Trackside Bar — Restaurant in Bury

Having visited and enjoyed visiting Trackside many, many times over the years I'm now reluctantly forced to adjust my previous five star rating down to a one because of my experience yesterday (Friday 24th March 2023).

Arrived at 1:25pm, with the expectation of ordering a few beers and sharing one of the excellent platters with my friend from out of town who I was treating to lunch at "one of my favourite pubs".

The sign outside said that the pub was going to be closing at 2pm and would remain closed until 6pm - this was disappointing as this clearly meant we'd have to eat lunch elsewhere. No matter, we agreed we'd pop in for a quick pint anyway as the door was open and it was still very busy inside - even if we could only stay for one.

Walking through the entrance one of the gentlemen that worked there abrubtly announced "the bar is closed - we've an ambulance coming". A quick glance around and it was clear that there were several dozen pub goers sat chatting away with their drinks and eating their food enjoying themselves with no sense of there being any kind of panic - it looked anything but closed, and I commented to the bar man that the bar didn't look closed (figuring that, at the very least, if it WAS closed the front door would be closed and locked, the place wouldn't be full of happy patrons and and the sign outside wouldn't say 2pm on it if they were already closed at 1:25pm).

For this innocuous comment, I was sternly told "I told you, we've an ambulance coming, we don't need sarcastic comments from you" which was just bizarre - if the incoming ambulance was such a big deal why hadn't everyone been asked to leave? Why was the pub still so busy? When I restated my observation - that it didn't LOOK closed I was simply instructed to "get out", which of course we did.

I don't like leaving reviews like this but I firmly believe that without honest feedback businesses don't improve. Certainly, I'll not be revisiting Trackside any time soon which is a real shame, to be honest, but there you go. "Get out" is...

27/05/23: Wartime 1940's weekend. It's a busy one! Lots of nostalgia and of course great beer!

14/11/22: Another visit, another pint. We had the First Chop Brewery: Jam mango pale, 4%, Ossett Brewery: Treacle Stout, 7% and a Gammon & Cheese Sandwich [photo update]

27/10/22: review & photo update. Had a lovely lunch today. 2 courses for £9.95. I had the black pudding stack, crispy bacon and peppercorn sauce on a muffin and homemade cheese & onion pie with homecooked chips and beans! She had the chicken liver pate, red onion chutney, leaves & toast, and also went for the homemade cheese & onion pie. For drinks we had Bowland Brewery: Retriever, 3.8% and Fuggle Bunny Brewery: 24 Carrot IPA, 6%. Archie slept through most of it, but enjoyed a bowl of United Utilities: H2O, 0%

August 2022: photo update, following another lovely visit. Always a great choice of keg, cask and bottle, plus ciders. Food was excellent too and even Archie had a personal visit from the Chef, with a handful of best sausage. We had a Sausage Sandwich; pork sausage served in a ciabatta, with caramelised onion gravy and tomato chutney and Lancashire Cheese & Ham Sandwich; tasty Lancashire cheese, roast ham and tomato chutney on white bread, served with dressed leaves. Also had Proper Chips each!

The Trackside Bar, situated on Platform 2, Bury Bolton Street Station. Renovated, freshened up, new & improved. As if things couldn't get any better. Fantastic selection of Cask & Keg Ales, Ciders, Perries, Stouts & of course Pub Grub. Stunning setting on the old platform of the East Lancashire Railway. A bar, and so much more! Nostalgia, history, events and also quite simply, a meeting place for friends! CAMRA pub of...

This pub is wonderful. I have moved to Paris and still make an effort to visit whenever we are in the area! If you are a big fan of steam trains and dogs, or even just like them a tiny bit, come to the Trackside and sit outside and admire all the adorable dogs belonging to the other patrons (or bring your own! Of course, they are on leads, if you don't like dogs the outside area is large enough that they oughtn't to bother you) and there is a fairly good chance that if you stay for a pint or two - that you'll be treated to a real working steam train passing through, and stopping right in front of you! There is something about steam trains, the impressive size of the locomotive and the smell of the steam and the whooshing and whistling sounds, that is both amazing to witness and wonderfully nostalgic ... It's really nothing like seeing a normal modern train in the north west, which let's face it, could usually be better xD

Anyway, even if you don't care for the trains, the general ambiance is pleasant, the staff are friendly and the selection of beers, ales and ciders is brilliant, they have a lot of guest ales and local brews, as well as more unusual selections from further afield. They have a great choice of flat ciders, which personally I adore, as I love the taste of cider but the fizzy stuff gives me a tummy ache. Last time we were there we discovered that they have the option to buy a bag of your favourite drink to take home with you (4 pints) so I'm delighted to say that I'm now enjoying a delicious flat cider in Paris, even though I'd rather be at the Trackside drinking it. We hope to see you...