Pub of the Week: Station Inn, Silkstone Common, Barnsley

The Station is right up there in the top 10 of British pub names, although often there's no longer sign of any trains. Happily, Silkstone Common sits in close proximity to services to Barnsley and Sheffield in one direction, and Huddersfield in t'other.

On an early spring afternoon in a light drizzle, the exterior doesn’t look as cheery as it does in high summer, when it is a riot of colour with hanging baskets, but it’s what’s inside that counts.

It’s a ‘lived-in’ place, about as far from a frou-frou boutique gastropub as you can get and I felt a bit of a heel for dragging the landlady away from having her nails done to pour me a pint of first rate Copper Dragon.

A moment later a gaggle of walkers strolled in and requested coffees and teas and she was interrupted once again. They too were served with a smile.

There are two permanent ales on offer (Tetley and Landlord), with a guest beer, and CAMRA apparently loves the place, popping in frequently on one of their real beer excursions.

It also has quite a reputation for the Thursday and Friday evening services of wallopingly generous fish and chips, with traditional beer (what else?) batter.

Here’s a place to meet, to read the paper and to just relax into a different pace of life. It’s just a nice, old-fashioned pub. There’s also a bus stop right outside.

Can it get any better? Bet those nails looked lovely. Eventually.

• The Station Inn, Knabbs Lane, Silkstone Common, Barnsley S75 4RB. 01226 790248.

WELCOME 5/5

DRINKS SELECTION 3/5

ATMOSPHERE 4/5

PRICES 5/5