Pub review: Railway Inn, Yatton

Thursday 8th October 2009

This is a Crackerjack review of Railway Inn. Do you agree? Rate and review this venue.

Family friendly: 5 / 10.
Range of drinks: 5 / 10.
Atmosphere: 5 / 10.
Food and drink: 2 / 10.

There is something undeniably romantic and special about old English railway inns. It’s probably something to do with my love of British black and white films such as Brief Encounter, but I step into pubs near train stations and my mind starts wandering back to the days when men wore trilby hats and women were called Celia.

Until Dr Beeching came along in the Sixties and closed a number of local railway stations, there must have been scores of thriving railway inns but most of them have either been turned into private houses or become museum pieces for the occasional passer-by.

The Railway Inn at Yatton used to be the station’s hotel, back in the days when people travelling on that branch line used to break their steam-driven journey in such places.

A handsome building next to the Assembly Rooms, the hotel is a few paces from the platform on Yatton’s pretty stone-built station.

The pub has an impressive entrance with double doors leading into the bar, which has a high green ceiling.

The large room looks like it has seen a lot of changes over the years and there are several pillars indicating that it was, perhaps, several smaller rooms at one point.

The décor is a little tired but amidst the colourful flowery carpets and horrible pine cladding, there are some lovely old features such as original windows and shutters.

There is a well-used dartboard in the corner of the bar and a pool table in the back room which has a unusually high ceiling and almost a village hall feel to it.

A beer garden at the back is a peaceful place with the silence only occasionally shattered by the sound of a high-speed train racing past.

I only popped in for a quick pint as I had half an hour to kill before the next train and on a Friday lunchtime there were just two people in there – the landlord who was reading the paper behind the bar and a regular who was watching the chunky old television on a small table in the corner. This is not a flat screen sort of pub by  any means.

As I enjoyed my pint of Otter Ale (one of two real ales, and they also serve Thatcher’s cider on draught), a few people wandered in and asked if food was being served, only to be told that the pile of cling film-wrapped rolls on the counter was the extent of the food offering.

If I was running the place, I would rip up the carpets, give the place a lick of Farrow and Ball paint and get a chef in the kitchen as it’s a pub with bags of potential, even if it was a few simple lunchtime and early evening meals.

With so many commuters using the station outside, and with very few places to eat in the area, it seems like the Railway Inn is missing a trick. Rather than being a place to kill time between trains, it could be a destination in its own right.

Mark Taylor

This is a Crackerjack review of Railway Inn. Do you agree? Rate and review this venue.