England's railway stations are home to some of the country's most unique pubs, converted from Victorian ticket offices, buffet bars, and waiting rooms. These establishments offer beautifully restored interiors, real ales, and a slice of railway history.
Cambridge and London Highlights
The Old Ticket Office in Cambridge is a pub with high ceilings, walls painted in locomotive green, and booths resembling train carriages. It has outdoor tables on Station Square, a live train departures board, and a canning machine allowing draught beer to be taken away. The pub offers five handpulls, Young's spritz menu, light bites, and pizzas. Currently closed for roof repairs, it is expected to reopen by the end of October.
In London, Kew Gardens is the only tube station with a pub directly attached. The building, opened in 1869 as a timber steaming hall, later became buffet rooms before becoming a pub. Bought by Fuller's in 2012, it reopened in 2013 after refurbishment. It features high oak beams, picture windows overlooking the platform, an arched glass atrium, and a paved outdoor area. It serves two Fuller's ales and a guest ale, has a full food menu, and shows live sport.
Northern England's Railway Pubs
Stalybridge station, east of Manchester, is home to one of the few remaining Victorian buffet bars. Built in 1885, it retains the original marble bar top, fireplace, and fixed seating, along with railway memorabilia. It serves up to 10 changing real ales, plus cider or perry, and offers snacks like hot pork scratchings, with more substantial food in autumn and winter. Camra awards it two stars for its historic interior. The pub is part of the Beerhouses group, which also runs the West Riding Reception Rooms at Dewsbury station.
The Sheffield Tap, a Grade II-listed pub, opened in 2009 in an Edwardian first-class refreshment room. Original 1904 fixtures have been repaired or replicated, including the mahogany bar top and Minton tiles. In 2013, it expanded into the adjacent dining room and added a microbrewery. It serves 11 cask and 14 keg beers, plus bottles and cans. It has Camra's highest rating of three stars and is operated by a group that also runs the York Tap and Harrogate Tap.
More Historic Station Pubs
The Draughtsman Alehouse in Doncaster opened in 2017 in a former Victorian buffet bar that had been empty for 18 years. Named after engineering draughtsman grandfather Barry, it is run by son Russ and grandson Luke. The decor features original wall tiles and draughtsman's drawings. Camra has designated it an "outstanding conversion and restoration".
Scott & Brassey in Carlisle opened in February in a Grade II-listed former first-class waiting room dating from 1848. It retains the original wooden entrance lobby, hammerbeam roof, and Tudor-style stone fireplaces. It has a mahogany bar, a feature wall of clocks, and platform-side seating, with eight handpumps and keg beer, wine, and spirits.
The Centurion in Newcastle, designed by architect John Dobson, opened in 1893 as a luxurious first-class waiting lounge. By the 1960s, it was turned into prison cells, then storage, before reopening as a pub in 2002. It features tiling by Burmantofts Pottery said to be worth £3.8m, columns, a marble fireplace, and a tiled skylight.
Yorkshire and the South
Huddersfield station offers two pubs accessible from platform 1: the King's Head, in the former waiting room, with mosaic floor and wood panelling, and the Head of Steam, in the former ticket office, now a four-room pub. Both appear in Camra's Good Beer Guide.
In Seaford, the Steamworks micropub opened in 2017 in the former waiting room built in 1864. It serves Sussex real ales, ciders, and snacks, with regular live music. The owners also run a second Steamworks at Glynde, and other micropubs have opened in old station buildings across England.
In Codsall, Staffordshire, the station's Grade II-listed waiting room, offices, and stationmaster's house were converted into a pub in 1997. It serves three regular beers and two changing ones from Holden's brewery, with food comprising cobs and pork pies. It is a Camra outstanding conversions and restorations pub.
