I visit cosy pub tucked away in West Midlands railway station to see what makes it so special

There are 46 railway stations with pubs attached to them, each with their own unique look and feeling and which work to provide the best experience for those coming through the doors.

There are also three in the West Midlands and, in a recent survey by travel and lifestyle magazine Locals Insider, the outright leader was Codsall Station, a Holden’s Pub set in a formerly disused railway building at the South Staffordshire station.

The survey said the station, which was ranked ahead of Birmingham Moor Street and Leamington Spa and was also ranked second nationally, was aesthetically pleasing, value for money and very friendly.

It scored 78 out of 100 in the ranking, which was set by customer satisfaction, value for money, opening hours, station convenience and the aesthetic, only finishing behind The Draughtsman Alehouse at Doncaster Station, which scored 84.1 points.

However, while the reviewers have said it’s the best, I have always said that it is good to see it for yourself and make up your own mind.

I decided to go along to see what the pub was like, looking at what it was like inside, how easy it was to get to, what the food and drink was like in terms of cost, taste and value for money and what the general feeling of the place was.

I live in Wolverhampton, so to get to Codsall Station, you can either get on a train from Wolverhampton towards Shrewsbury (leaving at 12 minutes and 58 minutes past the hour) or by driving in via either the A41 or Codsall Road and parking up at the station car park.

Codsall is a working station, with two platforms seeing a regular schedule of trains passing through, while the pub is set in an understated brown brick building with old-fashioned rail signs outside. In fact, you wouldn’t guess it was a pub until you saw the first Holden’s sign.

The whole station has an old-fashioned feeling to it, with a wooden canopy on the “Trains to Shrewsbury” side of the platform and the bridge over, while metal reinforced, has a lovely wooden effect to it.

The doors to the pub carries the markings of its former life as a Great Western Railway station, including on the opening times board, while the Holden’s Brewery markings are everywhere, asking customers to respect neighbours and showing off the food menu.

It sounds like a busy pub before you even open the door and, on entry, you are met with the sounds of happy chatter all around in the main bar area and the various lounges, nooks and crannies set around the building.

If you didn’t know it was a railway station before you entered, the items on the wall and above the bar give you a strong idea, full of photos of trains and stations and nice artwork depicting places like Newquay, Edinburgh and Aberystwyth.

The bar itself is a small and cosy affair, poking out of the wall with three staff working to serve customers and help with food and drink orders.

Being in a Holden’s pub, I decided to have a beer from their excellent range, so picked out a Golden Glow. I also asked about what cobs they had, seeing Codsall’s sister pub the Great Western in Wolverhampton always had excellent cobs.

I was not disappointed with what arrived, with a large white cob full of cheese and onion place on a plate in front of me which, along with my beer, cost me £7.30, so a tick for value for money.

I took a seat next to the window, giving an equal view of the bar area and the station. I’m not a trainspotter, but do appreciate a good train and certainly woke up when one bound for Holyhead thundered past.

The room was full of people, some having a Sunday pint with friends and family, while others were having a drink following the Remembrance Day events in the village and some were stopping with their families as part of a walk around the area.

Enough people watching, I thought, lets concentrate on what the pub is good at, so I began drinking my Golden Glow. It was a very well kept and very tasty pint, with a residual bitterness in the back of my throat, but also enough of a sweet zing to make it a nicely rounded pint.

As for the cob, one bite was enough to remind me that I’d made a good purchase, with lovely soft bread, chunky and tangy cheese and zingy onion all combining together. The thing was also massive, so took me a while to work my way through.

It’s a pub which feels big, but intimate at the same time, with plenty of spaces to sit and enjoy the view outside and, along the hallway where the toilets are, another big sitting area and a large beer garden, so you would struggle to not find a seat.

If you want a meal more substantial than a cob (Ham and cheese and ham on its own were also available), the pub offers a standard fare of meals like Lasagne, scampi and chips, the roast of the day and a Ploughman’s Lunch, plus a range of snacks.

If you wanted to make a day of it, Codsall Station is a pretty good place to do it, full of nice items to look at, good beer to drink at a reasonable price (my pint was £4.35), great food and a constant nice level of chatter, not overly loud, all set within a pretty location.