Blue Bell Inn, Peterborough

Official site of Blue Bell Inn - www.bluebellhelpston.co.uk

Official site of Blue Bell Inn - www.bluebellhelpston.co.uk

After our visit to the White Hart in Ufford we were even more hungry, so we navigated through the Soke of Peterborough to this pub, which had attracted me on two counts. Firstly, the Good Beer Guide indicated that it sold beers from the Grainstore brewery, and secondly in that it was associated with the Peasant Poet, John Clare. The Blue Bell is built from the local stone, and seems to have been recently refurbished in an almost “northern” style, complete with swirly carpets and floristically enhanced cartwheels .The bar, however, has some pleasant panelling. My steak and ale pudding was generous and satisfying, the family’s meals perhaps less so. I was saddened to learn that there were no beers from Grainstore available, but this was allayed by a pint of Elgoods Cambridge bitter. I’d describe this as a traditional East Anglian beer, malty rather than hoppy, but with a good depth of flavour. I remember that when I first drank Elgoods in the 70s or 80s that the flavour was much more assertive. I followed this with a pint of Armageddon from the Tydd Steam Brewery, part of Camra’s “Beer locale” scheme. I found this to be rather too sweet for a beer celebrating death and destruction. Our visit was on a Saturday night: the pub was busy with a slightly maturer clientele. I should think that the Blue Bell is at the heart of the community. We liked this place, we were made to feel at home.