The Railway Arms

In October 2020, the Railway Arms passed into the hands of the community. It became Saffron Walden’s first community-owned pub. The pub is fondly remembered worldwide by old students of the nearby language school who were regulars back in the day. Indeed the former landlord of the pub from 1958 to 1998 – Jim Jordan – was awarded the OBE for his tenure at the pub.

In January 2017 the pub was closed by its former owners and was under threat from residential development. A campaign group formed by residents in the area STRAP – Save The Railway Arms Pub, lobbied local residents, councillors and the general public to keep this lovely building as the traditional pub. STRAP was also successful in raising funds to purchase the pub by a local community share offer and a grant from the Plunkett Foundation’s More Than a Pub campaign. In the summer of 2020, the community were successful in purchasing the pub and in October 2020 finally took charge of the keys to the premises and renovations began and re-opened its doors on 6th April 2021.

In 2022 we were made ‘Essex Pub of the Year’ by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA)