The Old Station Inn & Carriage Restaurant, Hallatrow

The Old Station

Bric-a-brac. The first thing that strikes you when you enter the Old Station Inn at Hallatrow in Somerset is bric-a-brac. The pub is full of it. There doesn’t seem to be an inch of free wall or ceiling space. But that’s part of what makes this such a charming and unique pub and restaurant.

There are beer mats and pump clips, of course, and lamps hanging from the beamed ceilings. There are old pictures, signs and adverts, and cushions all around the hotch potch of furniture. Here: a wall-mounted bicycle; there: half a Citroen 2CV. I’m even fairly certain I saw a mechanical sausage machine clamped to one of the settles.

There is such an eclectic mix of arcana and memorabilia, customers will still be finding new wonders on their hundredth visit. The higgledy-piggledy nature of the three drinking areas makes this an utterly welcoming and relaxing place to ‘dig in’ and ride out the wintry storms outside (even when there aren’t any).

Included in CAMRA’s Good Beer Guide for 2014, the Old Station boasts an excellent pint of Butcombe Bitter, as well as owner Brain’s Brewery’s ‘Reverend James’, a bitter-sweet malty beer from Cardiff.

To the rear is the Carriage Restaurant, a full size Pullman railway carriage lovingly refurbished and decked out in the style of the carriages pulled by the original Flying Scotsman. As well as simple lunchtime fare, there is an excellent evening menu including Gressingham Duck breast with forest berry sauce, or risotto-filled roasted butternut squash, or imaginatively presented steak or fish dishes.

For the warmer months, there is a sundeck and extensive rear garden complete with a wood burning stove and, to complete the ‘I-never-expected-that’ feel of the whole place, a nine hole crazy golf course!

Nestling in the middle of a triangle made by Bristol, Bath and Wells, this is an ideal base from which to explore the South West, and there are five well-appointed rooms available in a converted outbuilding.

But whether drinking, eating or staying, this is a pub that cries out not just to be visited, but to be explored.

The Old Station Inn & Carriage Restaurant, Wells Road, Hallatrow, Somerset BS39 6EN
Tel: (01761) 452 228
Or visit http://www.theoldstationandcarriage.co.uk