Stalybridge Buffet Bar

If you are a railway or real ale enthusiast, this is a must visit! As station buffet bars go, this is right up there with the best of them! The walls are crammed full of old photographs and memorabilia and I spent a very enjoyable 15 minutes exploring! The atmosphere is very warm and cosy, and the bar staff friendly. I enjoyed a sausage roll that was still hot when I visited.
The Stalybridge Buffet features on ‘The Transpennine Real Ale Train Trail’ and features some interesting real ales.

Lovely pub on Stalybridge station with an interesting range of ales and beers and railway memorabilia all over the walls. One of the ‘Ale Trail’ pubs.

A charming little station pub. I wasn’t on the ale trail, just happened to be in the area, so popped in a for a couple of quick pints prior to my train.
There’s an interesting selection of ales, all seemingly well-​kept, the barman was pretty friendly, and the pub is cosy. What more do you need?

Now, this review is well overdue, but I’m getting around to sharing all these adventures as quickly as I can. So, a few weeks back, a small crew of Unilocalers and I did the famous Ale Trail. We couldn’t have lucked out on a better day, the sun was out in full force, and the trains were relatively peaceful (at first) considering it was Bank Holiday weekend.
This stop was either first or second, I can’t quite recall, as we weren’t going the trad route due to timings. I’d read ahead and found out that they do a bit of grub, but if you’re in the business of a massive lunch don’t count on it. We spotted they had a number of hand made pies on offer, but besides mushy peas, nothing else comes with. I’d hoped for chips, but no joy!
The service at the bar is sound enough, not overly friendly I’d say (perhaps as we were obviously not local and known) but certainly was friendly enough. I had the Moonraker Mild by Empire Brewing, which was decent and well kept, and set me up well enough alongside the pie. They come out really quickly, which is perfect if you’re hungry, and have lashings of gravy and peas — a solid sturdy choice, tasty, but not amazing. However, at something like a fiver ish for both, who’s complaining? Not me.
There’s a bit of a ‘garden’ out the back, more of a concrete area to drink and smoke, but the conservatory leading there is a gorgeous room. It’s an oddly laid out bar, but I love the rustic décor and odd bits of railway signage you get in these places. I guess, with any station bar, there’s an air of transience about it — it’s hard to get a homely feel when you know a lot of custom will come and go — but you can’t fault the bar for it really. It’s a fine place to sup a pint, and I recommend it on the trail. At this point it was buzzing but not busy, so perhaps around 3pm is the ideal time for an initial pint!

This pub is known as the last place on the Ale Trail (if you aren’t hardcore and don’t want to continue your drink in Manchester) and the signal that after this you’re well out of Yorkshire. I have never stepped into Stalybridge much before as I haven’t really had a reason to. It’s usually an infrequent stop which you have to pass on your way to Manchester Piccadilly. I shall be doing so more in future though!
One word… PIES.
I really loved the pies in this pub. They were really good value for money. Despite cocking up my order and giving me mushy peas instead of garden peas I really enjoyed my meat and potato pie! £3.95 too! What a deal!
Some of the drinks to be fair are a lil expensive, but they are good. I was unlucky enough to pick the ale which is £5.50 for a pint?! I am from South Yorkshire. Saying £5.50 is like speaking French to me. At least the drinks should all be listed on a board like they do in Dewsbury’s West Riding? Despite all this it’s a great pub, with a beautiful beer garden and a nice view of the Pennines. I went for half a pint of Attila for around £2.90 and a can of Brooklyn India Pale Ale for around £3.50. these were all well over the 6% alcohol mark!
If you are from Leeds i recommend this as a first stop and working your way up the trail and if you’re from Manchester having this as a last stop and starting from Dewsbury. It’s like stepping into time coming in here! Being able to get cash back is useful too.

For those of you who are unaware, there is something called the Transpennine Real Ale Train Trail, which take advantages of the fact that — for reasons I am not clear — the Huddersfield Line railway is unique in the UK in retaining licensed premises at many of its stations. This means the a «train pub crawl» is very achievable without actually exiting the railway property (there are also some recommended additions, such as the Riverhead Brewery Tap in Marsden, that are only a short distance from the station).
One of the better offerings is the Station Buffet at Stalybridge — nicely arranged, good selection of ales, and good service, good «pub grub». On the unseasonably warm October afternoon I visited the demand was such that tables and chairs had been set up in the adjacent station car park to serve the clientele!

Ever wished you could visit the train station café in Brief Encounter? The Stalybridge Buffet Bar is the next best thing! But instead of traditional cakes and coffees served by a busybody in an old-​school waitress outfit, you’ll find wonderful real ales, hearty pub grub and a warm welcome!
Popular with beer and rail enthusiasts alike, the buffet bar offers a great selection of beers from local breweries, which you can drink on picnic tables on the platform or inside. There’s quite a bit of seating, particularly in the conservatory. But be warned; it’s a popular place and fills up quickly! The food is basic, but oh-​so good! Think pies and mushy peas, sausage butties and other guilty pleasures.
Apparently there’s a rail pub crawl you can do with this pub, which was featured on the ‘Oz and James Drink to Britain’ TV show. It involves taking a train from Dewsbury to Huddersfield and Stalybridge. All three stations have a brilliant real pub onsite, so you can have a lovely pint in each!

My tip is to always make sure you arrive at Stalybridge station 30 minutes early for your train so that you can grab a pint or cup of coffee (if your train is too early in the day for beer!).
Surrounded by photos and railway memorabilia from yesteryear, it really feels as though you’ve stepped back in time.
The lady serving me was a real character too — chatting away as if she’d always known me. Perfect!

Good beer, rude owner. Don’t try to help by collecting glasses from outside cos you’ll get shouted at!
Beer ¹⁰⁄₁₀.
Manners and customer service skills of owner ⁰⁄₁₀

I visit Stalybridge a lot as i have family there. The Station buffet bar is an absolute gem. I dont know of a better place to be on a early evening than having pie and mushy peas with gravey and a pint of one of their many real ales whose hand pumps fill the top of the bar. The world seems a better place once i get to the station.

Excellent real ale and black peas and roaring real fire on a cold winter night.

Excellent beer, a real eclectic mix of people, good prices and some cheap food and snacks. Well worth a visit.

A Mecca for real ale enthusiasts, and trainspotters, is the bar at Stalybridge station. You can watch Class 66’s or even 60’s go through on the ‘bins’ whilst supping a superb selection of ales. What I like about this is that there is always a good variety of ales, pales, darks, milds, etc. Cheese pie with gravy on, and mushy peas, mmmm. Just the job. I think I’ll pop in again today.
The end room has been demolished for rebuilding, but there’s lots of nooks and crannies firther up, with maps and photos of the good old days when trains were trains and women were women!
Happy days.