The Blue Bell, York

The Blue Bell is a small traditional pub in the centre of York. A blackboard outside describes the pub as an "Award winning real ale pub with a 1903 Edwardian interior". It's a Grade 2 listed building. It's York's smallest pub apparently and, once we step inside, we quickly realise why no groups are allowed. The front bar seems to be the haunt of regulars and is a small intimate bar with much wood panelling. The walls are decorated with certificates and awards from CAMRA and other consumer organisations. It is also clear that the pub raises a lot of money for various charities. A corridor on the left leads through to a rear smoke room which is serviced from the main bar via a serving hatch with a glazed glass screen. Unusually, this narrowish corridor has a serving hatch of its own and a small drinking lobby. The smoke room also has dark wood panelling throughout and its walls are decorated with interesting old photographs , including some of Yorkshire County Cricket and York City Football Club teams. This room has round copper topped tables and fixed seating with old bell pushes still in situ. Needless to say, there's no TV's or fruit machines. Period music was being played during my recent early evening visit. The pub is listed in CAMRA's National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors. It's a Pubmaster pub. On my recent visit, 7 real ales were on, including TT Landlord, Deuchars IPA and Black Sheep, which I gather are the regulars. 4 guests were on - Copper Dragon Golden Pippin plus beers from Rooster, Rudgate and Saltaire ( Blackberry Cascade !) The Copper Dragon - £ 2.85p - was in good condition. This is one of York's must visit pubs in my book and you really should try to do this one - but don't turn up mob handed, as you won't be allowed in.

A narrow terraced traditional pub with an undressed and red brick frontage, with etched window. The entrance, on the left of the frontage, is in fact a corridor that leads all through the pub. The interior has a couple of rooms, served by the connecting corridor in wood panel. The main bar room is to the immediate left and the smoke room is further up to the left. Both are served by a central bar, the smoke room, through a hatch – which is either quaint, or an early device to protect staff from bad breath. The décor is the same wood panel as in the corridor, with wood ceiling, red seating and carpet. There is a collection of eclectic prints, photos and pictures on the walls, with old York, sport and cartoons featuring significantly and both rooms had brick and tile fireplaces and old copper tables. I didn’t eat here, so can’t comment on the food. The service was fine and the clientele mixed tourists and locals, sadly one drunk in the corner wet himself, must have been a good joke his mate told him. There was no TV, or music. Beer; tap and some unusual bottled stuff, with a decent choice of real ales; Roosters Leghorn, Osset Brewery’s Silver King, Rudgate Ruby MILD, Black Sheep Bitter, Deuchars IPA, Timothy Laylor Landlord and Whartfback Slinger’s Gold. I sampled the Landlord, Gold, Leghorn and MILD, all were really decent. It you don’t visit this place you consider yourself accursed and for the rest of your life – but try to do it at a non-peak time, so you can enjoy it for what it is – fighting to get to the bar then drinking outside isn’t seeing the best of this place.

Another of York's gem of a pub found in the 2010 Good Beer Guide, with the features well described by the previous reviewers. The front bar is nearly always busy, and it still retains the feel of a locals pub. Friendly staff behind the bar and good ale choice. Opted for Outlaw Wild Mule and Wharfebank Tether Blond.

This is a small pub at the top end of fossgate. Thh pub is unaltered inside and is on camras national inventry because it is like going back in time when you have a drink here.I went in the bar at the front which had 7 pumps on the bar with some of them being local micro beers.

Superb if dark example of an Edwardian pub with a drinking corridor running from the front door to the back wall and two bars off to front and back, these are like two little brown tongue and groove lined wombs with a choice of seven well kept beers. The range has broadened and become more adventurous lately. The back bar still has its bell buttons to summon a waiter but service there is from a small hatch as in the corridor. Other than that I can't add to the words of RobCamra and RexRattus go there and try this constant of the GBG.

This pub lived up to my expectations, having been recommended to me by PuG contributors who obviously know what they are talking about. Less objective reviewers might call it pokey, but I prefer to regard it as intimate, cozy and full of character. You enter the pub into a wood-panelled corridor, something that I saw quite a lot of in York, though rarely seen in London. There’s a small room to the right containing a bar counter and which had only two or three tables in it; go through the “Smoke Room” door in the corridor and this leads to another small room at the back on the right, with another three tables in it. There’s no bar counter in this room, just a serving hatch, but there was a helpful chalkboard here detailing the ales on offer. I spent my visit in this room, which was comfortably furnished with banquettes, chairs, and round copper covered tables. There was a fireplace, and some attractive prints and the like on the walls. Another first for me was the sight of a serving hatch in the corridor, which I am sure would get considerable use when the pub was busy and corridor based vertical drinking was the order of the day. There were several ales on – I didn’t note them all, but I had an excellent pint of Rooster Yankee. This pub is definitely worth the effort the effort of seeking out, and was my favourite of all the pubs I visited during my recent trip to York.