The Railway Bell, Hampton

Just a minute or two down the road from Hampton station, this is a traditional, two room pub with a bit of a stripped out, modernised interior. You enter via a decent sized front patio garden with lots of bench and chair seating and some limited cover, eventually reaching a small porch space with a compact seating area straight in front and the main bar through a door to the right. The bar area is in a bare boarded room with dark green and white lincrustra wall coverings, a white dado and a few old light fixtures dotted around. The servery is to the rear and has a rather dull panelled counter whilst the bar back has mostly been ripped out so that you can see clearly through to the other room. Banquettes run around the front wall, including in the bay window space, with tables and chairs plus a few low stools to the right, where the room extends a short way back. There's a modern fireplace back here, beneath an enigmatic empty picture frame and a fair few local photos dot the walls whilst a TV was showing a muted rolling news channel. For all of that, the pub still feels a little bland, and the plain white walls of the second room, which is also bare boarded and full of basic tables and chairs, only add to this feeling, despite a few paintings and an unused TV screen trying to break up the monotony. Music was playing very quietly in background and a sign on the front door said "Home Fans Only" on Hampton & Richmond match days, but most of the punters seemed to be neutrals or fans of the away side when I visited an hour or so prior to kick off. This pub often pops up in the Good Beer Guide and they had four cask ales on the go when I arrived - Twickenham Naked Ladies and Strange Brew, Sharps Doom Bar and Roosters YPA (£5.00). I took a pint of the latter from a taciturn barmaid, and found it to be a very thin beer and lacking flavour and mouthfeel. The place was doing a modest trade, mainly from football fans, and was very quiet compared to the much livelier Worlds End just down the road. I had quite high hopes for this place and thought it would be the pick of the pubs I had targeted for the day, but in the end, it wasn't even the best pub in Hampton, leaving me cold with its sterile decor and subpar beer. Maybe I caught it at the wrong time or chose the wrong beer, but this ended up being a moderately enjoyable visit that I'm unlikely to repeat in a hurry. Date of visit - 14th October 2023

There were four ales on in here - Skinner's Betty Stogs, Courage Best, Lancaster Red, and Wadworth's 6X, with a fifth pump unclipped. I wouldn't complain at that selection as I like good quality brown beers, but some might say that it would be improved by a hoppy and/or dark beer. Clipboard menus on all the tables advertise some pub grub favourites; the bangers and mash is £8.95 (with champ mash - including spring onions apparently - if you wish), and the burger, chips and onion rings is £10.50. Sandwiches are reasonably priced, ranging from £4.25 (fish fingers and tartare sauce obviously), to £5.55 (prawns and marie rose sauce). The pub does still have the appearance of a country pub in town, mainly because of the low ceilings, but also due to its location tucked at the end of a couple of small cottages. There are still two rooms, with the one on the left furnished with normal tables and chairs. All tables had menus on them, but it didn't have the feel of a room that was meant solely for diners. The main room is on the right (the bar counter here has the handpumps) and would originally have been two rooms. It's furnished with normal tables and chairs, plus some settles with plenty of cushions on them. Personally I can take or leave cushions, but Mrs R likes that sort of thing. There's a large screen TV (I saw six nations rugby matches advertised) but it was tuned to some radio music station during my visit. There are no fruit machines which is a massive plus in my book; some puzzles and board games on a shelf, and I also spotted some sort of large sweet dispening machine on the condiments table. I rather liked this pub. It had the pubby feel that I appreciate, plus the landlord was friendly and welcoming, even topping up an already acceptably full pint. With the excellent ale selection, I reckon that this is a decent all-round pub, to which I would be happy to pay a return visit.

Official site of The Railway Bell - www.therailwaybellhampton.co.uk

Official site of The Railway Bell - www.therailwaybellhampton.co.uk

Curious and easily-missed pub tucked away in a terrace in the shadow of the railway bridge. Inside retains two rooms, but they are pretty similar, with plain wooden furnishings. The menu clipboards spread round the tables at first implied gastro pretensions, but the actual content is rather plainer pub grub. Beers at time of visit were Betty Stogs and Coaster from Cornwall, Otter and Courage Best.

Not as good a choice as I remembered, though they did have one from Twickenham Ales; Autumn Blaze, plus Pedigree & courage. I noticed they are doing 'Friday food specials, cuisine from a bygone era' - todays is Lancashire Hotpot wi braised red cabbage, a fiver. If not, there's a good chippy over the road & I'd intended to walk down to the river with some fish&chips, a plan dashed by a cancelled train causing me to miss the 2pm close (of the chip shop). 24 March 2007 Friendly bar, local chat, Twickenham ales, great stuff. And a good chippy round the corner.

This pub is set back from the main road.The inside is fairly old fashioned and on my visit was very quiet.There were 3 real ales on which were in good condition.Not to be confused with The Railway Hotel just up the road which is closed.5 mins from Hampton station.