please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Visited on a Saturday earlier this month.
Can't fault the beer.Had 3 excellent pints of Timothy Taylor's Golden Best.There was also a dark mild on from Dunham Massey and a number of bitters.
But the kitchen was closed due to staff shortage.
Saturday,the trains are running but no food at Trackside. Strange business model.
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At Bury Bolton Street station.
Always a good selection of beers.
I always come here when I am in bury.
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This place was easily my favourite pub of the day. It's the original station refreshment rooms and is situated on the platform at the atmospheric Bolton Street Station. 10 ales, 6 ciders and a perry were being dispensed by a knowledgeable barman. Locals also seemed well up on their beers. The 10 on handpull yesterday were Beartown Wojtek, Saltaire Amarillo Gold, Silver Street 103, Green Mill Talisman, Greenfield Vanilla Stout, Riverhead Gingerbread Mild, Cottage Flying Scotsman, Wentworth Challenge & Outstanding Ultra Pale & Piston Broke. The latter is the session ale that is a permanent fixture. Ciders are brought from somewhere behind the bar. The selection was Broadoak Perry, Thatchers Cheddar Valley, Westons Old Rosie, Biddendens Bushells, Bartestree Katy, Hurst View Jibber Jabber & Tardebigge Cider. Two of these were new ciders for me and I also had the mild and the stout. The stout was very nice indeed. There are hundreds of pumpclips on the ceiling and walls. They've clearly had a lot of beers on at various times here. I also echo the previous reviewers comments about the prices. £3 for a pint of cider was good value. The ales were cheaper still. A well deserved 9/10 from me and a must for any visitor to Bury.
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Excellent pub.
My second visit. Great atmosphere (unless you have an aversion to 1950s stations). Good selection of real ales (the house beer Pison Broke is good) and ciders and perries. All at fair prices.
Adequate selection of good value food.
What more do you want? Especially with passing vintage trains.
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All I can say is what a little gem of a pub,perfectly kept ales,a nice atmosphere,all great value.a good mix of different ales on was the highlight.Small pub but busy,and the crack was excellent.
Looking forward to returning on a future visit.
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Visited early yesterday evening after a trip on the East Lancashire Railway and with an 11 year-old in tow. Friendly and efficient service, tasty real ales and a proper pot of tea for the youngster. Ales were sensibly priced and in excellent condition. A clear sign on the door explained that children are welcome until 7pm. (If only all pubs made the child, or no child, policy so clear and straightforward.) The pub layout reflects the original cafeteria concept of the building; nonetheless it is cosy with a mixture of booth-type seating and tables/chairs. Well worth a visit: 9/10 in general; 10/10 when the heritage trains are running!
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Concur with others on this place. Although the ale is good it has more a feel of a tourist attraction cafeteria than a pub
anonymous - 18 Aug 2013 18:03 |
Like comment below, I to was a U's fan making a day of it - great pub with trains adding to ambience (what is it with trains and real ale?) - had an ale from the 'Outstanding' brewery which is Bury based - real good.
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Visited on 16 March to see the mighty 10 man U's beat Bury. Cut short the drinking in Manchester to take in the Trackside. What more can the sad real ale drinking football fan and part time trainspotter want? Excellent ale, good value food (sausage, mash and veg for a fiver) and excellent service, we didn't have any of the problems with slow service and the beer was superb - can't remember what it was, I never can in the last pub before the game, other than I think it was a stout and wonderful. Even got to see some of the railway exhibits in action. 9/10
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Agree with the slow service. Never seems to be enough staff on and tables can fill up with glasses and not be cleaned regularly enough.
Beer selection is excellent though, not a fan of piston broke which is the house beer. more like line cleaner but that's just my opinion!!
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Went in yesterday for a couple of halves. Tried the 'Broken Piston' (Outstanding Brewery) and a seasonal ale 'Christmas Carol' (cannot recall which brewery). Both very good, place was busy and service excellent.
My first visit to the much heralded Trackside and well worth the build up!
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Probably the best "real ale" establishment in Bury, always a good selection. On my visit (29/5/11 - 40's weekend) the pub was very busy! There is usually ample room on the station platform but rain had forced people inside. I agree with the earlier comments, this is a soulless place & the layout does nothing to help, a single room, narrow with old church pews. It does the job, but it lacks warmth & character. That all said, considering the crush the staff coped well under pressure & managed to keep there sense of humour. Food is pretty basic, but fast, OK and cheap enough if you need a quick snack. Beer of the day was the house bitter, "Piston Broke" produced locally by Outstanding of Bury, followed closely by "Mad Monk" a premium stout from Allgates of Wigan. All in all a good pub/bar...OK, cramped, noisy and impersonal, but the beers make it well worth a visit.
LW
Pub/Beer critic
(BeerNorthWestUK) - Twitter
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Beer is usually good with a fair choice, and it's one of the rare pubs that you can watch steam engines from, if that's your bag. However I have to agree with the word 'soulless' in other reviews. That's what it is.
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brillant the northern glory and titanic beer i try was fab pints well poured.after over 180 pubs i have review on i rarely give a 9 out 0f 10 but this is one. nine handpull beers 2ciders and foregin beers as mention before on els platform but access is from a bury side street.WILL BE BACK the pub and ale is that good
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Pub on the platform of The East Lancs Railway. Good selection of ales and ciders at reasonable prices.
The place is a bit souless and the service can be slow at busy times - partly as the bar area is quite small and near to the door from the platform so it does get busy. Beers were running out fairly fast yesterday afternoon and didn't seem to be being replaced.
