The Railway, 2-4 Brighton Road, Crawley.
Blower R. Muddiman.
Photograph made available by Sussex On Line Parish Clerks.
The Railway pub in Crawley (double click the photo for a better view) was known for a long time as the Rocket, then for a brief time as the Firecracker and Firkin. Before it became the Rocket, it had been the Railway Hotel, and before that, the Station Inn. It is right by the railway level crossing just south of Crawley High Street, which had been the site of the original Crawley train station. The original station was demolished in August 1968 in favour of a new station a few yards down the track.
The original train station had a weighbridge, and a tunnel which allowed pedestrians to nip under the level crossing when the gates were down, then into the Railway pub. Comic Norman Wisdom has been seen fleeing from the crossing gates in one of his films while dressed in a pair of shorts and a flat cap.
