October - Railway (Portwood)
Railway, Portwood
1 Auenue Street, Portwood, Stockport SK1 2BZ
The Stockport & South Manchester CAMRA Pub of the Month for October is the Railway on Avenue Street, Portwood. Mike Gilroy goes there a lot.
Since 2008 Sue and Vince Mathers have been working hard to keep the Railway on the map. Between them and their team of knowledgeable bar staff they have done a great job.
The Railway is situated opposite The Peel Centre on Portwood and looks like an average street corner pub (and as our picture shows there is currently no name outside). However, upon entering it is apparent this is not the case.
On the bar there are ten hand pulled ales permanently available from breweries such as Outstanding, Moorhouses, Rossendale and Thornbridge to name but a few. In addition there's a rotating guest mild and an additional is available at the weekend. With an array of German, Belgian and other world beers available by the bottle and on draught there is something for everyone. A real cider and perry can always be found (via Merrylegs), along with a great choice of bottled cider. Indeed, the Railway is Stockport & South Manchester CAMRA branch's cider pub of the year (and not for the first time).
The pub has a warm and friendly atmosphere and can get very busy at times - it has the feel of, and indeed is, a proper community local. The bar billiards table is well used and is great fun. There is a model railway that runs above the bar, if you ask Sue or Vince nicely enough they may start it up for you to see. On every other Sunday there's a pub quiz and there are regular music nights and acoustic jam sessions. Notices around the pub say who is playing and when.
In the past Sue and Vince have held several successful beer festivals and cider festivals, while tutored cider tastings are starting to become a feature on the pub's calendar.
So why not come and join Sue, Vince and the staff on Thursday 22nd October when we present this latest addition to the Railway's award collection.