Rail Ale Trails

The concept is simple – passengers stop at branch line stations to visit participating pubs, getting a stamp each time they buy a meal or a drink. Once their stamp sheet is complete, they can send off for a free Rail Ale Trail T-shirt.

Nearly 50,000 pub visits have been made since the launch of the project in 2002, with pubs quick to recognise the positive impact of the trails:

“The Rail Ale Trail has definitely been good for business – it brings groups here that wouldn’t have come otherwise.” – The Wig and Pen, Truro

“The custom from the Rail Ale Trail makes up a large part of our annual income – keep it up.” – The Mare and Foal, Yeoford

“The Trail continues to be a valuable source of new business.” – The Harbour Moon, West Looe

Expanding and re-launching the trails
In 2024, DCRP and Blackmore Vale Line Community Rail Partnership (BVLCRP) teamed up to revitalise the trails.

There were three aims: to create a new ‘Rail Ale Trail’ between Salisbury and Exeter with South Western Railway (SWR), to reinvigorate DCRP’s long-running but tired-looking family of existing trails on the Great Western Railway network, and to promote each of the trails to audiences near and far.

The project was born when BVLCRP, DCRP and SWR decided to create the new Salisbury-Exeter trail as a joint project. BVLCRP led on the pub research and DCRP developed the marketing materials including branding, webpage, stamp sheet and T-shirt.

Meanwhile, DCRP’s existing trails – some dating back 20 years – had begun to look tired. Their old-fashioned web presence prompted some would-be ‘trailers’ to ask whether the trails were even still running, and uptake had fallen since the pandemic. So DCRP decided to undertake a wider revamp.

A photoshoot was held at the Bread & Roses pub on the Tamar Valley Line trail. The trails’ webpages were re-designed, the stamp sheets were modernised and the T-shirt claims process simplified.

The 19-pub Salisbury-Exeter trail was launched in May 2024 with events at the Vine Inn in Honiton and the Digby Tap in Sherborne, attended by representatives from local authorities, SWR, DCRP and BVLCRP.

BVLCRP promoted the new trail in their 2024 line guide leaflet, with 4,000 copies produced. DCRP led on social media promotion, with paid Facebook and Instagram posts targeted at towns along the length of the West of England Line from Exeter to London Waterloo.
DCRP produced a “We’re on the Rail Ale Trail” poster and posted copies to each pub on all the trails to display on their notice boards, as well as continuing social media promotion through the summer.

The campaign paid off, with the trails seeing their best summer of results since the pandemic. 75 T-shirts were awarded between May and August – triple the previous summer’s total. With each claimant needing to have visited a range of pubs (10 for most of the trails, 6-8 for the two shorter trails), 688 pub visits were made – plus 53 pub meals bought – bringing thousands of pounds into the local economy, plus higher journey figures. These numbers don’t include the many who part-complete the trails but don’t claim a T-shirt – meaning the real impact is even greater.
Tourists who completed the trails came from as far afield as London, Shetland and Austria, and described the experience as “a thoroughly enjoyable endeavour” and “a great way to spend the weekend”.

A key contributor to the trails’ success was the revamped web presence (described as “fantastic” by the Vine Inn) which attracted more than 10,000 visits over the summer.

More proof of the revival of the trails came from pubs like the Fox & Hounds in Eggesford asking to re-join the Tarka Line trail after a long period of absence.

Plan your own trip on one of our seven Rail Ale Trails.