The Bell & Bear, Rowley Regis

Cottage style family pub. I have added some photos so (rather lazily) I won’t describe the interior. We visited early on a Friday afternoon and it was rather quiet (maybe the major roadworks outside didn’t help) so it lacked a bit of atmosphere. It was clean and tidy though and the service was pleasant enough. The choice of real ales was Timothy Taylor Landlord, Sharp’s Doom Bar, Byatt’s Phoenix Gold, Enville Old Porter, Enville White and Enville Ginger.

A detached and cream rendered pub, with a patio, it looks like a former elongated Jacobean farmhouse, so i could happily go with the 400 years! The interior was a single, large, open-plan L-shaped room which is in yellow and red patterned wallpaper, with white wood panel and red and pew seating and sturdy wooden tables. A traditional place, it has clocks and general ephemera all over the place and there were a few Victorian looking fireplaces. The TVs were not on and the music was general and at a decent level. They serve food and we ate - my curry was fine, the cheesy chips a little over-done, but all in all, it was fine. The service was fine and the clientele was just a few other people, not eating. Beer: tap stuff with M&B keg MILD. On handpull there was Timothy Taylor Landlord, Abbot Ale, Purity UBU, Theakston's Old Peculiar, Saddlers Wee Shimmy and a really good Enville Ale A really decent pub - terrific beer choice and decent quality in a pub of some character. It was in the GBG 2010 and worthy of it - go and visit.