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I've only ever been in this place once. It was dinnertime during the week so maybe it was the wrong time to go. The variety of ales and ciders were very good. The staff was pleasant (the girl from the kitchen gave me some cheesecake on the house!). Next time I visit I think I'll go at weekend when there are more people about.
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Went in today for the first time and came away with mixed feelings. Beer range and quality good, although could be slightly more adventurous.
Bar itself is soulless and drab with a tired aura too it, not helped by an interior lackiing in style and design. Service was good though and the patrons seem friendly enough!
Needs someone with energy and imagination to make it worth going too on a regular basis!
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Went in on a Sunday afternoon and it was pretty busy. There was a full selection of ales available, all marked up on a large blackboard and graded 1 (light) to 5 (dark), as well as showing the ABV's. There were a lot of 5's, obviously testament to the landlord's tastes! there were a couple of light beers, however, and we enjoyed an excellent pint of Legend of the Wear whilst sampling two of the tasty pies.
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There is only one real problem with this pub. That is that the landlord is obsessed with dark beers.He will put a token light one on but the emphasis is very much on dark and usually strong beers. His dislike of hops means that if you are looking for something hoppy then you can forget about here.The regulars have told him but he will not listen.
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Great to be back at Burrs Park and to visit this excellent pub over the next few days. Last night was great. 9 beers on and 3 were new ones for me. Enjoyed 2 from Acorn Blonde and Pacific Gen IPA, Batemans Miss Scotland, and found time to have Moles Rucking Mole too before catching the bus.
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Half a dozen good real ales from near and far when I came in today.
This place if heaven for railway buffs, but the outdoor tables on the platform are a suntrap and a very pleasant place to while away an hour or two with the added interest of people and trains coming and going even if you're not.
Bar staff were really friendly, and the food is simple and cheap.
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Poor beer choice recently. Very uninspiring. Sadly many people are deciding to drink elsewhere because of this.
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Unfortunately, the dross from the Clarence (now shut) seem to have discovered the place and use it to get tanked up on strong perry. The management need to start taking a stronger line with the idiots or they'll lose their core trade. The beer choice has also deteriorated in quality recently but what is on is always in excellent condition. Still the best pub for cask beer in central Bury but still has its problems.
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The Trackside has improved a lot recently and a new manager has just been appointed. A wide range of well kept ales always available.
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Excellent little place. As I volunteer on the preserved railway next door to it I find myself in here quite a lot. There's always a wide choice of real ales, and with it being an ever changing selection it's impossible to get bored of them.
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Another visit to Bury and what a difference to this pub. Still a brilliant selection of beers, and this time I had no problems with the quality. Why on earth is this pub not in the Good Beer Guide. It is easily the best in the Bury area.
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This is a lovely pub and we called a few times while on holiday in the area, and most of the time it was fine, but I returned a beer I thought was off and was told it was fine and would not be exchanged, then found the pumpclip had been turned round as the beer was finished when I next went to the bar.
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nice old bar just down the slope from the station entrance..the perry is to die for and is a lot better than the bottled stuff you keep finding..cant understand though why the cheddar valley red is slightly less red in colour than wat i normally get..but good all the same..well read blackboard and a good range of beer and collection of pump clips to boot!!
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This is an excellent bar. I've never had anything but an excellent pint and the surroundings, to me, are just fine. There are occasional theme days at the station which would suit families and the place is child-friendly up til 7 (I think). One of my very favourite pubs.
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Thoroughly agree with the previous post although the whole place could do with a good clean, every surface is tacky with beer whenever I go in. Just because it's predominantly a real ale bar doesn't mean it has to be 'spit and sawdust'. Brasso? Furniture polish?
anonymous - 18 Oct 2007 11:50 |
Ever changing interesting range of real ales, ciders & perries always in fantastic condition. Probably the finest real ale pub in the Bury area.
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Lovely place, good beers well kept. Friendly staff.
Quick service, food delivered fast even though place was full (we had to share a table).
Good continental lagers for non-drinkers.
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its a gud palce to drink penty of choice of beers staff are great to get on with outside drinking on a good sunny day relaxing place to be on a sunny sunday afternoon watching steam trains go by during the talking to different people getting off trains laughing at station staff
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The Trackside is sadly on the slide with none of the dedication or attention to detail you expect to see in a well run pub. Character and warmth are forsaken for an admittedly striking range of draught beer but this place could be so much better if the management were a little more creative and actually cared.
anonymous - 15 Apr 2005 15:19 |
The rating by "Martin Jones" is a bit more of a sales pitch, since he's the (now sacked) licensee. Fact is, this place started well but has gone steadily downhill, has little atmosphere, and the current bar staff are not at all knowledgeable or even polite. Beer is NOT well kept even though the choice is reasonable. (If you like Leyden's bland beer)
anonymous - 21 Nov 2004 16:42 |
A very unique feel to this place as it is set on the platform of an old revived steam railway platform.Tremondous choice of real ales and decent pub grub.A must if u are in the area,or even if you arent for that matter!
Steve - 19 Nov 2004 00:50 |
Great beer.loads of choice.great setting.loads of continental lagers too.The toilets are the old station toilets.
James - 12 Nov 2004 22:37 |
Nine handpumped beers to go at and over 800 different beers since they opened a couple of years ago. The Trackside is down the slope from Bolton Street next to the East Lancs Steam Railway - the loo's are actually on the platform. Knowledgable bar staff dispense some of the best beers in Bury in this modern styled buffet bar. Basic food menu at lunchtime which gets hectic at weekends with steam train events. Outdoor drinking on warmer days let you watch the trains come and go. Thatchers Cider and some volatile Perry from the cellar keep the winter chills at bay. Highly Recommended.
Martin Jones - 12 Oct 2004 11:33 |
