Oldest Station Bar?

[CarltonA]

I was in the Victoria & Albert at Marylebone recently. Right by the street entrance there is what appears to be an original bench and panelling. Looking up at the old ceiling as well, I was wandering has this allways been a bar or refreshment room since the station opened in 1899? Are there any others on Network Rail that have been in continous use for longer, barring any refits over the years? I think there may be one at Huddersfield that I read about once. And now I think about it the Three Guineas at Reading may be older.

 

[cuccir]

The original station building at Heighington station is now the 'Locomotion Number 1. Pub'. The building was opened in 1825 - I don't know if it served alcohol back then but if it did then it may just about count!

Edit-

Although a quick search shows that it has not been continuously open for that period of time, so probably not.

 

[davetheguard]

I was in the Victoria & Albert at Marylebone recently. Right by the street entrance there is what appears to be an original bench and panelling. Looking up at the old ceiling as well, I was wandering has this allways been a bar or refreshment room since the station opened in 1899? Are there any others on Network Rail that have been in continous use for longer, barring any refits over the years? I think there may be one at Huddersfield that I read about once. And now I think about it the Three Guineas at Reading may be older.

I believe the building that is now the Three Guineas pub at Reading dates from 1867, but it's main use in the late 70s/early 80s was as the ticket office and main entrance to the station. There was also an advance ticket/ information office ("Travel Centre" in the parlance of the time) with an entrance facing the main road.

It was only in 1989 when a new concourse/ticket office was built on the site of the former Reading South station that the old 1867 building was turned in to the Three Guineas pub; although some of the upstairs offices were kept in railway use.

Initially, it was possible to enter the pub from the platform as well from the road outside; there was a door from what was then platform 4 (now renumbered 7), but that was closed off when ticket gates were re-introduced at the station.

 

[CarltonA]

Now you mention it Dave, I can remember it from the seventies when the station was still called Reading General.

 

[ianhr]

I believe the V&A bar at Marylebone is the original GCR bar. There is also the 'Dome' Refreshment Room at Manchester Victoria which is the original L&YR refreshment room, I'm not sure what date it was built but along with the street entrance canopy, ticket office, wall map & war memorial it forms a collection of memorable architecture from the pre-grouping period which has miraculously survived the devastation of the rest of the station.

 

[kevconnor]

The cafe at Nottingham station is certainly not an original but I think some of the food still available in it may well predate the station itself.

 

[anti-pacer]

The cafe at Nottingham station is certainly not an original but I think some of the food still available in it may well predate the station itself.

 

[Darren R]

There is also the 'Dome' Refreshment Room at Manchester Victoria which is the original L&YR refreshment room, I'm not sure what date it was built but along with the street entrance canopy, ticket office, wall map & war memorial it forms a collection of memorable architecture from the pre-grouping period which has miraculously survived the devastation of the rest of the station.

The buffet at Manchester Victoria only dates from the rebuild of the station completed in 1905 - 09, and was originally the Grill Room and First Class Restaurant.

Stalybridge station bar dates from 1885 and is still in use.

 

[ianhr]

The bar on the UP platform at Dewsbury is also in a Pre-Grouping (LNWR) station building but I'm not sure if the rooms it occupies now were originally refreshment rooms.

Of course Man Vic-Stalybridge-Huddersfield-Dewsbury makes quite a good crawl of interesting station bars on the same route, with good beer too. Part of the well known Rail Ale Trail but it is now starting to annoy the locals, regular travellers and railway staff due to anti-social behaviour. It is worth doing if you have not visited the area but avoid Fridays and Saturdays!

 

[rdeez]

On a related topic how common were bars for staff in the past, either on the national rail or tube network? I once visited a staff break room at Camden Town with a friend who worked there and there was an old bar on one side of the room which he led me to believe was formerly used by drivers and other staff!

 

[IanD]

Bridlington station buffet/bar is the original (station opened in 1846, not sure about the buffet) and very nice it is too.

 

[Shimbleshanks]

Not sure if it's the oldest, but the station buffet at Bangor has some pretty old fittings. At one stage I think it was on the Campaign for Real Ale's inventory of historic pubs (www.heritagepubs.org.uk) but was taken out owing to a change of policy (possibly because it didn't exclusively serve alcohol). The site does list the Station Bar at Stalybridge though.

 

[Gwenllian2001]

The station bar at Cymmer Afan has been there for at least a hundred years although it's many years since a train called there.

 

[thelem]

How old is the bar on the Bristol Temple Meads platforms?