The Railway, Belper

Please Note: This review is over a year old.

Pub SignMan left this review about The Railway

Spacious pub close to the station, as the name suggests, with a wet-led feel to it despite the strong food offering. The pub has a relatively open-plan layout, with the servery over to the right and ample seating through the rest of the space. To the left of the entrance is a separate carpeted seating area with nice button backed banquettes along the end wall with plenty of tables and chairs under nice wall panels and fancy wallpaper. This space is screened from the main bar area by a large section of partitioning wall which isn’t retained on the similarly styled right-hand side of the room, resulting in a less cosy feel despite similar furnishing. The bar has a nice wood panelled counter and basic bar back, split part way along by a large pillar which the beer bards have been helpfully tacked to. The room extends back, beyond the servery, into a fairly plain rear space where plenty of extra seating can be found. Soul tunes were playing at a sensible volume in the background and there was a nice buzz from a diverse crowd, many of whom seemed to be dolled up for a big night out somewhere.
Apparently this pub used to be the town’ fighting men’s boozer, but has undergone something of a transformation and is now pretty respectable, with a good ale range to show for it. Options on this visit amounted to Lincoln Green Hood, Buttermuch, Archer, Marion and Tuck, Butcombe Original and Holdens Golden Glow. My pint of Hood was in very good condition and was served to me by a super-friendly barman.
I can well imagine this place as a typical, depressing station-side boozer that everyone swerves upon arriving in town, but they’ve clearly done a great job turning the place around, as I found it to be a very welcoming pub with great beer and a cracking atmosphere. Not quite in the Belper’s top tier, but a great pub to start or end a crawl at nevertheless.

On 4^th September 2023 - rating: 7
[User has posted 3322 recommendations about 3322 pubs]