Station pubs (part two?)

[D6130]

Am looking at a future trip to Tooting for drinks. There appears to be four pubs between Broadway and Bec the Wetherspoons, The Castle, Kings Head and the Wheatsheaf. Are they good for real ale?

Only a short train ride from Tooting - via Wimbledon and Sutton - is Carshalton, where you will find one of the best pubs in South London. The Hope is a wonderful community-owned cooperative pub, with great selection of real ales, ciders & perries, friendly knowledgeable staff, a welcoming atmosphere and no TV screens or gaming machines. A conversation pub par excellence!

 

[Dave W]

Agreed re the Antelope.

Thirded. A fine hostelry.

Also agreed re The Hope! I've been helped out of there more than once down the years. The combination of high percentage beers down the list and the perceived proximity of the station are a dangerous mix!

 

[Trackman]

An update - probably counts as a "station pub" as it's visible and just across the way, but in Bolton the Sweet Green Tavern has been closed for a while (maybe a year) and it's up for sale at around £200k; it's supposed to be retained as a pub but who knows? Even a pub/restaurant would be better than nothing, think it's owned/leased by Heineken. There's definitely a local will for it to re-open, but being where it is with the area now a shopping outlet than former works, would it survive??

Last time I was in there it was incredibly expensive by Bolton standards, it had a real fire, the pub as a whole was nice, it also has a mural of the Crook street train crash on the side.

I wonder what happened to the proposed pub on the platform 5 at the station?

 

[NorthWestRover]

The mural is still there.

 

[childwallblues]

I do agree, along with the offering at Lancaster station. I've just finished a 14-day ALR, which included six homebound journeys from Euston to Bolton. Due to my intolerance to Manchester Piccadilly, I always left Euston aboard the xx:30 Glasgow train as far as Lancaster, then had a couple of pints of Lancaster Black, followed by a short trip back to Bolton with TPE. The only way to enjoy First Class travel.

An excellent choice for your route home. Any where that avoids P13/14 at Piccasdill has to be good.

 

[Justin Time]

The Carre Arms Hotel, Sleaford. Not on the station but visible from the platform. Has a comfortable public bar with 3 hand pulls, including Bass as of last week. It was in the Good Beer Guide but has dropped out of the new edition. Very good food at reasonable prices.

 

[Wolfie]

The Carre Arms Hotel, Sleaford. Not on the station but visible from the platform. Has a comfortable public bar with 3 hand pulls, including Bass as of last week. It was in the Good Beer Guide but has dropped out of the new edition. Very good food at reasonable prices.

Years ago draught cask Bass would have been a great selling point. Now, having not seen it for ages, l'm not so sure; how strong is it? I ask because InBev have absolutely destroyed the bottled version which is now 3.4%.

 

[SuspectUsual]

Not on the station but visible from the platform

If we're extending from station pubs to really near the station pubs, the Fox and Beer Necessities in Todmorden are both about 150 yards from the station exit and absolutely fabulous.

 

[aleandrail]

A great find in the last two weeks (three visits), The White Lion in Leominster. It is a couple of minutes from the station, serving excellent beers from Hereford Brewery; HPA is my choice.

I also noticed, but did not visit, the Brewery by the line into Ludlow, a short walk through the adjacent Aldi car park. It seems to have good opening times throughout the week and is now "penned in" for a visit.

I am pretty sure you will enjoy the Ludlow brewery bar. I went a few years ago with the intentions of having a few beers around the town. I nipped in for a pint first and never left . It was a Saturday so it was busy , the vibe was great and the beers were on top form. They also did a cracking pork pie. So it was a case of wobbling out of there and straight back on the train. I did return a few months later and enjoyed a few pints in the town and finished the day off with a pint in the Ludlow bar. Happy memories

 

[duffield]

If we're extending from station pubs to really near the station pubs, the Fox and Beer Necessities in Todmorden are both about 150 yards from the station exit and absolutely fabulous.

Well in that case I'll give a shout out to the Wolfe & Castle micropub, 200m from Rochester station. Great selection of real ale (which didn't interest me) but also some lovely local cider from Turners, which did, including bottles to take out. And there was a lovely greyhound.

 

[Haywain]

Wolfe & Castle micropub, 200m from Rochester station. Great selection of real ale (which didn't interest me)

Actually no cask ale.

 

[CaptainHaddock]

Well in that case I'll give a shout out to the Wolfe & Castle micropub, 200m from Rochester station. Great selection of real ale (which didn't interest me) but also some lovely local cider from Turners, which did, including bottles to take out. And there was a lovely greyhound.

Wow, a rail enthusiast that doesn't drink real ale! You'll be telling next that you don't follow an obscure non league football team!

 

[duffield]

Wow, a rail enthusiast that doesn't drink real ale! You'll be telling next that you don't follow an obscure non league football team!

If real cider is good enough for CAMRA, it should be good enough to qualify as a rail enthusiast!

One positive is that at a typical heritage railway beer & cider festival, there are often just the right number of ciders to be able to sample them all without either running out of choices or falling over!

Also there is a sunday league football team that plays about 200m from my house and I have seen them play, though I'm not sure I count as a supporter!

 

[duffield]

Actually no cask ale.

Well, I *was* laser focused on the cider!