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Image posted by Will Larter
Submitted on Sunday, 10th August 2025
With picture contributions to 12412 other pubs
View all this pub's pictures (7 more images)
Detail Pages
The Samson Inn, Brampton
Gilsland
Postal town: Brampton
CA8 7DR
Served areas
Reviews of The Samson Inn (Average Rating: 7 of 10) see review guidelines
Will Larter left this review about The Samson Inn
After a period of closure the pub was bought by the community and is run by a manager. It looks to have benefitted from a refurbishment since I was last here, with what looks like a new bar counter, gantry and bar back. There are three hand pumps, but disappointingly the regular Allendale Golden Plover had been drunk dry, with only GK IPA and Old Rosie on hand pumps, augmented by some bottles from local Muckle Brewing (samples lined up in my photo). I hadn't cycled up hill and down dale to drink GK IPA, so I went for Muckle Chuckle, which was as good as a beer with a name like that could possibly be, especially if taken from the fridge and tipped into a glass. I've had worse sat outside my tent, which is where I'd have been if I hadn't cycled, OK just six miles to the pub. I like it here and they seem to be doing a roaring trade in food at the weekend, and they sell plenty of cask beer to walkers during the week, apparently. I'm surprised they have GK IPA as the reserve beer for when the Allendale runs out - are there really people who'd rather drink that than a local beer? In other news, the iconic silhouette inn sign of the Samson locomotive (see photo from 2019) disappeared, either by a previous licensee or by someone with a ladder and boltcutters, which is rather sad.
On 10th August 2025
- rating: 7
[User has posted 4437 recommendations about 4075 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Will Larter left this review about The Samson Inn
A pleasant roadside inn just outside the village, or at least separated from the main part of the village by the railway line. I imagine the station would have been hereabouts, but instead of being called the Station or the Railway, the pub takes its name from a locomotive. (A depiction in wrought iron above the door is markedly different from the more modern engine shown on the signboard opposite.) Typically for a lot of country pubs these days, the tables in the slightly opened out interior were all set with cutlery and whatever else prospective diners might have needed. I was just in need of a beer, having cycled from Carlisle into a moderate easterly wind and with still another hour to go and sunset fast approaching. There are three hand pumps on the bar, with just Allendale Golden Plover available. This is an inoffensive golden beer in the modern style, but it was in good condition. I stayed only 10 or 15 minutes, long enough for a quiet chat with the owner and her only other customer, about which was the steepest hill for cyclists on the B6318, and for my hands to thaw out a little, before climbing back on my bike. I'd be happy to call in if passing this way again.
Date of visit: 23rd November 2019
On 7th April 2020
- rating: 6
[User has posted 4437 recommendations about 4075 pubs]
No known official website for this pub.
- CAMRA WhatPub :: The Samson Inn - whatpub.com
Brampton (Cumbria), 8.38 miles, 2 hr 41 min walk (show)
Bardon Mill, 10.48 miles, 3 hr 22 min walk (show)
Pub Details
Pub details supplied by members of this site to the best of their knowledge. Please check with pub directly before making a special trip.
- Accommodation : Yes last updated 07 April 2020 by Will Larter
- Beer Garden : Yes last updated 10 August 2025 by Will Larter
- Dog Friendly : Yes - Bar only - not in letting rooms - last updated 10 August 2025 by Will Larter
- Hot Food : Yes last updated 24 November 2019 by Will Larter
- Live TV Sports : No last updated 10 August 2025 by Will Larter
- Real Ale : Yes last updated 09 May 2014 by Dave McNally
- Real Cider : Yes last updated 10 August 2025 by Will Larter
- WiFi : Yes last updated 10 August 2025 by Will Larter
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