Steam & Beer

[redtoon1892]

There used to be a "Golden Arrow" pub in Acocks Green, had a painting of a Bullied unmodified pulling the train up behind the counter and a same painting hanging on the board outside the pub. I think it may have been demolished by now as this was in the early 80s.

[woberty]

Yeah my wife thinks that correct and remembers Bowmans Mill. where BQ was.
She says, where the present offices are now, on the the left handside of the station exit. Used to be Station Hotel.

In the autumn of last year, we were in Hitchin. May i ask what they were doing on the opposite side of the tracks to the carpark. seemed to be alot of scrap, waste etc ..

[redtoon1892]

For 52A The Flying Scotsman Pub.
Local urban legend has it the the Flying Scotsman loco was driven past the pub on the day it opened and blew its whistle.
This must be an old pic as Vaux breweries demised quite a while ago, I dont know if the pub still exists.

[Autocar Publicity]

I'm afraid I'm going to let the side down by mentioning non LNER places...

In Wales at Porthmadog there is the Station Inn on platform 2, at Abergynolwyn there is the Railway Inn which in the heyday of the Tal y Llyn saw the odd wagon handshunted past on tram type rails but never had a train within half a mile or so of it.

There is the Station at Ribblehead, which has been described as an oasis of civilisation in the midst of desolation - a bit poetic, but accurately describes the feelings of many a walker on a bleak day.

On the Severn Valley, the railway has its bars at Bridgnorth and Kidderminster - a few years ago I called in on the way to Wales to find they had a beer and cider festival going on, it was lunchtime and I'd done my stint of the driving so I sampled a few. We took a return trip down to Kiddy and went past the safari park. This was the first time I'd travelled on that bit of the line and I didn't know about the park...so when I looked out of the window to see a pair of elephants, I had one hell of a jolt!

In Ilkley, there is the Midland opposite the station, but have not been in yet, so don't know if it's any good. The Cambrian in Aberystwyth used to be about ten years ago, it was a favorite watering hole when I lived in Wales.

Has anyone else played signboard cricket to while away the time whilst driving?

[52A]

For 52A The Flying Scotsman Pub.
Local urban legend has it the the Flying Scotsman loco was driven past the pub on the day it opened and blew its whistle.
This must be an old pic as Vaux breweries demised quite a while ago, I dont know if the pub still exists.

There was also a tale that Peglar had asked permission to stop at the pub whilst passing with a rail tour to have a token pint, this was refused by BR!

[52D]

The engines Victoria and Comet refferred to in an earlier post were two locos belonging to the Newcastle & Carlisle railway.

[giner]

I sort of like the idea of the driving wheels motif on the front of the Flying Scotsman pub, but the esthetic looks a bit off. Reminds me a little of the wagon wheel motifs one sees on 'old west' style bars in some of the small towns in these here parts, pardner.

[hq1hitchin]

Cannot match Bob Hope, I'm afraid but I did travel once from Euston to Chester with Alan Pegler some years ago. A charming travelling companion and the miles flew by, for me at least. He does like the occasional drink but can't imagine he'd want to stop a train and disappear inside for a swift one! What a debt of gratitude we owe that man. Getting back on topic a bit, I'm surprised there are so few boozers with railway names in the vicinity of the Euston Road, a dire area for pubs in general

[StevieG]

Yes, surprising, that.
We have got the rather modern-day and generally vague, railway-wise, "Euston Flyer" about halfway between Euston & KX, in the same block as the old BR(E)'s KX Divisional offices known as Great Northern House (now St.Pancras YHA hostel), opposite what is now the British Library, the site of the former MR's Somerstown Goods depot, but I'm pretty sure that the EF bar's premises was a not a drinking establishment in those times.
Even the "Head of Steam", in the bottom of one of BR's later black tower blocks outside Euston, has not long been changed to be "The Doric Arch". Although much of the railwayana inside the former's ground floor windows is no longer visible, I believe at least some of the pieces upstairs within, remain.

[redtoon1892]

"Am i correct, that the term Sand Dancer relates to a now shut pub/club on the seafront ? and is/was a nickname for people from Shields."

Correct on both counts Woberty. But from South Shields only.

By the way, anyone from South Shields wont thank you for calling them a Sand Dancer, its a sort of derogatory term originating I believe from the pits and building sites.

[Bryan]

"Am i correct, that the term Sand Dancer relates to a now shut pub/club on the seafront ? and is/was a nickname for people from Shields."

But a SANDGROUNDER is from where?

[redtoon1892]

Southport

[Bryan]

Correct.

[silver fox]

These are the two nearest the NRM

[hq1hitchin]

That's great - I'll go with the 5XP, Mark, but what is that supposed to be on the sign for The Junction - could it be one of those engines that were ordered from the USA by our railways in the early part of the 20th Century when all the workshop capacity here was taken with orders? None of them seemed to last very long, that's for sure