The Bell Inn, Market Harborough

The Bell is very much a country pub and celebrates rural life. The main room, to the right of the entrance corridor, has a smaller bar area although you can eat at the tables here and a larger dining room where all the tables are laid. There were real fires going in both areas on our visit which gave an instant warm and welcoming atmosphere and this is only emphasized by the traditional wood furniture and various beer bottles, jugs and tankards dotted around the place. Gumley is in Fernie Hunt country and the pub recognises this with many paintings and photographs depicting hunting and hunting characters as well as a current Fernie calendar at the bar. Interestingly, there are two prominent photographs in the bar area of Peter Jones, a long serving former huntsman of the neighbouring Pytchley. As the laid tables in the dining area suggest, food features large and there is a decent menu of traditional pub classics as well as a specials board which featured rib-eye steak, moules mariniers and locally shot pheasant. Prices are very reasonable with the more expensive specials coming in at well under £15. There is also a tempting traditional pudding board featuring such delights as fruit crumbles and treacle tart. The staff were all female on our visit, although the governor arrived later for a drink, and their welcome was friendly with offers to try the different ales. There were a few locals perched at the bar and it's very easy to be drawn into chat and banter with staff and regulars alike. Four handpumps displayed: TT Landlord, Everards Regimental IPA, Grainstore Erica Roe and Doombar. Landlord is a feature beer and was on when I last visited many years ago and two of those are local so it makes for a reasonable selection. The Landlord was excellent. The Bell is a super country pub offering good food, decent beer, a warm welcome and a comfortable, friendly atmosphere.

A classic rural village pub very much the centre of this small community.The entrance corridor has a room to the left that was being refurbed,while the main bar is to the right.Here there are some exposed stone columns,a low and beamed ceiling and a traditional wooden bar.The room is L shaped with two real fires both glowing on a brisk evening.The tables opposite the bar have some cutlery in small buckets but are not set for dining unlike several of the tables on the far side of the room below the specials board. The all female serving crew certainly knew now to create a positive atmosphere and there was a lot of friendly banter with a stream of regular drinkers and visitors a like.The many pictures of country persuits around the interior and a menu long on traditional British dishes,steaks and some game maintained the traditional feel.Bottles of beer used as decorations gave more interest and although BT Sport is screened here,I would guess that rugby is more likely to be shown.The flatscreen was off during our evening visit. The pub has a decent selection of four real ales and a real cider on offer with TT Landlord as a regular beer which went down well.I also enjoyed my rib eye with stilton sauce and black pudding with the undulating and stiff walk back to the Grand Union Canal helping to consume some of the excess calorie intake. With so many country pubs now part of predicatable chains ,it was pleasing to find such a genuine place ,it was a lot of fun and is probably the best bet for both ale and food if you are visiting the famous Foxton Locks heritage site.