Real Ale & Cider Festival! « Spa Valley Railway

Our popular Beer & Cider Festival, in association with West Kent CAMRA, is back from Thursday 17^thto Sunday 20^thOctober, get the dates in your calendar now!
Head to the Spa Valley Railway this Autumn and enjoy 150+ real ales, including Kent Green Hop, 50+ ciders, live music, and food stalls alongside our steam and heritage diesel trains! Real ale & cider bars are located on the trains so you can enjoy a ride and a pint along the railway as well as our three stations along the 5-mile railway, Tunbridge Wells West, Groombridge, and Eridge.

During the festival, entry to our stations is FREE; you can buy a glass on arrival. Tickets must be purchased to travel on the trains, which can be bought online or on the day of your visit. With such a large offer of real ale and cider available, plus live music and the trains this event is one for everyone to enjoy, so make sure you visit the Spa Valley Railway from Thursday 17^th to Sunday 20^th October and savor a pint or two!

Tunbridge Wells West is the only location open on Thursday 17^th October, between 18:00 and 22:00, no trains are operating on the Thursday.

Train tickets for Friday 18^th, Saturday 19^th and Sunday 20^th October are now on sale, you do not need to purchase a train ticket unless you want to travel on the train. Entry to Tunbridge Wells West, Groombridge and Eridge stations is FREE and you only have to pay for a ticket if you want to travel on the train. You can purchase a 'Starter Pack' which consists of a glass, beer card and event guide at all of our stations.

Beer Cards – these are your payment for beer and cider (not food or train travel):
Following on from its success in 2024 is the 'beer card' which replaced tokens. No tokens from previous events are valid and beer cards are non-refundable so make sure you purchase them for what you wish to buy beer or cider wise.

You can buy your beer card from the sales desks at each station, on the card will be an overall value e.g., £5 which will be split into 10p and 20ps.

Simply select the drink you'd like, hand the card to the person serving you and they will cross off the amount your drink comes to. So if your drink came to £4 and you had a card to the value of £5 you would see 20x 20p boxes crossed off and 10x 10p boxes remaining. No need to count out those tokens anymore!

A beer card will be included with the starter packs and you'll be able to purchase additional beer cards as the day goes on, please note they are non-refundable though so only buy as many as you need, don't buy £50 worth and only spend £20 as we won't be able to refund you!

What to expect? Well, click on this link for a taste of what we offered during 2023 – BEER LIST & TASTING NOTES FROM 2023

PROVISIONAL BEER LIST FOR 2024 NOW AVAILABLE CLICK HERE!

Note – the above file is low res to enable uploading to our website, the printed copies are in high res.

The numbering system used is taken from the master beer list which plays a vital role in the accounting and labeling beer for this event, if a number is skipped e.g. 110 it is because the brewery withdrew their beer at the last minute and it would impact on the master beer list by renumbering the other beers.

Barrel ends will be numbered for ease of ordering your drink in 2024.

Event Opening Times:

Thursday 17^th October
- 18:00 to 22:00 (Tunbridge Wells West only, no trains are operating)
Friday 18^th October
- Trains from 09:00 until 22:30
- Tunbridge Wells West bar 11:00 until 22:30
- Groombridge bar 11:00 until 20:30
- Eridge bar 11:00 until 21:30
Saturday 19^th October
- Trains from 09:00 until 22:30
- Tunbridge Wells West bar 11:00 until 22:30
- Groombridge bar 11:00 until 20:30
- Eridge bar 11:00 until 21:30
Sunday 20^th October
- Trains from 09:00 until 17:30
- Tunbridge Wells West bar 11:00 until 18:00
- Groombridge bar 11:00 until 16:00
- Eridge bar 11:00 until 16:00

Live Bands:
To be confirmed, these are provided by Tunbridge Wells Music Production Ltd.

Timetable:
Trains will operate from early until late on Friday 18^th, Saturday 19^th and Sunday 20^th October, NO trains will operate on Thursday 17^th October. Trains will be top and tailed with the steam locomotive on the Tunbridge Wells West end of the train and the diesel locomotive on the Eridge end of the train.

Locomotives in use:

BR Standard 4MT 80078
Bulleid Pacific 34053 '303 Squadron'
Class 25 D7535
Class 31 31430 'Sister Dora'
Class 207 DEMU 1317

Food Stalls – Tunbridge Wells West:

Fullers Butcher BBQ
Thai Food Stand

Catering kiosks will be open at Groombridge and Eridge selling a selection of sandwiches, hot and cold drinks, crisps, chocolate and other light refreshments.

This event is supported by:

Fri 18 Oct 2024: Open Day Event departing from: Travel All Day, Any Train!
Sat 19 Oct 2024: Open Day Event departing from: Travel All Day, Any Train!
Sun 20 Oct 2024: Open Day Event departing from: Travel All Day, Any Train!

Booking information

Tickets booked using the links are for rail travel - entry to the Beer Festival is Free as per guidance above (except for Thursday's Preview Event where tickets are required)

Entry to stations is FREE on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, there is no charge to access the festival sites at Tunbridge Wells West, Groombridge or Eridge, tickets are required for train travel.

No trains will operate on Thursday 19th October, only Tunbridge Wells West is open between 18:00 and 22:00 for the sale of beer, entry tickets are just £5 per person, this does not include any drinks or glasses. The £5 charge applies to Thursday 19th October only.

The only tickets required are to travel on the trains. If you are a member of CAMRA you will receive a £5 discount on train travel upon production of your in date membership card. This can only be done on the day and not in advance online.

Note that a £10 admin fee applies to all booking alterations.

Click here to view our refund, cancellation and alterations policy

FULL TERMS AND CONDITIONS CAN BE FOUND VIA THIS LINK

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Booking information