Buffer Stops in Rossendale

Quirky bar, good beer selection, friendly staff.

Best pub in Rawtenstall 👏 Cheap beer, Great atmosphere and friendly staff. Also the chance of seeing a steam engine. What more do you want from a pub?

Delightful small bar at Rawtenstall ELR Station. A good selection of beers. Non alcoholic lager available. Sensibly priced. Pleasant and efficient staff, particularly as there was a foot race from Bury on making it extremely busy when we were there. Sunday 16th June 2024.

Great place for a drink or two.

If only all railway stations had a great bar like this one (we would probably stay too long and miss the train!). Good selection of beers & ciders served by friendly staff. Reopened after refit on 23rd May 2024. Cask ales checked out - very good 👍

Lovely bar in steam train station!

Great beer,food service and good atmosphere

Really brilliant little pub on the heritage railway line. A must-visit for anyone staying in the area - friendly people, reasonable prices, interesting history, beautiful surroundings - a microcosm of Rawtenstall itself ♥️🍻

A well stocked bar with a good selection of well priced beers from a wide range of breweries, the bar has limited seating inside, however there is covered seating on the station platform from where you can watch the arrival of the heritage locomotives. The bar staff are friendly and efficient

Great bar on the station selling real ale 🍺 👏🏻. Trains and beer, what's not to love?

Great little bar serving a good selection of real/craft ales at reasonable prices. Service very fast when the train is in.

Nice pub on the old train platform!

Real ale micro brewery - great!😁

Busy bar. Good range of beers and crisps. Lively at 5pm on a Friday. Didn't see any food offered.

Real ale in a real pub that just happens to be an old railway station

Brilliant little bar in Rawtenstall centre at the end of the East Lancs Railway. Good selection of beers, wines and spirits with some great offers on Premium bottled lager. Outside seating is by the railway and in a sun trap. Good live music on periodically. Well worth a visit.

Lovely old world 'train station pub'. Fantastic selection of craft beers. Not a lot of room, but tables are arranged so that there is plenty of seating inside and out. If you are fairly close to catching a steam train, make sure you ask the bar staff for a plastic pint cup.

Always worth a visit. BATTLE OF BRITAIN CLASS loco called in last night.

A real ale bar, at Rawtenstall train station. Currently in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide 2023. The bar area is small, however there is plenty of out door seating to watch the world and trains go by! Well worth visiting via the East Lancashire Railway (A heritage steam and diesel volunteer run railway). "Buffer Stops" is an ideal place to stop off to take refreshment. Open in the day, but opening hours appear to vary during the day depending on rail services. Always open in the evening. Visiting Rawtenstall I would recommend the "Buffer Stops" and it's newish neighbour "Casked" (reviewed separately and only 5 minutes away from "Buffer Stops") Both are worth a visit.

Drinks after the train ride. Lovely atmosphere and decent prices, draft ale selection good too.

Went downhill a while back but Jake and his staff have got it back to a good little micro bar. Some decent cask and keg on and probably the biggest beer garden in rossendale and it's still not easy to get a seat it's that busy on a sunny day. I tend to give it a miss when there's a special train on as it's just far too busy. Dog and family friendly.

Great venue, great live music, all steam powered!!

Really enjoyed experience sat our on station I was driving so couldn't stay long

An ok pub in the east lancs railway ticket office somewhere different

It's like going back in time while you're waiting for the train to arrive there is the ticket office a bar with a great selection of beers and ciders and if the sun is shining there is lots of outside seating to enjoy the atmosphere I will be going back again soon

A great combination...a real ale bar in the station building at the end ( or beginning ) of the East Lancs steam railway. Always a great selection of real ales. Martin Meerkat had a pint of Same Again session ale all the way from Frome brewery in Somerset. Luckily he avoided the 8.8% offering. Lovely interior or sit outside on the platform picnic tables.

Exceptional choice of beers in a quirky location

Nice place, same as Bolton Bury Street, same good Ales and real Ciders

Wide selection of real ales. Can sit at tables on the platform and watch the trains. Free parking to the side.

Visited today with my dad, what a fabulous place. The barman was extremely friendly, efficient and professional. It was like going back in time to a pleasant and unhurried era. Will certainly return, maybe next time on the train. Well worth a visit

Such a unique and quirky place. One of our favourites 😍

Great place to grab a drink before the train to Ramsbottom, great if the Steam trains are running.

See review of casked (mainly youthful enthusiastic staff, with grumpy guy, good range of beer), but more pleasant location. Start/end of ale trail uptown. Toilets faithful representation of British Rail in its prime.

Quirky but what a great idea for a bar. The nice weather helped as well.

Nice unique place to sit and have a beer. Cheap in comparison to other bars around the area too

Amazing train journey and a nice cold pint at the end

Free to enter great little old fashioned pup end of track with loads of outside seating. Nice atmosphere and the staff are happy and friendly. Very interesting place loved it.

