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Beer of the Week (w/e 5th May 2024) with Bucking Fastard
on the Pub Forum
Image posted by Quinno _
Submitted on Saturday, 28th January 2023
With picture contributions to 5086 other pubs
View all this pub's pictures (37 more images)
Detail Pages
The Swan & Railway Hotel, Wigan
Wigan
WN1 1BA
Reviews of The Swan & Railway Hotel (Average Rating: 7½ of 10) see review guidelines
Blue Scrumpy left this review about The Swan & Railway Hotel
I'd hoped to get back to the Swan & Railway on my last visit in February, but we ran out of time. With a little time to kill on a more recent April visit, we made sure to head here first.
The last time I had a drink in this pub was in 2011 when it was still run by Marston's. These days, it is independently owned and has a much better range of cask ales. I seem to recall the pub being closed for a few years. But it has now re-opened and the impressive interior has been refurbished to a high standard.
There is a tiled entrance corridor with the bar itself on the right-hand side and the main room is the other side of the bar to the right. On the left is a decent-sized room with the corridor eventually leading to another large room at the rear.
Sports news was showing on the TV and background music was playing. There was a good local crowd in, especially in the front two rooms. We retreated to the rear with our pints, where we had the room to ourselves.
Regular ales are Draught Bass & Bank Top Dark Mild. Guest beers for our visit were Blackedge Shake Tropical Pale Ale, Bootleg Fool's Gold, Bradfield Yorkshire Farmer, Moorhouse's Straw Dog & Rudgate York Chocolate Stout. Ciders were Farmer Jim's Apple Red, Thistly Cross Whisky Cask, Snail's Bank Fruit Bat & Lilley's Strawberry Cider.
Certainly one of Wigan's best pubs and really handy for either railway station.
On 2nd May 2024
- rating: 8
[User has posted 2501 recommendations about 2500 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about The Swan & Railway Hotel
A lovely heritage pub. Enter to a central tiled lobby corridor with a large (albeit narrow) bar to the right and a couple of lounge rooms, one off left and the other at the end. The main bar has a rather wonderful tall wooden servery with jumbo stained glass windows on the upper back with a large swan motif as the centrepiece. A number of cask on, I went straight for the Bass (NBSS 3.5) whilst the other half had a good drop of Portersque Milkshake Porter by Hophurst Brewery (3.5). Got chatting to the older guy next to me who was between trains about the virtues of Bass and was joined by the owner, a jovial chap who is also a massive Bass fan and who then gave us an impromptu tour of the building and talked us through the restoration he undertook a few years ago (so good it won a Historic England Conservation Award in 2021). It is now free of tie so ignore the older reviews stating Marstons range. Really enjoyed my supping here and would make a point of stopping off especially to do this one again. GBG’23 listed.
On 11th March 2023
- rating: 9
[User has posted 5132 recommendations about 5115 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve C left this review about The Swan & Railway
The Swan and Railway has a central corridor off which there is a bar to the right with serving hatch and a room to the left with banquette seating. Further up the corridor there is a much longer room to the left, which looks like it may have been three smaller rooms in the past. Opposite are the toilets. The bar area has an L-shaped serving counter that faces banquettes down the right wall and a beer shelf with stools along the front window. There’s a large stained glass window on the back bar that sits around the aforementioned serving hatch to the central corridor. An old style jukebox sits against the rear wall of the bar area and a large TV was playing muted Racing TV, thankfully the sound was from the Jukebox.
The bar supports eight fonts for standard and premium keg and I counted seven handpumps. The Titanic Plum Porter was off (FFS), but Daleside Bitter, Revolution Brewing’s Spanish Bombs, Bank Top’s Dark Mild, Bass, Tatton’s Lemon Grab and something from Moorhouses were available.
On 14th September 2022
- rating: 8
[User has posted 5276 recommendations about 5244 pubs]
View more reviews of The Swan & Railway Hotel (12)
No known official website for this pub.
- Twitter - swan and railway
- CAMRA WhatPub :: The Swan & Railway Hotel - whatpub.com
Wigan Wallgate, 0.22 miles, 4 min walk (show)
Ince (Manchester), 1.29 miles, 24 min walk (show)
Pub Details
Pub details supplied by members of this site to the best of their knowledge. Please check with pub directly before making a special trip.
- Accommodation : Yes last updated 19 February 2024 by Quinno _
- Bar Billiards : No last updated 19 February 2024 by Quinno _
- Beer Festivals : No last updated 19 February 2024 by Quinno _
- Beer Garden : Yes last updated 19 February 2024 by Quinno _
- CAMRA Discount : Yes - Discount amount not stated by Wigan CAMRA - last updated 19 February 2024 by Quinno _
- Car Park : No last updated 19 February 2024 by Quinno _
- Child Friendly : No last updated 19 February 2024 by Quinno _
- Darts : No last updated 19 February 2024 by Quinno _
- Dog Friendly : Yes last updated 19 February 2024 by Quinno _
- Function Room : Yes last updated 19 February 2024 by Quinno _
- Hot Food : Yes last updated 19 February 2024 by Quinno _
- Jukebox : No last updated 19 February 2024 by Quinno _
- Karaoke : No last updated 19 February 2024 by Quinno _
- Live Music : Yes last updated 19 February 2024 by Quinno _
- Live TV Sports : Yes last updated 19 February 2024 by Quinno _
- Micropub : No last updated 19 February 2024 by Quinno _
- Pinball : No last updated 19 February 2024 by Quinno _
- Pool Table : No last updated 19 February 2024 by Quinno _
- Real Ale : Yes last updated 19 February 2024 by Quinno _
- Real Cider : Yes last updated 02 May 2024 by Blue Scrumpy
- Wheelchair Access : No last updated 19 February 2024 by Quinno _
- WiFi : Yes last updated 19 February 2024 by Quinno _
