The Bell Inn, Ipswich

Official site of The Bell Inn - www.thebellinnkersey.co.uk

Official site of The Bell Inn - www.thebellinnkersey.co.uk

A very attractive, half-timbered pub with leaded windows in this small village, it has fortunately retained all of it’s charm inside and is just as inviting as you would hope from looking at the outside. A board outside said that it dates from around 1379. The entrance way has an unusual brick lined floor with the main bar being off to the right. There is a low beamed ceiling, and plenty of chunky wooden supporting posts along with red patterned carpet at the front and quarry tiling at the rear. An old fireplace was at the rear and some colourful local photography was for sale on the pale lemon walls. A small TV was up in one corner which perhaps seemed slightly out of place, but fortunately this was not in use. A couple of smaller rooms off to the left were broadly similar in terms of décor, but without perhaps quite as much cosy charm as the main bar. Here too was a large fireplace with a massive wooden lintel above and a wood burning stove as well as various copper pans, old bottles, earthenware jugs and even an old telephone. A shelf on the wall had a selection of locally made preserves for sale. We didn’t inspect the menu, but did notice that the specials board noted that it was Pudding & Pie day (Wednesday) and there was also a selection of vegetarian dishes and a good choice of sandwiches. Beers on tap were Adnams Southwold, Timothy Taylor Landlord and Otter Ale, whilst a board next to the bar listed a couple more that were coming soon. The solitary cider was Aspall’s Suffolk. All in all I thought this was a fantastic pub and a very quaint and attractive village, and well worth a visit.