Superb range of Ales, CAMRA discount, steam trains and a lovely cafe, what is not to love about The Buffer Stops.

Nice little boozer,the day I visited it was a very chilled vibe and the music playing was great

Amazing selection of craft ales, friendly staff.

Good selection of beers. We had a quick drink after comming up on the train. Good seating outside with heaters on a button. Seating near bar plus addional room. Great bears and quick service.

I like a nice pint in here after work. A hidden gem in the old station waiting room. Serving real ales and IPAs amongst the usual fare.

Good selection of real ales at the Rawtenstall East Lancs. railway station. Can't beat sitting outside in the sunshine with a pint watching the trains ☀️🚂🍺

Nice place to have a drink. Found it expensive.

Good venue to see various trains

Good range of local beers, great appropriate period interior, nostalgic.

Great service in a fantastic location.

Nice pleasant staff, even though they were busy

Not my thing not a great deal of choice

Really enjoyed it was surprised how many people was there and also the sun was shining

What a lovely little pub on the railway station, we sat outside and had a few drinks, it was a lovely place to finish the night and talk.

Nice little pub, friendly staff and customers. At the end of the east lancs railway so good views of historical steam/diesel trains and close to Rossendale centre. Update 8/22 plenty of outside seating, selection of real ales and drinks & cafe on platform.

Pleasant atmosphere and decent beer

Great pub, Only dislike is they dont accept cash for payment.

Nice friendly place and staff, we were there to support Rossendale male voice choir on a whistle stop tour.

Always a good atmosphere but always have to queue at bar but lovely seating outside

Great beer, good setting and the sun was out!

Very nice little pub and friendly

Great beer and get to watch trains

Sadly it was closed when I called

Great place good beer well worth a spot of and a pint or two lol

Great real ales just a shame the trains aren't more regular

Great little station bar on the East Lancashire Railway at Rawtenstall. Choice of 6 cask beers. Friendly pub.

Great pub in the station. Seating outside, family room and good beer.

The buffer stop is the original tap bar in Rawtenstall, it sells great beer and has a lovely warm atmosphere, although it can be cold in the rear room in winter. There's a once a month open Mic night on a Wednesday and a motorbike club meets there too also, every Wednesday In summer it gets quite busy as the outdoors seating area is very popular

Very small but got some good beers on..

What a great day we had going up and down the railway line and stopping off for lunch at the Buffer Stop. Recommend this for any family.

Took a trip over to Rawtenstall on the ELR great day out, had a few drinks in the Buffer stop on the way back! Great little bar good bar staff great selection of Beers and spirits at a competitive price, will visit again!

Great beer at a super venue. Recommended.

Very friendly staff and perfect place for drinks on a sunny evening. You can watch the trains come in and the toilets are clean and so are the seats.

Good aray of hand pulled beer on offer at a good price

Good choice of ales but bottles of prosecco are extortionate price

Great In the sunshine and for train lovers, well kept selection of real ale at a decent price.

Excellent selection of real ales and a lovely venue.

Friendly and welcoming with a great beveridge selection. Glad to keep coming back. Ideal break for walkers and dogs welcome.

Great ales, Great staff nice atmosphere highly recommended

Used to be very good and reasonably priced real ale, no more, today I have been there 2 pints £9 and that was with Camra discount ? 1 pint of a local brew £3.80 and 1 pint of keg jaipur £5.70 ouch will not be there again 5 mins walk towards town a real beer house all at between 2.90 and 3.600

Great place on station platform with really good choice of real ales (8) !

Great beer, nice place to relax.

Thoroughly recommend a visit to this place, definitely worth it.

A proper real ale experience based on a railway platform

Very nostalgic of times gone by. Would visit again

What a lovely way to still use the railway. It's a lovely place to sit and have a drink especially if you happen to be there when a steam train comes in!!!

Knowledgable bar staff and friendly atmosphere

Had to close early due to lack of staff due to covid . The seating could do with improvements . The wood is worn in lots of places and unsafe to sit on

My mate ordered a bitter shandy and it was prepared and poured to perfection. Big smiles all round.

Excellent range of casked beers

Reasonable ale. Old style pub. Friendly staff. What more could you ask for?

Great local, good beer, friendly staff, various gins 👍

Friendly enough place,good outdoor space and well kept ale.

Quaint, cosy good ale and cider 😍👌🍻

Great ales in a fascinating location.

Friendly staff and some nice beers

Fantastic little pub on the platform at Rawtenstall Station. Great range of ales and good prices.

Nice little pub right on the platform of the East Lancashire railway station. Friendly bar staff & well kept ales.

Super friendly staff, good vibe and trains. What more could you want

Excellent service thank you for your hospitality today see you soon

1st trip on a steam locomotive, and loved it.friendly and helpful volunteers allover.its a bit pricey but I understand why.And if you could get 45mins at Rawtenstall that'd be better.never the less a great day out.

Pathetic. Outdoor tables but not allowing people to sit past one part and order a drink. Useless

Beer next to the tracks and that.