The Railway

Until fairly recently I frequented The Railway often, going there at least once or twice a week, more if we were going on a night out. Recently though, with the emergence of The Grapes as a popular pub in Formby, The Railway has somewhat lost its charm.
I guess the thing about The Railway is its reliability and familiarity — it doesn’t really change, the same people are in there every week — and whilst it is its steadiness that makes it so comfortable, it is also its downfall. Despite this, I still find The Railway one of the better pubs to go for a drink in Formby, although it is quite expensive for drinks (even the cheapest pint is about £2.50). The pub itself is fairly large and has a vast array of seating, including a lovely outdoor area with heating lamps for those who choose to brave those colder evenings. The food there is also very good, with weekly curry and steak nights that are very popular.
I would also recommend the Monday night quiz for those of you who prefer your quizzes a bit easier (not that I’ve ever won it, mind) but avoid the confusing Wednesday night one, which is a normal quiz mixed with bingo style rules.
A good, reliable pub that will still be around long after the others have fallen from popularity.

My local, for which it suffers and is praised accordingly. On the one hand they do serve hand pulled ales (with a personal favourite Timothy Taylor’s Landlord always on tap) and decent grub — thick steak burgers, hearty sandwiches with chunky mustard mayo, surprisingly delicately flavoured curries. But, on the other hand it suffers from familiarity — I know which chairs are unevenly legged, which tables will get oppressively warm once the place fills up, exactly what time they will dim the lights and turn up the music ‘for the evening crowd’. It’s simply hard for me to get very excited about The Railway — but then, the more I think about it this is probably the best thing about the pub, it’s absolute consistency.
The beer garden has a nice atmosphere in the summer too, with people sloshing glasses of increasingly odd-​flavoured ciders into their faces and taking advantage of the few hundred hours of sunshine we manage each year. Lovely stuff.