please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Quite a few customers in early Sunday evening, efficient staff, comfortable seating; 5 or 6 ales on, I indulged in Peerless 'Boadicea', a decent pint.
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Bit quiet on our midweek visit, easier to get a seat. I had Fyne Ales 'Vital Spark' [a dark tasty ale].
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A decent bar, mainly for the beer nerds. As a pub, not at all for me. A bit aloof and trendy.
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Bar staff still efficient & friendly on our recent visit. 7 handpumps with 6 ales on, I had Abbeydale 'Daily Bread' [a nice tasty ale] & Ridgeways 'Black Night' [a great song & a great stout, very nice].
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The beers okay and it's handy for the station (underneath it in fact) but I wouldn't add to the accolades - found it pretty average really.
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Newly opened venue in railway arch directly underneath Wigan North Western station. Definitely catering for the beer enthusiast market.
The centre of the arch is clear, and leads directly to the bar. Down the left hand side there is some (normal) tables and seating. On this wall there are real-time displays showing arrivals and departures from both Wigan stations. On the right hand side, the tables and seating have been arranged in the form of 3 railway compartments, complete with luggage racks ! There are also fake windows showing the “view” outside the train. [ We were disappointed these weren’t also animated ]
The beer consisted of 5 or 6 real ales on handpump, plus a similar number of craft keg lines. These are also shown on the large slowly scrolling screen above the bar. There is also a cupboard of bottled beers, with a beer list being available on the tables (the list isn’t as long as it looks as it is indexed both alphabetically and by style.)
On looking at the beer, I saw a brown ale, and asked for a pint of that, only to be told they didn’t serve it in pints – it was 11% ! In the end I had beers from Prospect and Siren, followed by a third of the aforementioned brown ale (Ay Hop Code Brown), and they were all excellent.
There is a newer second arch, but we didn’t go in there because it was “recovering” from a recent beer festival. They also do beer tasting sessions (10 beers for £17.50), and we will definitely be trying one of those soon.
CAMRA discount is given, though not widely advertised
9/10 – a must for anyone in the locality
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Good venue, friendly & efficient staff, smoking area to the front. There were 5 ales on I tried Bridgehouse 'Aired Ale' [smooth & tasty] and Bragdy Heavy Industry 'Collaborator [also smooth & tasty]. Well worth a visit if you are in Wigan.
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I don't know if the second arch was open when you went blue scrumpy but it's certainly made a difference with getting served at the bar. Love this place it really is a great venue and Wigan overall is becoming a must see for real ale fans in Greater Manchester.
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This place certainly rivals the Anvil for the best pub in Wigan award. It's located just under the railway line from Wigan North Western station in the railway arches. On my visit, ales were Prospect Totem & Nutty Slack, Colchester Cats Whiskers Cream Stout, Cumbrian Legendary Ales Loweswater Gold, Torrside Brewing Franconia, Pictish Amphora & Bad Seed Session IPA. Ciders were La Cantina Morning Glory & Amarena Perry, Sandford Orchards Bumbleberry & Ampleforth Abbey Cider. There is a bottled selection for carry outs. Unfortunately it was standing room only in here also. Being able to see the estimated train times is a great way of making the most of your drinking time. Another really good pub for Wigan.
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I also cannot fault Lezford's review as it entirely reflects our experience yesterday at the same time of day as his visit. Excellent ale choice, efficient staff, good prices, an unusual building and so handy for North Western station that I managed a very quick pint in the ten minutes between my arrival at the pub and departure time of my train. I will certainly be back as I regard Wigan as an ever-improving town for the beer drinker.
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Everything lezford said is spot on but just to add the pork pies are great too.
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The Wigan Central is a cracking bar under the railway arches by North Western station that somehow maintains a train station bar feel but it’s not on the station.
I rocked up just after 5.10pm straight from the match and before hundreds more people joined me! I was aiming to head back into town to tick a couple more pubs from the 2015 GBG but the town was on lockdown due to the earlier National March that had caused havoc in town.
7 cask pumps and 5 keg lines. All ales are priced as per their abv starting at £2.60 for 3.8%, £2.80 for cask beers under 4.0% up to £3.40 a pint for anything over 6.1%. Alongside the ales there is an extensive range of UK, European and American bottled beers, these are also available to take away.
Plenty of standing space, with old fashioned train carriage seating on 1 side and a couple of old oak barrels being used as tables.
I had time for 2 pints so I choose Celt Experience’s Native Storm @ 4.4% and Coach House Brewery Cheshire Gold @ 4.1%.
The are tv screens on the walls showing train times for both Wallgate and North Western stations.
I understand this place has made the 2016 GBG, if that is true then it’s an early tick for me. Though I’m not surprised if it has made the guide as it’s a superb place for a beer or 2 couple with good bar staff and great ales.
A real surprise for me to find this, 9/10 for me.
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The best of a not very good choice of real ale pubs in Wigan! Friendly staff, good choice of ales, very handy for both stations. Worth a visit.
alexw - 11 Oct 2015 12:36 |
Excellent new addition to the Wigan real ale scene. Underneath some arches under the railway line. The inside has seats like old railway carriages and a screen that gives you the next train at both wigan wallgate and central. The beers are mostly local with prospect being the main ones. A must visit.
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