Hungerford sits nicely just inside what was once the Network South East zone, making this a rather easy destination from the London/Reading direction. Not much comfort to those arriving from the west, but a change at Newbury or Reading is easy enough.
A simple, two platform affair, Hungerford station opened in 1847 and for 15 years served as the temporary terminus of the Berks & Hants Line from Reading.
Unstaffed from 1971, the station serves nearly 300,000 passengers a year. If you're particularly lucky, you might catch a rail tour passing through, or occasionally using the loop to the east of the station. When closed, the level crossing at the western end of the station makes a great and more importantly safe vantage point for seeing anything interesting.
Hungerford station was the scene of catastrophic derailment in 1971, when a Westbury - Theale stone train derailed on the embankment to the west of the station. At the time, Hungerford Signal Box stood next to the level crossing and was pretty well demolished by the crash. Incredibly, no one was injured, not even the signal man working the box at the time.
Looking east we see the site of the former goods shed and yard on the right hand side of the photo. The area is now the car park and an industrial estate as is so often the case these days. Before the days of the lorry and dual carriageway, the goods yard saw traffic for coal merchants, agricultural goods as well as watercress.
Hungerford has a rather good online museum which has plenty of interesting pictures and information about the station and the town in general. Have a click of the link at the bottom of this post for a look.
The first pub visited on this particular romp is the appropriately named Railway Tavern.
A Fuller's house, the Railway is nicely kept inside and out. The interior is well decorated inside with old photos of the area on the walls, as well as a set of caricatures of the regulars. Friday and Saturday nights are good for live music and the pub also has sports on as well as a quiz night and pool and darts. On our visit London Pride was the only ale on offer, but it was in good form and the barmaid looked like she knew what she was doing.
Quiet on a Friday afternoon, the Railway Tavern is a good place to have a swift half whilst waiting for the train. BoBB certainly approved.
Leaving the Railway (pub), and heading left down the footpath that runs parallel with the railway (line) you'll find yourself on the High Street of Hungerford. On said High Street you'll find the Three Swans hotel, and if you turn right after you've gone in the door you'll be in the rather smart public bar.
The little bar was lively on a Friday afternoon and had a good friendly atmosphere. On the bar we found Fuller's London Pride and an offering from local brewery Ramsbury, Sunsplash. We gave the London Pride a miss and went straight for the Sunsplash. A tasty golden ale, Sunsplash was refreshing with the light fruity flavour you'd expect from this sort of beer and also fairly bitter. The name was fairly appropriate for the weather, as the lashing rain was causing plenty of splashing outside.
Supping up and heading for the door, we noticed an interesting poster. The poster proclaimed there was a weekend long beer festival, starting on the very day we were stood there reading about it! A quick word with the barman and we were in the spacious lounge of the hotel, where that most exciting of sights greeted our eyes: a scaffold.
Featuring 8 beers from around the country and a couple of ciders, we were made up. Knowing time was against us, we set ourselves up with halves of Plain Ales Innocence, and Ramsbury Bitter. The Innocence was another good quality, refreshing gold beer whilst the Bitter was a nice amber number, the clue is in the name.
As we left, we caught a glimpse of one of the swans, the other two presumably being on a break.
Heading down the street and crossing the Kennet & Avon Canal, our final stop was the recently refurbished John O' Gaunt. If you had been in here before its recent closing, you really won't recognise the place inside. The rejigged bar as well as a good lick of paint give the place a nice airy feel and another friendly welcome greeted us.
With 6 hand pumps and a number of local ciders, there's pretty much always a beer festival on. Mark, the guvnor offers the option of 3 thirds of different beer for the price of one pint. I'm a big fan of this system as it gives you a chance to try a good selection without going on a massive bender.
Beers from Navigation, Vale Brewery Co. and the Rebel Brewing Co. made up the 3 and were all in good condition. There was also a treat from a new brewery, Siren on offer. Myself and a gang of beer lads has attended the launch event for the brewery in London and I was very pleased to see Liquid Mistress on offer in West Berkshire. If this beer is anything to go by we can expect great things from Siren so keep an eye out. You can read more about the event in the West Berkshire CAMRA newsletter 'Ullage' by following the link below.
Finishing off with half of Two Cocks Brewery excellent Roundhead Bitter we managed to catch a break in the cloud, and made a dart for the station and home.
There are other great pubs in Hungerford as well as antiques shops and walking on the Kennet & Avon canal. Something for everyone. Well, most.
Find out more:
Ullage Newsletter
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