faint disdain towards customers.

 

[WesternLancer]

Whilst general independents (e.g., Stalybridge) often provide excellent catering facilities, overall it is hard to argue that today's privatised offering is any better than what a 2025 version of Travellers Fare might have been.

yes, I agree. Would probably have been pretty much the same as the rest of the market - similar quality food, aimed at similar market, and just as similarly somewhat overpriced I suspect.

The best of the independent ones are operating to nich markets and being very good at what they do - probably in locations where the profit margin demanded by a chain type outfit is unlikely to be delivered. Some of them do have very good customer service though - I was impressed with Lewes platform 2 last week when I called in.

 

[Rescars]

Whilst general independents (e.g., Stalybridge) often provide excellent catering facilities, overall it is hard to argue that today's privatised offering is any better than what a 2025 version of Travellers Fare might have been.

Do the independents offer the same discounts as Travellers Fare?

IIRC, all rail staff were entitled to tea at half price, but there was no preferential pricing for coffee!

 

[WesternLancer]

There a RMWeb thread on this topic, which someone has added the OP's photo to: https://www.rmweb.co.uk/forums/topic/135347-1970s80s-station-buffets-travellers-fare-etc-photos/



Confirms my memory that one of these signs remained at Bolton until at least 2015.

some great links to flickr photos on that - but some images that must have been uploaded to the page don't seem to open for me (maybe I need to register with the site?)

 

[Kingston Dan]

The online article with Travellers Fare leaflet included is here. Gives quite a few of the Buffet & Bar names.

Love that the beer strength is given in OG rather than ABV.

 

[Prime586]

some great links to flickr photos on that - but some images that must have been uploaded to the page don't seem to open for me (maybe I need to register with the site?)

RMweb lost a lot of images that were uploaded as attachments to posts when it changed it's web hosting service after a server failure in 2022 (and the server that ran their system backups also failed, so they lost the backups as well). Some of the older images were recovered and reattached to the relevant posts, but for posts more recent to 2022 the images were permanently lost, unless the posters went back and reuploaded the attachments to the posts.

 

[Haywain]

Love that the beer strength is given in OG rather than ABV.

That was normal practice at the time.

 

[WesternLancer]

RMweb lost a lot of images that were uploaded as attachments to posts when it changed it's web hosting service after a server failure in 2022 (and the server that ran their system backups also failed, so they lost the backups as well). Some of the older images were recovered and reattached to the relevant posts, but for posts more recent to 2022 the images were permanently lost, unless the posters went back and reuploaded the attachments to the posts.

Thanks for explaining. Very bad luck of course.

 

[Ashley Hill]

The online article with Travellers Fare leaflet included is here. Gives quite a few of the Buffet & Bar names.

Some old faithfuls on that beer list. Many of those breweries as extinct as TF themselves.

 

[edwin_m]

IIRC, all rail staff were entitled to tea at half price, but there was no preferential pricing for coffee!

Not needed. Everyone knows the railway runs on tea.

 

[KevinTurvey]

What an interesting leaflet. What an outrageously expensive membership fee for Camra, £51 !!! In 1980.

 

[WesternLancer]

What an interesting leaflet. What an outrageously expensive membership fee for Camra, £51 !!! In 1980.

It’s £4 or £5 for two people. But it has a cross for a footnote. So it’s £5+ not £51. But the cross is a ‘Christian’ cross that’s not on my keyboard to express it accurately, but looks like a 1 if glancing at the CAMRA leaflet.

 

[AndrewE]

It’s £4 or £5 for two people. But it has a cross for a footnote. So it’s £5+ not £51. But the cross is a ‘Christian’ cross that’s not on my keyboard to express it accurately, but looks like a 1 if glancing at the CAMRA leaflet.

isn't that a "dagger" in typesetting (definitely railway WTT) terms?
p.s. not to forget a double dagger: https://www.wordnik.com/words/double dagger