For those of us who believe that, at some level, it is better to travel than arrive; for those of us who like to savour the process of moving from A to B, the state of Britain's railway stations is a source of some dismay.
Few British stations are places to linger or socialise. With the odd, honourable exception (St Pancras), most modernised stations are simply shopping centres, with trains, while the older, larger stations are dank, filthy, windblown holes, with none of the gritty character that might imply. It is a situation that may soon get worse, too. One of the Con-Dem government's first budget cuts slashed a £50m grant meant to fast-track the regeneration of Britain's 10 worst stations, including such benighted hubs as Manchester Victoria and Clapham Junction.
However, one thing is slowly (very slowly) improving at British stations, and that's their pubs.
The last few years have seen a small but significant renaissance of the station pub. In northern England, particularly, the regional railway lines are now dotted with good on-platform pubs, such as the Steam House at Urmston, Greater Manchester, and the Jubilee Refreshment Rooms at Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire. Not only do such places improve the day-to-day rail experience of local commuters, but they are often destinations in their own right.
The trans-Pennine route - which takes in Stalybridge Station Buffet Bar; Huddersfield's two on-station pubs, the Head of Steam and King's Head; and Dewsbury's West Riding Licensed Refreshment Rooms - is renowned for offering a great mix of well-kept beers, good, affordable food, interesting pub architecture, and multiple opportunities for gawping at trains. If you like any of the above, it is a great day out.
The success of the Sheffield Tap, meanwhile, a handsome renovation of a previously abandoned, Grade II-listed, 1904 restaurant and bar, at Sheffield station, is of an entirely different order. Where most station pubs are in rural locations, this is a speciality beer pub (20 draught beers, over 200 by-the-bottle) of real character, at a mainline, city-centre station. And it couldn't be busier. It was opened in December by beer importer and bar owner Jamie Hawksworth, in collaboration with Thornbridge Brewery, and plans are already in place to extend the Tap's main bar - all dark woods, picture windows and vintage tilework. Phase three, which should be completed next year, will see the further renovation of another "beautiful old room".
Thornbridge director Simon Webster says: "We calculated what the through-put of beer would be by the end of the year and we exceeded it within three months. It was phenomenal - 100,000 people pass through the station every week. If you get 1% of those, you've got a thousand people, but it's become far more than that. It's a destination. With no joke intended, it does have excellent transport links. We hear about groups [coming] from Stockport, Nottingham, Leeds. They jump on a train and it drops them outside. It's that easy."
In an ideal world, station managers would be inspired by this. It's the kind of activity that would, you imagine, boost the economy and atmosphere at any station. As Webster puts it: "Up until now, pubs in stations have not had the greatest of reputations. Hopefully, this can herald a change." However, looking at the convoluted decade-long gestation of the Jubilee Refreshment Rooms, and the lack of enthusiasm that Hawksworth encountered when trying to generate interest in the Sheffield Tap, it seems that Network Rail, the train operating companies, investors and local regeneration agencies, all of whom have a stake in this, have yet to realise the potential of good station pubs.
In the meantime, we're stuck, for the most part, with awful, identikit on-station boozers. You know the kind of thing: a chain-owned barn of a place, playing chart pop at top volume; Sky Sports News on mute on a big screen; prices that'll make your eyes water; barely edible food. This review of several London station pubs sums up the soul-destroying nature of the beast, perfectly.
Which is why we need to know of any other exceptions to the rule. The Good Beer Guide-listed Mad Bishop & Bear at Paddington, for instance, and the Centurion at Newcastle's Central Station are both widely considered to be a cut-above, but where's your favourite station pub?
