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Submitted on Sunday, 15th January 2023
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Detail Pages
Railway Inn, Winscombe
Sandford
Postal town: Winscombe
BS25 5RA
Served areas
Reviews of Railway Inn (Average Rating: 8 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blackthorn _ left this review about Railway Inn
Since my previous review, the pub has been shut for some time for an extensive refurbishment, and in fact, a massive expansion. Now known as a “Cider House & Kitchen”, which makes a change from the ubiquitous bar and kitchen, the original front part of the pub remains but the rear walls have been knocked out and this opens out in to a large bar area with a vaulted ceiling and beyond this a large barn like building which is used as a restaurant. Workmanship is of a very high quality, clearly the production side of the business is going from strength to strength and no expense has been spared.
The bar at the front manages to retain it’s cosy ambience despite the lack of a rear wall with it’s low beamed ceiling adorned with plenty of pewter tankards, a real fire down at the far end, comfy sofas, grandfather clock and exposed stonework. A stone fire-place was at the other end, although this was just filled with a stack of logs. What must at one time have been a small rear room if I recall, the loos and perhaps a kitchen have been opened out in to a large bar area with a counter running along the back wall. The bar counter itself is quite impressive having a carved wooden front featuring some information about Thatcher’s and various motifs of cider apple trees. Although there was limited seating here, a couple of large cider barrels provided somewhere to rest your pint. The loos have been moved to a mezzanine level and the staircase was liberally plastered with apple and cider related photos including some of the factory and key family members.
The conservatory at the rear was more contemporary in style with full height windows running around two sides which gave good views out to the garden and patio area which has also been nicely refurbished with wicker furniture. Flooring in the restaurant was predominantly slate tiles and the vaulted ceiling included plenty of oak beams. Further apple related carved woodworks adorned the walls and a cider rack was stacked against a feature purple wall at the far end as well as more apple and cider pictures on the walls. The menu was a step or two up from your normal pub grub with even ham, egg & chips coming in at £13.50. That said, we had three courses each and everything was very, very good indeed, I would definitely recommend it. There was also a bar snack menu that consisted of a bowl of chips, scotch egg and such like. Staff too were unfailingly friendly and very switched on and efficient.
Beers on tap were Butcombe Rare Breed, Proper Job and Gem, although as might be expected cider is the main focus here and there were no less than nine on tap, all from Thatcher’s – Dry, Gold, Old Rascal, Green Goblin, Haze, Heritage, Cheddar Valley, Traditional and Red. All in all, well worth a visit.
On 18th January 2016
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1949 recommendations about 1862 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blackthorn _ left this review about Railway Inn
As others have said, very much improved since Thatcher's took it on a year or two back. It's had a bit of a spruce up, and the rear bar seems now more geared up for dining compared to the rather rough and ready local's bar that I seem to recall from my last visit. It's an attractive pub with a good selection of hanging baskets and flower troughs adorning the front of the pub, and an old railway signal attached to the pub sign to remind you that there was in fact once a real railway here.
The front bar sports a plasma, quiz machine and a darts board but none of that was intrusive and it seemed a pleasant place to just sit and sup your pint. It was a nice day though, so we ventured out in to the adjacent pleasant garden. There were unfortunately a few wasps buzzing around, but I guess that's inevitable with all the cider orchards in the vicinity. If we want our cider, we must put up with such trivial annoyances!
Landlady was very friendly, and there was a good choice from the “pub grub” menu, including some slightly more unusual dishes such as a sausage sandwich, which Mrs. Blackthorn found most agreeable. The only downside was really the loos which seem to have escaped the refurbishment and were quite smelly.
Beers on offer were Doom Bar, Butcombe and Proper Job, plus keg Henry’s Smooth. Ciders were entirely from Thatcher’s as you might expect, with their Gold, Dry and Traditional.
On 6th September 2010
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1949 recommendations about 1862 pubs]
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- Official site of Railway Inn - www.therailwayinn.com
- Facebook - The Railway Inn
- CAMRA WhatPub :: Railway Inn - whatpub.com
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 : No last updated 02 August 2015 by ROB Camra
- Bar Billiards : No last updated 30 November 2015 by Jonathan Wilde
- Beer Festivals : No last updated 02 August 2015 by ROB Camra
- Beer Garden : Yes last updated 02 August 2015 by ROB Camra
- CAMRA Discount : No last updated 02 August 2015 by ROB Camra
- Car Park : Yes - Horse and bike parking too - last updated 30 November 2015 by Jonathan Wilde
- Child Friendly : Yes last updated 02 August 2015 by ROB Camra
- Darts : No last updated 30 November 2015 by Jonathan Wilde
- Dog Friendly : Yes last updated 02 August 2015 by ROB Camra
- Function Room : No last updated 02 August 2015 by ROB Camra
- Hot Food : Yes last updated 02 August 2015 by ROB Camra
- Jukebox : No last updated 30 November 2015 by Jonathan Wilde
- Karaoke : No last updated 30 November 2015 by Jonathan Wilde
- Live Music : No last updated 02 August 2015 by ROB Camra
- Live TV Sports : No last updated 02 August 2015 by ROB Camra
- Micropub : No last updated 02 August 2015 by ROB Camra
- Pinball : No last updated 30 November 2015 by Jonathan Wilde
- Pool Table : No last updated 30 November 2015 by Jonathan Wilde
- Quiz Night : No last updated 30 November 2015 by Jonathan Wilde
- Real Ale : Yes last updated 02 August 2015 by ROB Camra
- Real Cider : Yes last updated 02 August 2015 by ROB Camra
- Wheelchair Access : Yes last updated 30 November 2015 by Jonathan Wilde
- WiFi : Yes - Requires code, not visible - last updated 30 November 2015 by Jonathan Wilde
