Old Port Adelaide pub Railway Hotel to close after more than 150 years

LAST drinks have been called at Port Adelaide’s historic Railway Hotel after quenching the thirst of wharfies, sailors and diehard locals for more than a century and a half.

LAST drinks have been called at Port Adelaide’s historic Railway Hotel after quenching the thirst of wharfies, sailors and diehard locals for more than a century and a half.

It is the sixth in a string of iconic drinking houses to close at the Port in the past few years.

The Railway closes today after 158 years of continuous operation.

The 1960s were a boomtime with 2000 wharfies working at the Port but when containerisation came in, numbers dropped to about 150.

Drink-driving laws, the advent of discount takeaway outlets, home air-conditioning and restaurants competing with pubs for trade are also blamed for keeping people away from their favourite Port watering holes.

Fred Hiscock and Sue O’Reilly bought the pub 25 years ago will now transform it into their home after being unable to sell it.

“We’re disappointed we haven’t sold it but we’re going to retire anyway,” Mr Hiscock, 69, said.

“We’re disappointed we’re shutting the doors, but that’s life.”

They blame a drop in the number of people living and working in the area for their trouble selling the pub — the State Heritage-listed pub was for sale for four years without a buyer.

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Mr Hiscock said he would miss his regular customers, including some of whom have had grandchildren who are now old enough to drink at the pub, which was built in 1856.

“You form a relationship with your regular customers,” he said.

“You meet a lot of interesting people from overseas, interstate and locally that have travelled and this is a pub where we’ve got no bells and whistles but we communicate — that’s what hospitality should be about — we treat people like a person, not a number.”

Allen Brenton, 83, of Pennington, first drank at the Railway Hotel in 1969 when he worked for the then Customs Department.

He was at yesterday’s last drinks with his grandson, reminiscing about when there would be patrons “three or four deep” waiting for beers at every pub in the Port.

“You would ask for a beer over the shoulder,” Mr Brenton said.

“They had three or four barmen — this pub was always busy.”

Named the Railway Hotel because it was built at the end of the Port Adelaide railway line, it has a fully intact basement that was once the ground floor of the building before Port Adelaide’s street levels were raised between the 1850s and 1880s.

It was the home of many local social groups and even the odd sea-captain organising his next voyage.

The nearby Royal Arms Hotel is also for sale and has been for 10 months.

Owner Rob Lewis says only a population boost will keep the Port’s strong pub culture.

“Port Adelaide needs residents — hardly anyone lives in Port Adelaide,” Mr Lewis said.

“If you don’t have people living in the area you aren’t going to get people coming in and having a session.”

Other recent pub closures:

THE Colac Hotel was closed by the Labor Party in 2011 and was bought in August last year by David Leister, who also owns Port Adelaide business Optigen Ingredients. Its licence has been suspended.

THE Golden Port Tavern on St Vincent St is closed and on the market.

THE Port Admiral Hotel on Commercial Rd is closed and also remains on the market.

THE Buff’s Black Diamond Hotel, also on Commercial Rd, has been transformed into a retail area.

THE Clubhouse Hotel, which was on Vincent St, has been demolished.