The Old Bell, EC4

Near the bottom end of Fleet Street is The Old Bell, a traditional old inn that dates back to 1670 and was built for builders working on St Brides Church opposite, which had been damaged a few years previously in The Great Fire of London. It’s a low ceilinged interior with a frontage that has fine leaded coloured windows bearing the inscription “Ye Olde Bell Tavern Wines and Spirits”. The front part of the pub has stone flagged floors and leads through to a larger bare boarded area where the central bar servery is situated. There’s a separate entrance to the pub at the rear accessed through a narrow alleyway off St Brides Lane. The Old Bell is a Nicholsons pub with the traditional style interior that we have come to expect – much shiny woodwork and a mixture of comfortable banquette seating and wooden tables and chairs. Pleasingly, unlike a number of other Nicholsons pubs, there’s no dedicated area set aside for diners, with drinkers dominating, even on my recent visit in the middle of the lunchtime period. There’s 2 banks of 4 pumps which were offering, amongst others, Orkney Dark Island, Liberation Rouge, Adnams Explorer, Doom Bar and Frosted Jack from Dorset Brewing Co. The Orkney Dark Island, at a very reasonable £ 3.45p, was in excellent form. Not an outstanding pub at all, but it’s one to include in any crawl of Fleet Street pubs.

The Old Bell is a Nicholson’s pub at the Blackfriars end of Fleet Street. As you enter, you pass a small flagstone floor room to the left which has a few seats and some excellent coloured glass in the front window. The room was once used for off sales and now acts as a pleasant snug in which you can escape the often cramped bar area beyond. The main room is U shaped, with the servery extending through the middle of the room from the right hand side. In fact, it extends so far into the room, that there is very little space left for seating and customers invariably end up packed in around the bar counter making it very difficult to reach the rear of the room. There is plenty of dark wood, including the servery itself, and the exposed floorboards and etched glass in the windows and doors give it a nice traditional feel. There are a couple of large fireplaces and various old paintings on the walls and my eye was caught by the row of empty beer bottles running along the top of the servery; each bottle decorated with an old pump clip. The pub was originally built to house workers rebuilding the nearby St Brides Church after the Great Fire and framed plans of the church, which was designed by Sir Christopher Wren, can be found towards the rear of the pub. However, to better appreciate their work, step out through the back door into the narrow alleyway which affords a fine view of the church itself. There were a great many turned pump clips in evidence on my recent visit, including Tribute, Doom Bar, Adnams Bitter and an Adnams Jubilee beer. Four remained on though, but the crowds at the front of the pub meant that I was unable to see what two of them were, leaving me a choice of Fullers London Pride and St Austell Nicholson’s Pale Ale (£3.30). I gave the latter a try and thought it was in pretty good shape. Despite its location, this place still feels like a proper pub (it even has an umbrella share system for regulars) and although it can get very busy it’s worth persevering, especially if you can bag a seat in the snug at the front.

Fine historic pub, as others have described. The selection of ales, earlier this week being Pride, Tribute, Doombar, Southwold, Reverend James, and Triple fff Moondance, with Old Rosie cider also on pump, could be a tad more adventurous though I guess reflects the balance of their custom. It tends to get quite busy for obvious locational reasons, but I find it has a comfortable feel to it, with friendly and efficient service, and is a good place to come for a pint or two. At £3.30/pint it’s also quite good value for the area. For those wanting to eat, food is from the usual Nicholson’s menu. This pub is certainly worth a visit, and I think is well worth coming back to.