The Station, Altrincham

This has either had, or is about to receive, another refurb. When I passed by last month I spotted three hand pulls, but only one of those was clipped and that was offering Theakston Bitter. I had better options to explore.

Funnily enough, the Station Hotel is handily situated across the road from Altrincham rail and metro Station so was my last port of call on an evening crawl of the area. To the right of the entrance is a raised seating area that is well worth a look. I recall seeing the same arrangement in a couple of London pubs. To the left of the entrance is an open plan area with some high tables that are overlooked by a large television that has been mounted on an exposed brick and tiled chimney breast that houses a burner. Televisions are actually found throughout the pub for watching live sports. An L-shaped bar sits on the rear wall, there are three hand pumps, but only Theakston Best was available as two were unused. There is also a standard keg range alongside Birra Moretti. In the left rear is a pool and dart room and in the left front is a small paved beer garden with some seating that looks to be primarily aimed at smokers. There is an advertised function room that must be located up the large staircase found to the right of the bar opposite the front entrance. In the toilet are some adverts for karaoke on Mondays, Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sunday afternoons. My visit was on a Wednesday and there was thankfully no sign of any amateur singing. I wasn’t a massive fan of this pub because it feels like a large high street pub, which to be fair it is. However, the location is handy and I found the service from the landlady to be friendly, so I would probably pop back in if killing time waiting for another train.

A busy and lively town pub opposite the rail and bus station, the exterior still retains an appearance of former grandeur which is nowadays a façade only. Inside has been effectively opened out with the bar in the central area on a back wall with the pub expanding to either side. Stained glass upper windows plus a similar internal ceiling light are of interest as are the coloured tiled squares in the floor in front of the bar. I also noticed a vintage clock with the town's name misspelt with a "g" replacing the "c", this is likely to be on display for this reason, the erroneous spelling being a well known irritant to townsfolk. A side room with a fully glazed wall with doors facing a patio drinking area has a pool table and I believe there is a dart board too but I didn't see it. A number of TVs were showing the Saturday lunchtime live football. Theakstons XB and Old Peculiar on with one pump unclipped.

An architectural delight, coloured glass, pediments and such like, betraying former days of glory for this hotel. There is a patio at the back. The interior of the pub has been ripped out making one large room effectively. TVs showing sport were on one side with a dart board. The music was loud, then a singer came on. Service was functional and the clientele younger - it was very busy. Beer: usual tap stuff with Murphy's (OK) and a decent enough Theakston's Old Peculiar. One for the locals.