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Beer of the Week (w/e 14th April 2024) with Mobyduck
on the Pub Forum
Image posted by Blackthorn _
Submitted on Monday, 17th August 2015
With picture contributions to 5179 other pubs
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Detail Pages
The Bell, Bristol
Bristol
BS2 8JT
Served areas
Reviews of The Bell (Average Rating: 6 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The Bell
This is a scruffy, two bar pub with an emphasis on live music, located on the fringes of the city centre. The left hand bar is the larger of the two and has a fairly open-plan layout, with exposed floorboards and limited bench and low stool seating options around the perimeter. Two small brick fireplaces can be seen to the left, suggesting previous internal division, and beyond, there is a DJ booth, mercifully unoccupied on my visit. The bar is over to the right, with a dark wood counter, basic bar back and a canopy covered in band stickers, which spill out across the ceiling beams and totally plaster the door as well. There is no seating in the rear part of the room – just open space for vertical drinking, perhaps doubling up as the dancefloor whenever there is a band on. The smaller right hand bar is also bare boarded and has half panelled walls and a mix of hard bench and chair seating. There’s a small crook of a servery to the left, with no pumps or taps on it – just a serving hatch really. A TV screen was mounted on one wall but remained off, whilst elsewhere there was a dartboard hidden inside a closed case. The music in this room was much louder than in the left hand bar, resulting in far fewer customers choosing to sit in this side of the pub. Out the back there is a garden comprising of a raised patio with steps up to a partially covered area with picnic benches and overgrown climbing plants.
Four ales were available on handpull – Butcombe Original, Gold and Small World plus Fullers London Pride. I opted for a pint of the Small World which was served to me by a chatty barman and was in good shape.
This place felt a little down at heel, which is not normally a complaint when considering a music-based pub, but felt a bit depressing when visiting at a time when no bands were on. The well kept, Butcombe-led ale selection was definitely a plus point but I’m not sure I’d return here again unless I intended to watch some live music.
On 8th January 2019
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blackthorn _ left this review about The Bell
A decent enough Butcombe pub, being unusual for them in an inner city location rather than a country one.
It’s divided in to two, with the larger bar on the left, and a slightly smaller narrow bar to the right. The larger bar has more atmosphere, but was full on a recent Thursday evening visit so we headed for the smaller one. This has reclaimed boards on the floor, some large speakers a small LCD TV in the corner (although this was not in use) and a dart board. Wood cladding covered the lower half of the walls with painted wallpaper above. It looked rather messy behind the bar, with bags, paperwork, till rolls and other stuff being in full view rather than just a range of drinks. There is apparently a garden at the rear, although we did not investigate this.
Beers on offer were predominantly from Butcombe as you would expect, with their Bitter, Gold and Blond. The solitary guest was BBF Sunrise. Ciders were Ashton Press and Ashton Still.
On 22nd July 2011
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1945 recommendations about 1858 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about The Bell
Looks like it's just undergone a renovation – now all stripped boards and mininmalism. Four Butcombe ales available in superb condition. Toilets were from a different dimension though...! Toooo quiet, in fact more quiet than a Steve Brookstein fan club convention...exacerbated by being too dark given there was only four people in it (and we were two of them) – turn the lights up!
Apart from a super pint there just wasn't enough to get me excited for more. I'll try again and see if it's any livelier - it could become quite a tidy place, given time.
On 4th January 2007
- rating: 6
[User has posted 5072 recommendations about 5055 pubs]
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- Bell page at the Butcombe site - www.bell.butcombe.com
- Facebook - The Bell
- Twitter - TheBellStokesCroft
- CAMRA WhatPub :: The Bell - whatpub.com
Redland, 0.73 miles, 14 min walk (show)
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Pub Details
Pub details supplied by members of this site to the best of their knowledge. Please check with pub directly before making a special trip.
- Accommodation : No last updated 08 September 2015 by Jonathan Wilde
- Bar Billiards : No last updated 08 September 2015 by Jonathan Wilde
- Beer Garden : Yes last updated 08 September 2015 by Jonathan Wilde
- CAMRA Discount : No last updated 08 September 2015 by Jonathan Wilde
- Car Park : No last updated 08 September 2015 by Jonathan Wilde
- Darts : Yes last updated 08 September 2015 by Jonathan Wilde
- Dog Friendly : Yes last updated 08 January 2019 by Pub SignMan
- Function Room : No last updated 08 September 2015 by Jonathan Wilde
- Hot Food : Yes last updated 08 September 2015 by Jonathan Wilde
- Jukebox : No last updated 08 September 2015 by Jonathan Wilde
- Karaoke : No last updated 08 September 2015 by Jonathan Wilde
- Live Music : Yes last updated 08 January 2019 by Pub SignMan
- Live TV Sports : No last updated 08 September 2015 by Jonathan Wilde
- Micropub : No last updated 08 September 2015 by Jonathan Wilde
- Pinball : No last updated 08 September 2015 by Jonathan Wilde
- Pool Table : No last updated 08 September 2015 by Jonathan Wilde
- Real Ale : Yes last updated 29 July 2013 by Dave McNally
- Real Cider : No last updated 08 September 2015 by Jonathan Wilde
- Wheelchair Access : No - Can enter but toilets an issue - last updated 08 September 2015 by Jonathan Wilde
- WiFi : Yes last updated 08 September 2015 by Jonathan Wilde
