Tracing the Rails

Within my immediate locality of Mill Hill/ Edgware there are several pubs with a connection to the railways, in Edgware there was the Railway Hotel opened in 1931, yards away from the original Edgware Station, terminus of the GNR branch line from Finsbury Park, alas both the railway station and pub have long been consigned to history. Over towards Mill Hill there’s the Bridge Tavern situated near the  M1 flyover and railway bridge that carries the Midland mainline and Mill Hill Broadway station. Further up Hale Lane is the Railway Tavern, which was constructed in 1867 to cater for railway navies working on the nearby railway line that was under construction at the time. These gabble of pubs represent a microcosm of the slew of public houses situated near train (and underground) stations around London named in tribute to the railways that branch around London.

The most common names that crop up are the The Railway (8 pubs), The Railway Tavern (7 pubs), The Railway Bell (4 pubs) and The Rocket (3 pubs). While most towns generally have one railway themed pub, some areas have bucked the trend like Gispy Hill, Battersea and New Barnet respectively. Railway themed pubs are usually situated nearby railway stations, although some have been constructed within the station complexes themselves like the Doric Arch (Euston), The Betjeman Arms (St. Pancras Int) or The Sir John Hawkshaw (Cannon Street). Some have pubs have repurposed former railway architecture, like The Parcel Yard at King’s Cross station which was built within the former parcel sorting offices, likewise The Station House in Acton is located within the former booking offices at Acton Central station, and Tap on the Line in Kew is situated within the former station buffet at Kew Gardens station. Various pubs have taken inspiration from railway architecture, like The Crossing in Barnes located near the rail crossing that straddles White Hart Lane, The Junction in Upminster derives from the multitude of rail routes that branch off from the local station, The Signal Box in Euston is located near the major rail termini, while in Forest Hill and Thornton Heath respectively there are pubs called the Railway Telegraph named in reference to the telegraph lines that once straddled the railway lines. Meanwhile there are more obscure instances that take inspiration from railway slang, like The Iron Horse in Sidcup, a micropub situated opposite the station that pays tribute to the pervasive terminology coined for steam locomotives, while The Surbiton Flyer in Surbiton located just outside the station is seemingly inspired by the express locomotives that used to speed through the station towards Surrey and beyond, its name has a double purpose as it also draws reference from the nickname coined for professional cyclist and local residence John Keen.  

Moreover, some pubs are named after railway stations like The Catford Bridge Tavern in Catford, near Catford Bridge station; and The Junction in Battersea which is located close to the entrance of Clapham Junction station. A few yards up Lavender Hill is another railway themed pub The London and South Western, its name derives from the L&SWR (London and South-Western), a railway company which existed between 1838 - 1922 that managed routes from London to places like Southampton, Dorchester, Weymouth, Exeter and formerly Padstow, its extant lines still go through Clapham Junction. There are other instances of pubs being named local railway lines like The Great Southern in Gipsy Hill, the station of its namesake is currently run by Southern, while north of the river The North London in Kilburn is situated near Brondesbury Station on the north London line, likewise The Great Northern Railway Tavern in Hornsey is located near the station that is owned by Great Northern. Back in the steam age, a great number of locomotives were given nameplates, some have been reflected in pubs like The North Star in Ealing, named after Robert Stephenson’s broad gauge GWR locomotive built in 1836 that once straddled the routes between Paddington to Bristol. A more recent example is The Kentish Belle in Bexley named a locomotive that formerly ran on the nearby mainline from London towards Faversham and Canterbury East between 1948 to 1959. The Rocket is currently the most common example among locomotive names for pubs in London, another Stephenson locomotive it notably ran that first steam hauled passenger service between Liverpool to Manchester in 1830, and its design provided the template for steam locomotives going forward. A number of notable luminaries from the railway industry have also been namechecked in pubs, like The Brunel in Rotherhithe named after civil engineers Marc and Isambard Kingdom Brunel who developed the Thames Tunnel, markedly the first underground commuter tunnel built under the Thames, completed in 1843. Another example The Sir John Hawkshaw in Tower Hill, references the civil engineer who was intially responsible for navigating routes and branch lines in Lancashire and Manchester, before moving to London in 1850 where he developed L&SER routes from Charing Cross and Cannon Street, the East London line and the District Line that runs through Tower Hill station. The Charles Holden in Colliers Wood namechecks another designer of note, architect Charles Holden who designed a number of underground stations during the 1920’s and 1930’s noted for their distinct art-deco appearance, including Colliers Wood. Another railway pub that pays tribute to its heritage is The Lord Aberconway in Liverpool Street, named after Liberal MP Charles McLaren – Lord Aberconway, who was the chairman of the Metropolitan Railway between 1904 – 1933, which happens to run through this station. St Pancras is likewise another major rail termini that has a railway themed pub, The Betjeman Arms, named after poet laureate John Betjeman who successfully campaigned to save the gothic mid-Victorian station building designed by George Gilbert-Scott from destruction in the 1960’s. Overall its quite understandable for a city with such an extensive and integrated rail network to have a sizeable number of railway themed pubs that pay tribute to its rich railway heritage, from namechecking rail routes, referencing architectural features, notable luminaries, iconic steam locomotives, to common names like The Railway Tavern or The Rocket for instance, London has it all.