Bessemer Arms, Uckfield

Visited 08/05/26. Visited previously 28/12/22. Cask were two handpumps providing from Harvey's, the Sussex Best and the Halt (a new one for me). Keg was their own Pells Pale and then Guinness, Cruz, Inch's and Moretti. Quaint venue at the Sheffield Park station on the Bluebell Railway. Accessed off the platform and with some picnic bench seating outside on the platform. Inside it is bare boarded with the bar counter on the rear wall facing out the front windows onto the platform. Regular tables and chairs along the three sides with a couple down the middle. The venue serves food and snacks, but it was quite quiet on my visit. As you would expect some railway paraphernalia including a large-scale model of an engine in a glass case on one of the side walls.

Named after a steel production process that revolutionised production times that drove the industrial age, including the expansion of rail, the Bessemer Arms is found on one of the platforms at Bluebell Railway’s Sheffield Park Station. The entrance isn’t obvious, so I walked around for a bit before slipping through the ticket office, but I later learnt that access is also possible through the shop and information office. This is a basic place that feels like a canteen, but there is a proper bar along the rear wall that faces open plan seating on a laminate floor. There are four premium keg options alongside Harvey’s Pelles Pale and two hand pumps that were drawing Harvey’s Best and Halt. To the right of the counter is a food serving station with things like cottage pie, chips and lasagne being available. Nobody is coming here just for the Bessemer Arms experience, but it’s an acceptable watering stop while appreciating the station and trains.